Been a long winter although mild out West. Unlike the Eastern Groundhogs our Rock Chucks are only out March-July. Made it out onto some private land and did some recon on new public lands over the weekend. 22 shot one day and 15 the next. Luckily not much rust to shake off. All the shooting was with my 700 LVSV in 17 Remington. Load is Varget/400/25 Vmax at 4150fps. Shots were 140-340 with 42 rounds expired . Wind and cool temperatures made things interesting! Very nice to be out amongst them again.
Chuck Season Opener
- Thread starter Stormbringer
- Start date
Stormbringer -
Howdy !
Fine job there, young man !
As regards Groundhog:
Here in NE Indiana…. male “ Soybeanus Digestus “come out lookin’ for love in March, then go back and den-up for a little while longer ( NE Indiana ).
The sow’s reproductive cycle is pretty much ideally matched to the local area’s soybean
growth cycle. Plant germination takes 5-15 days ( 7 days seen often IMHO ), then comes the start of the soybean’s “ vegetation “ state.
Groundhog absolutely love the plants when they are in their growth stage from…
when the ‘beans have sprouted & on-into the plants early 2-leaf stage.
This oft times takes place right around Memorial Day…. or a tad sooner, IF farmers are able to plant earlier. *** The sow is seen to bring the pups out especially during the soybeans ‘ 2 leaf growth stage.*** That is THE text book perfect time to engage groundhogs here in NE Indiana. There is no established “ season “ for shooting groundhog in Indiana.
The second best time ( IMHO ) to find them out, is the period from where the plants go from the early 2 leaf stage, and grow to where groundhogs can only be partially seen due to plant height. This typically is the period from close to Memorial Day weekend up to around 4th of July. Much after that, and the plants become too tall to see if any groundhogs are in the ‘bean fields.
There is a fairly short window of opportunity to shoot them when they are out fattening up, prepatory to hybernation. That window usually closes sometime in Oct, most years.
Nice to hear that the fun has already started for you Rockchuck shooters out West !
Best of luck in your endeavors !
With regards,
357Mag
Howdy !
Fine job there, young man !
As regards Groundhog:
Here in NE Indiana…. male “ Soybeanus Digestus “come out lookin’ for love in March, then go back and den-up for a little while longer ( NE Indiana ).
The sow’s reproductive cycle is pretty much ideally matched to the local area’s soybean
growth cycle. Plant germination takes 5-15 days ( 7 days seen often IMHO ), then comes the start of the soybean’s “ vegetation “ state.
Groundhog absolutely love the plants when they are in their growth stage from…
when the ‘beans have sprouted & on-into the plants early 2-leaf stage.
This oft times takes place right around Memorial Day…. or a tad sooner, IF farmers are able to plant earlier. *** The sow is seen to bring the pups out especially during the soybeans ‘ 2 leaf growth stage.*** That is THE text book perfect time to engage groundhogs here in NE Indiana. There is no established “ season “ for shooting groundhog in Indiana.
The second best time ( IMHO ) to find them out, is the period from where the plants go from the early 2 leaf stage, and grow to where groundhogs can only be partially seen due to plant height. This typically is the period from close to Memorial Day weekend up to around 4th of July. Much after that, and the plants become too tall to see if any groundhogs are in the ‘bean fields.
There is a fairly short window of opportunity to shoot them when they are out fattening up, prepatory to hybernation. That window usually closes sometime in Oct, most years.
Nice to hear that the fun has already started for you Rockchuck shooters out West !
Best of luck in your endeavors !
With regards,
357Mag
We saw a few males wandering, marking and "looking for love". No sparring. Did shoot one female with a full load of nesting material in her mouth. No wet females observed amongst the fallen.
Gary in MD
Gold $$ Contributor
Eastern ground hog hunter for the last 50 years.
Saw a couple yesterday out in the field and a lone boar out on top of the snow a week ago. The males out looking for a female.
I won't open the season for a while yet, usually try and wait until the young are weaned. That makes more targets for later on and seed for next year. YMMV
Saw a couple yesterday out in the field and a lone boar out on top of the snow a week ago. The males out looking for a female.
I won't open the season for a while yet, usually try and wait until the young are weaned. That makes more targets for later on and seed for next year. YMMV
I'm doing groundhogs right now with my handguns (don't own any rifles). Got 32 so far this year. Puts my lifetime handgun total to 16,589. Killed so many here I go to ID each year for rockchucks.
Here's a sample of what I do there. This is about40% of what I got one morning. They seem to multiply faster than my groundhogs.
Here's a sample of what I do there. This is about40% of what I got one morning. They seem to multiply faster than my groundhogs.
I bought a Howa mini action in 22 ARC last week but won't have my dies until tomorrow so bought some factory 75 gr ammo. Took a couple shots to zero then went looking for a ghog, I found 2 so I started my season early. I am liking the 22 ARC so far
GT Accuracy
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I will concur with the above posters about Eastern GH movements starting now. Since this weeks 70 degree weather in NE PA, the ground grizzlies are on the prowl. Unfortunately for these young studs looking for love, a 4000 lb vehicle doesn't care that the prom queen one field over smells good.
the roads are littered with bodies
the roads are littered with bodies
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