A Powerful Little Pill

[Dogbone]

After three misses on one (have not seen it again so far) and another miss (have not seen this one again either) on a second hog , I finally scored on two today ;D . Maybe I should have gone to the range first to get in some practice instead of going out cold turkey???

I won't be counting the two misses as kills, but it will be interesting to see if they ever show up down the road.

Anyway, both kills came with the Marlin 17 HMR. The first one I saw was this past Tuesday while scouting one of my regular farms. It was standing on a pile of manure and split before I could get set for a shot. I went back today, set up a hay bail blind and waited. After a long wait and glassing in other directions, she finally showed up, standing up on one of the manure piles. This time I was ready. Her back was to me and then she turned towards the right and the Marlin barked. She dropped, but without the smack of the larger calibers, it's hard to tell it they're dead on impact.

So I walk over to where I think she should be and there's no body. Now I'm pissed! :-[ Especially after my previous misses. I looked and looked and finally found her at the bottom of the next manure pile over. With the lack of depth of field on my range finding binos, it's hard to get the right perspective, especially at the shorter distances. This one was 80 yds. She's a young female who looks like she might still be nursing? Couldn't find the entrance, but the exit is obvious. Here are the pics. Sorry about the cell phone quality!

After the retrieval and the pics, I head over to another of my regular farms where I had my second miss. That one is no where to be seen, but another that I have seen twice is right there on top of a weed covered dirt pile waiting for me. He goes about his business as I set up using the hood of the truck to steady my aim. This one is also facing away, but I'm not waiting and let the 17 grain V-Max fly straight to the tarket and he drops right where he was standing. Nice thing about the 17 HMR, you can watch everything enfold due to very little recoil. This time no indication of an entrance or exit wound. Here are the DRT pics of a relatively young male.

Hope to be able to post more of my efforts in the weeks and months to follow.

 

[CaptainMal]

Just like hearing and seeing hog hunting stuff. Miss Pennsylvania ONLY for that. Keep reporting. For me it's memories.

 

[2506]

After over 40 years of shooting ground hogs I can tell you that they can take a devastating hit and still get back into their hole. I once witnessed one have it's head blown clean off by a Sierra 60 gr HP from a 243 Win and it still crawled into it's hole 3 feet away. I am just glad that deer are not as hard to kill as some ground hogs. ;D

 

[bozo699]

After over 40 years of shooting ground hogs I can tell you that they can take a devastating hit and still get back into their hole. I once witnessed one have it's head blown clean off by a Sierra 60 gr HP from a 243 Win and it still crawled into it's hole 3 feet away. I am just glad that deer are not as hard to kill as some ground hogs. ;D
[/quote

Oh how true
Wayne.

 

[Dogbone]

After over 40 years of shooting ground hogs I can tell you that they can take a devastating hit and still get back into their hole. I once witnessed one have it's head blown clean off by a Sierra 60 gr HP from a 243 Win and it still crawled into it's hole 3 feet away. I am just glad that deer are not as hard to kill as some ground hogs. ;D

I had one run twenty yards to its hole dragging all of its entrails behind it, so I know how tough and hard to kill they can be.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[K22]

Don't let the misses bother you - this is a lot harder game than some realize. High hay, wind, mirage, hog bobbing up and down - much smaller target than a deer :-[ all make for a real challenge but that's what make it fun at least to my way of thinking.

I've gotten eight so far this season, wind has been bad and we had a mild winter and early spring causing the hay to be very high by mid April. I haven't missed one yet this season (a rarity for me) but I surely will as the season unfolds. My longest shot this season was 191 yards, shortest, 107 yards. I won't shoot anything under 100 at least I try not to. Waiting for first cut of hay to resume my quest for the saber tooth hog.

I use the 223 primarily unless I have a farm where shots are over 250 yards then I go to the 22 250.

Good hunting

 

[Dogbone]

Thanks. I usually don't miss so it is bothering me, but I'll get over it. Could blame it on lots of stuff, but won't.

I also have a 223 and 22-250. The 223 is a T/C Venture that was recently recalled for a defective sear. Just got it back yesterday afternoon. Bought it late last year and don't have many rounds through it yet. Don't think I even got a chance to take it into the field. Need to go to the range to get it sighted in, again. The 22-250 is a Savage Model 12 VLP and is my favorite for the long shots. The locations I was shooting the other day did not warrant a long range rifle so I only had the 17 with me.

In addition to the two locations mentioned, I have two others that I have hunted previously and the possibility of a new one. Going to check that one out next week.

Good hunting to you too!

 

[MrMajestic]

Congrats on you success! I'm am 3 for 4 so far however the miss was 125 yard running shot, the Chuck was running not me! ;D I was still disappointed as the shot looked good when the trigger broke!

 

[onelastshot]

Just finished taking a walk on the family farm, I took my latest purchase, an Anschutz in 17HMR with me. As a side note, I spent the previous Saturday sighting the rifle in. When I stopped to glass with my binoculars a ground hog popped up not 40 yards away. This was a full frontal shot with him looking at me and I was shooting with an adequate rest.

I focused on the center of his chest and squeezed the trigger, at the report of the shot he appeared to fall backwards and roll to his left. When I walked up to collect him, nothing! He was gone without a sign of blood or any markings and I found his hole approximately 10 feet away. I haven't won any marksman contests but I can honestly say I practice often and shoot reasonably well. In short, there is no way I missed him.

From what I've read, the 17HMRs are supposed to be deadly and cause considerable damage considering their size. Are hogs really that tough that they can take chest shots and still run?

 

[bozo699]

I will take a lot of heat for this but I don't really care as I know for a fact it to be true, I own several of the little 17hmr's and I like them for what they are but nothing substitutes horse power and the little hmr is very overrated and very underdoing, a 22-250 with a 40-55 grain pill sends them hurling 20+ feet in the air in multiple pieces, they don't make it back to there hole usually
Wayne.

 

[Dogbone]

I will take a lot of heat for this but I don't really care as I know for a fact it to be true, I own several of the little 17hmr's and I like them for what they are but nothing substitutes horse power and the little hmr is very overrated and very underdoing, a 22-250 with a 40-55 grain pill sends them hurling 20+ feet in the air in multiple pieces, they don't make it back to there hole usually
Wayne.

I don't disagree with what you've said about either the 17 or the larger horsepower loads. They both have their place and are good at what they do in certain situations, but once you go beyond that you're pushing the envelope. The 17 is deadly if used at the right distance and if the hog is hit in the right place.

Onelastshot, I have no doubt you hit is square in the chest at 40 yards. And I'm not surprised you found no evidence of the hog or the hit. There are hundreds of examples on forums like this that document hogs getting hit with much larger pills and them running off. In my opinion, if you don't shoot the hog in the head or in the heart with the 17 for an instant kill, the chances of it running off increase the further away you get from those two areas.

Perhaps your shot went left or right of center or lower in the gut area??? That would allow the hog to run. IMHO

 

[jsn]

Someone did a bullet comparison test on the 17HMR not long after they came out. There was a wide variation in bullet performance between manufacturer's offerings at the same distance. Some grenaded, others simply punched on through like a FMJ.

This was years ago, of course.

 

[onelastshot]

Today, I discovered that my 17 does in fact shoot straight and, a 17hhmr can drop ground hogs (woodchucks) in their tracks. I went back to the same field today and the breeze coming directly from the spot where I shot carried the distinct smell of dead animal. In short, the only thing deficient last Sunday was my tracking skills.

I found the ground hog laying face down where he was shot. Last Sunday I did not pay careful attention and thought he was standing approximately 10 feet in front of his hole, in actuality he was 8-10 feet behind it. The only thing I can think of is the fact that the scope was on 9 power and he looked to be much closer than he actually was. I'd post a picture of my fat friend but I doubt anyone wants to view a bloated fly covered carcass.

Fortunately, I do more deer hunting than ground hog and they are much larger and easier to see, especially in the snow!

 

[Dogbone]

Glad to hear you were able to confirm your kill. I too have gone to the spot where I think they were shot and found them further away. It happens.