What is Your favorite Groundhog or Varmint rifle scope??

[VaRandy]

For some reason just saw your post to Hillbilly sniper on scopes. I very seldom run into another varmint hunter operating at your distances and above and hope we can speak by phone, I have a good selection of custom, mostly AI ,that make me proud. I have been shooting since age 12 and am 74 now and all but a few years are nothing but groundhogs. I have all the supporting equipment to be good up to a mile, just need more than 1 chance a year at that distance! Hope you call me 804 690 6868. anytime Planning my first trip to shoot yellow bellied marmots in a couple of months.

 

[Big_Daddy]

Come on up to South Dakota and we'll paint the prairie!

Awesome looking spot.
We shoot Prairie Dogs in North Dakota.

 

[VaRandy]

Come on up to South Dakota and we'll paint the prairie!

Good to see that you were here on the site just yesterday. I will be visiting South Dakota for the first time in a couple of months. Mostly going for the yellow bellied marmots but will do a little of PD shooting. I will likely be there for a month or so. This is a really big deal for me because I live on the Far East coast. Would like to speak with you, mostly about geography there but I am very proud of my custom rigs as well. 804 690 6868 anytime. Randy

 

[VaRandy]

Boy I hate to simplify the ground hog rifle/scope package but after using several different cartridges for it, I've settled on my old trusty 6.5-284 w/140 Amax/ELDs. Shots to 1200 yards are pretty rare but available but 500-1000 are common. Out to 500 the .223 w/53 Vmax is good stuff. My LR ground hog scope is the Leupold 6.5-20x50 Mark 4. Excellent glass even tho by today's glass it's old school. My son's .260 wears the Mark 4 4.5-14x50 and it's plenty for Hogs out to 1000 easily. Good glass for LR is more important than magnification within reason. For the ranges we shoot, it is. I've used power mag beyond 25 with no difference in success on kills. With the duplex on a 14X Leupy, there's plenty of animal on both sides of the cross hairs. With a new 25-284 in the works running the 131 Blackjacks, it may be my next Ground hog rifle. Should be much flatter than my 6.5(284) beyond 600 yards. Look forward to bullet performance on those Hogs also.

 

[VaRandy]

Been a while since we last spoke.Give me a call sometime (anytime since I am retired. Maybe we can meet out west this year.

 

[stosh]

Used Leupold VX3 LRT 8.5-25x50 for years and loved it! But I also love my Nightforce NSX 12-42x56!

 

[drags]

Hi Hillbilly, I like the Leupold's 6.5x20 and 8.5x25 scopes I do use one Bushnell elite 8x32 but keep it on 20x. Also I use a 6x18 Leupold and 4x16 Weaver but I like the 6.5x20 and 8.5x25 best. The 8.5x25 has a 30mm tube and the others are 1" tubes. We have local groundhog shoots here (paper groundhogs) and for that I use the Nightforce 15x55 and I shoot the match at 55 power. This season will be my 62nd year hunting groundhogs, the last 5 years I have been keeping records and have got 408 groundhogs I wish I have kept records the other 57 years. I'm 79 years old and mainly hunt 4 or 5 mornings a week in SW Penna. By far the groundhog is my favorite animal to hunt.
Drags

 

[Ackman]

What are you guys running for Glass on your Groundhog guns?(Varmint guns)
I have used different stuff over the years but mainly use Leupold 12x FX, and Varix III 6.5-20x40 and 8.5-25x40 with Target Turrents and my favorite Fine Duplex reticles! I been wanting to try a new scope but dont see any that would suit my needs. Todays scope are to busy and too Tactical for my old school ways i guess. I would love to find a new scope for a new build i will have finished soon.

We don't have groundhogs here, it's rockchucks. Same thing, different habitat. What I shoot them with depends on where they are and which tool strikes my fancy. Anything from .22mag and .17AH w. 4-16 scopes to .257Wby with 8-32. All are effective, all fun, just depends on where it is. You're right about reticles being too busy. A simple fine duplex works great for me. When you know the trajectory of whatever you're shooting and the distance, holdover is not a big deal.