My wife let me shoot woodchucks, but she did not want me shooting any thing else, because they are just too cute and she did not want to see them killed. She said I could shoot them if she was not around and I could get rid of them before she knew about it, but I just never seemed to get an opportunity. I tried to tell her that they are destructive little critters, those raccoons and skunks. Well one morning we woke up and a few of her flowers were dug up. She quickly put them back into the ground, so they would not die before she headed out to work. She asked, what did that? I said more than likely it was a raccoon. The skunks had been digging up my backyard looking for snacks. The next day we woke up and even more of her flowers were dug up. She got real mad this time and said she wanted those critters dead. I obliged her. Most I have shot after sundown or early morning. I shot several raccoons and a couple skunks and a couple chipmunks. The flower digging went away. With the 38 Specials, I can shoot them at night and not even wake my wife up. My work hours change from time to time. Some times I work from 2PM until 12:00 AM, some times from 3:30 AM until 2:00 PM and then about half the time from 7:00 AM until 5:00 PM (my "normal" hours). It is not a swing shift, I am the Maintenance Supervisor, but if one of the Supervisors are sick or on vacation, I fill in for them. For the last week and 1/2 I have worked from 2:00 PM until 12:00 AM because the 2nd shift Supervisor is out with some kind of virus, but not H1N1. Not sure when he will return, but looks to be at least another week. So I got opportunities to shoot after I got off work at 12:00 AM and some times before work at 3:30 AM, when I fill in for 1st shift. One morning my wife got up with a Raccoon under one tree and a skunk under another. She never knew I shot them, until she saw them the next AM. I had been using a 221 FireBall to dispatch backyard critters, but even though it was not as loud as some other rounds, it was loud enough to wake someone up. So after my wife gave the go ahead I experimented with the wad-cutters for my "black ops". I would think a 30-221 shooting sub sonic would do a good job also. I would think that the bullets would "pencil" through, but would have a longer range than the wadcutters. The wadcutters just seem to go "whop" and they fall over, as long as you place them correctly and keep the range under 50 yards. After 50 yards their velocity drops off to a point I am not sure they would be effective + they are starting to shoot rainbows beyond 50 yards. I have mine sighted in at 25 yards. I had it sighted in at 50, but was shooting 2" - 2.5" high at 25 and it was difficult to get a bullet placed, guessing at range + hold over. I shot over the back of a chipmunk, at the shot he stood up, I reloaded - PoooooH (the sound of the shot), it was over. So I sighted in at 25, this seems to be a good compromise for shooting in the backyard and it seems more natural to hold over for longer shots rather than under for short shots, for me.
