@bignocks - you’ve rang this particular bell a couple of times, so I’d feel remiss if I didn’t address it. We’re not talking about a “22LR for headshots, Howitzer for vitals shots,” type of scenario here. Headshots are the fastest, easiest kill, with the least influence on pelt value, but coons don’t always present a headshot. While a majority of the thousands I have killed have been headshots, I’d venture a quarter to a third have been vitals shots. They fight longer, but they die just as dead when using a 22LR on the heart and lungs as they do when putting it on their head.
I’d actually argue vitals shots are EASIER for 22LR. It’s not so uncommon to find mushroomed bullets on the surface of the skull - even with 22 mag HP’s. The coons typically die all the same, but from the impact, not destruction of the brain. I’ve skinned a few which we’d thought we’d missed multiple times, and then found two or three, or four mushrooms smashed on the outside of the skull. Impacts on vitals will penetrate and take out the heart and lungs, impacts on brain box may not penetrate. They just die faster when you hit them in the noggin. Solid RN’s and Mini-Mags don’t act like that - they penetrate.
So it’s really not a matter of getting that perfect headshot to concede to a lack of power, it’s just a matter of realizing you don’t need extra power, and don’t benefit from it.
