Folks around here look at me like I'm nuts (probably true) because I use my 45-70, 40-65, or 38-50 Hepburn to shoot ground squirrels. I shoot off cross sticks and use lighter lead bullets but its great practice, and it makes you really concentrate on yardage. Besides, big clouds of white smoke and small mushroom clouds of dust are just cool.
Ground squirrels around here seem to catch heck, what ever my new project is or my new purchase gets used on them. We have shot them with 14's, 8mm, 7mm Mauser's, 7.62 Russian's, 50 BMG, all sorts of Magnums, every 22 in the book and some not in the book, ML's..... and they just never learn they keep coming back.
Bob