snert
Silver $$ Contributor
Last weekend my daughter (Lil Snert) and I went to NY for two days of groundhog hunting. I had hoped to hunt several farms I have shot for 25 years but grass and mowing shut them down. I decided to try a farm I had only shot once, for a couple hours, some 5 or 6 years ago. The farmer was glad to see me and said, "shoot them all, we have a lot". We pulled off the road into an access lane overlooking an alfalfa field that was bordered by a pasture and some woods. We set up our tripod, chairs, spotting scope and rifles. We took a 40X 22-250, an old Arisaka 220 Swift, and a 722/40XB clone in 222 (for Lil Snert). Over the course of 5 hours we shot 14 chucks on day one, from about 95 yards to 404. I started out with the 40X but it is one twitchy temperamental rifle (read carefully, that is an excuse of monumental proportions!) and after getting two solid hits I missed several. So I switched to the old 220. It has a vintage Weaver T-10, shooting 40 grains H380 and a 55 grain Vmax. Not hot rodding at all. First blood was a 404 yard stander. Click n shoot! I got the next three in the 250-350 yard range. If you look at the photo of my buddy in the hat you will will see to the left of his hat a fence line. It is 250 yards out, tapering away in the direction he is shooting. Around the three "bushes" in the fencleline to his right, above the barrel, were about ten holes. The whole fence line was full of holes and chucks. We made a day of it shooting in that direction.
Lil Snert had a headache, and was likely thinking of a date upcoming that eve, so she didn't shoot much. (Her date cancelled...a whole other story in itself) Toward evening a 275 yarder came out and she barked "That one is mine!" See photo of her and her 222. This is a posed photo, but the actual groundhog was in the shadow of the treeline behind her, biggest tree to right. Elevation was set and she wasted no time. One round, DRT with a massive head shot. She popped the empty out and sat down. My buddy, a former SWAT officer, had been watching her and when she casually smacked that chuck his eyes got big, but not as big as his grin. I told him she could shoot but I'm sure he thought it was parent pride speaking. Lil Snert lets her rifle speak for her.
Day two was delayed by thunderstorms, but we got 4 hours of shooting in and took 7 more. All the chucks shown were between 200 and 350 yards. We shot the big rifles at first, but later switched to the Duece. I really wish I had just shot it for most of the day because it was literally point-n- shoot/drt. We were running Benchmark and a 50 grain TNT thru a Hart 20 inch barrel on a 722 action, Leupold 6-18 with target knobs.
We did discover one fat chuck that seemed to have committed suicide. By the looks of it, bit the bullet in a mouthful of salad. I took a photo as proof. Lil Snert said it was surely a depressed chuck. A fat vegetarian in NY with buck teeth and Trump is still president. Just couldn't take it anymore....
We were blessed to get out after a two year hiatus. Good times with great people, in beautiful Central NY.
And for those that care, here's a snert or two....
Lil Snert had a headache, and was likely thinking of a date upcoming that eve, so she didn't shoot much. (Her date cancelled...a whole other story in itself) Toward evening a 275 yarder came out and she barked "That one is mine!" See photo of her and her 222. This is a posed photo, but the actual groundhog was in the shadow of the treeline behind her, biggest tree to right. Elevation was set and she wasted no time. One round, DRT with a massive head shot. She popped the empty out and sat down. My buddy, a former SWAT officer, had been watching her and when she casually smacked that chuck his eyes got big, but not as big as his grin. I told him she could shoot but I'm sure he thought it was parent pride speaking. Lil Snert lets her rifle speak for her.
Day two was delayed by thunderstorms, but we got 4 hours of shooting in and took 7 more. All the chucks shown were between 200 and 350 yards. We shot the big rifles at first, but later switched to the Duece. I really wish I had just shot it for most of the day because it was literally point-n- shoot/drt. We were running Benchmark and a 50 grain TNT thru a Hart 20 inch barrel on a 722 action, Leupold 6-18 with target knobs.
We did discover one fat chuck that seemed to have committed suicide. By the looks of it, bit the bullet in a mouthful of salad. I took a photo as proof. Lil Snert said it was surely a depressed chuck. A fat vegetarian in NY with buck teeth and Trump is still president. Just couldn't take it anymore....
We were blessed to get out after a two year hiatus. Good times with great people, in beautiful Central NY.
And for those that care, here's a snert or two....
