I had a Winchester 255 (I think it was) lever action, with a 3-6 scope. Not a cowboy type rifle, a bit more modern. Sold it (foolishly) when I was in college, as I didn’t use it much by then. But the folks who bought it no doubt taught their two boys to shoot, so all is good.
One time, I almost shot a mouse at about 75 yards. Was shooting at a patch of dirt on a hill across a field. There was a dark spot I aimed at. Turned out to be a mouse hole! Shot a couple times, dirt would fly then a puff of dust. WTF? Third time I shot, I saw a mouse take off. He was trying to kick out the dirt I stirred up. True story.
My brother decimated the ground hogs and I never did get one.
We would take the supported prone position and I rigged up a tripod because of the 10x scope (the field stray was just too great in a young kids arms without the tripod). Then I'd whistle smartly. Sooner or later a GH would get up on its haunches to identify the whistle, then ((( pop ))).
My Dad taught me that; he could really whistle without fingers in his mouth. He always called GH's "whistlepigs".