Twenty-Five, The Swing-Over Caliber J. C. Munnell
The left five cartridges represent four of today’s viable (and one semi-viable) 25 caliber options. All are suitable for at least some big game as well as varmints. From left they are 25 WSSM, 250-3000 Savage, 257 Roberts, 25-06 and 257 Weatherby magnum. Right-hand group is comprised of wildcats: 257 Roberts Ackley Improved, 25/284, 25-06 Ackley Improved, 25 B.C. and 257 ICL Magnum. Again, they all will do double duty as swing-over cartridges.
Assuming the hide had been good – not necessarily the case around here – that particular song dog would have made a striking rug. Had I decided to take that shot, however, it would have been done with the knowledge that the gun and load I was using that day would have been suitable for the task. Dedicated varmint or predator hunters in Pennsylvania are a fairly rare breed (although we’re growing!), particularly in the more settled areas of the Commonwealth. Although we are permitted to shoot coyotes all year, we cannot shoot foxes or bobcats un- less we have special licenses, and then only when “in season,” and, in the case of the bobcat, only in certain specified parts of the state. Feral pigs, ground- hogs and crows likewise are subject to special rules and regulations. Then, too, are the mountain lions, which are fully protected, even though our Game Commission emphatically swears they have been extinct in Pennsylvania for almost 100 years. Hmm! I guess we are not allowed to shoot something that doesn’t exist!
A fine custom Shilen-barreled Sako 25/284. Although it is used primarily for long-range groundhogs (and the occasional coyote), it sure wouldn’t be out of place for western mule deer, antelope or even elk hunting.
t probably is a fact that in much of the East more coyotes are shot by hunters who are not even looking for them. Instead, coyotes are purely targets of opportunity while the hunter is otherwise deer/bear hunting or while sniping for groundhogs. I still regret not taking a shot at a distant and distinctly red-colored coyote a
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few years back while out deer hunt- ing. I did not shoot for two reasons: First, it would have been more good luck than good management if I actu- ally hit him some 150 to 200 yards off through fairly deep woods, but more particularly since it was early morning of the last day of our buck season and I had not even seen an antler all year.
This being the state (pardon the pun) of varmint and predator hunting in Pennsylvania, the inescapable fact is that more coyotes probably are shot with “deer rifles” than with dedicated predator/varmint rifles. Also, because many hunters own but one centerfire rifle, they often are presented with a bit of a quandary: Is it better to buy a deer rifle and try to make do for the occasional coyote or even a groundhog, or buy a predator-type rifle and try to get it to shoot a “premium” bullet which might be able to kill a deer (and a black bear?)? Fortunately, we do not have to make a choice which renders it difficult, even though not necessarily impossible, to hunt one type of quarry or the other.
For years I regarded the various 6.5 caliber rifles as swing-over caliber rifles. That is, they could be made to suffice for dispatching critters from groundhogs to moose. In fact, I have shot prairie dogs, as well as a New-
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