Your progression on groundhogs from earliest age to present - rifles, optics and distance
- Thread starter Nomad47
- Start date
Nomad -
Howdy !
Yeh..... while we've seen groundhogs in NE Allen Co. IN every month of the year @ one time or another, I don't recall that we ever made Dec or Jan kill(s). November, yes.... but it seems like they go into hybernation by early Nov; if it's cold.
" Its all good " !!
With regards,
357Mag
Howdy !
Yeh..... while we've seen groundhogs in NE Allen Co. IN every month of the year @ one time or another, I don't recall that we ever made Dec or Jan kill(s). November, yes.... but it seems like they go into hybernation by early Nov; if it's cold.
" Its all good " !!
With regards,
357Mag
This thread has truly turned into a treatise of woodchucking with varmint rifles--love it!
For me it actually started with a pellet gun shooting birds. When I got a 4X 22 scope on it accuracy then became part of my varmint shooting addiction.
Moved from MD to ME then and devoured every magazine I could get my hands on regarding chuck shooting with accuracy setups, of which back in the late 70's, early '80's there wasn't enough published on it. Bought a used Chileno Mauser 22-250 (wanted a 222 but couldn't find one), and a Rockchucker press and took a long time before I figured out what to do with it. Never had anyone to help me along the way really though since so few were into accuracy shooting/reloading, so I was mostly self-taught.
Never shot 1 chuck in ME though, before I went in the USAF and got stationed in CO. Bought a VW Bug and a Rem. 700 22-250 Varm. Special/Leupold M8 24X from Suter's Gun Shop in Colo. Spgs. in '78, and I was in Heaven shooting prairie dogs/rockchucks all across southern CO. What a life that was!
Back in MD for school in '82, and whilst in a Pawn Shop in Baltimore one day saw a huge 29" bull-barrelled 25-06/Unertl 20X 2"--for me the epitome of long-range accuracy varminting. Every chance I got I was in Western MD at several farms shooting chucks...Heaven, once again!
Found another gem (sort of) in another pawn shop. A Fajen-stocked Martini in 225 Win./Weaver T-10X. Probably beyond the pages of this thread here nobody in those days even knew what a 225 Win. was...but I had one. Never could get that gun to shoot, sure was pretty though--
Had also brought back a 6mm Rem Ruger 77V from CO, that also killed it's fair share of GH's in it's day.
A number of years ago now a coworker suggested I write an article on hunting since I did it so much. I thought about it for awhile and wrote a 2-pg. article entitled, "Woodchuck Shooting in MD." Sent it to 3 magazines and they all turned me down. Finally sent it to editor Mitch Cox at Fur, Fish, Game, and he published it for $75. That woodchuck article was the beginning of my freelance writing career. Sure has been a fun ride so far. Even though I live in in the west now where there's always some varmint to shoot 365 days a year I think often about the great chucking days in Western MD.
For me it actually started with a pellet gun shooting birds. When I got a 4X 22 scope on it accuracy then became part of my varmint shooting addiction.
Moved from MD to ME then and devoured every magazine I could get my hands on regarding chuck shooting with accuracy setups, of which back in the late 70's, early '80's there wasn't enough published on it. Bought a used Chileno Mauser 22-250 (wanted a 222 but couldn't find one), and a Rockchucker press and took a long time before I figured out what to do with it. Never had anyone to help me along the way really though since so few were into accuracy shooting/reloading, so I was mostly self-taught.
Never shot 1 chuck in ME though, before I went in the USAF and got stationed in CO. Bought a VW Bug and a Rem. 700 22-250 Varm. Special/Leupold M8 24X from Suter's Gun Shop in Colo. Spgs. in '78, and I was in Heaven shooting prairie dogs/rockchucks all across southern CO. What a life that was!
Back in MD for school in '82, and whilst in a Pawn Shop in Baltimore one day saw a huge 29" bull-barrelled 25-06/Unertl 20X 2"--for me the epitome of long-range accuracy varminting. Every chance I got I was in Western MD at several farms shooting chucks...Heaven, once again!
Found another gem (sort of) in another pawn shop. A Fajen-stocked Martini in 225 Win./Weaver T-10X. Probably beyond the pages of this thread here nobody in those days even knew what a 225 Win. was...but I had one. Never could get that gun to shoot, sure was pretty though--
Had also brought back a 6mm Rem Ruger 77V from CO, that also killed it's fair share of GH's in it's day.
A number of years ago now a coworker suggested I write an article on hunting since I did it so much. I thought about it for awhile and wrote a 2-pg. article entitled, "Woodchuck Shooting in MD." Sent it to 3 magazines and they all turned me down. Finally sent it to editor Mitch Cox at Fur, Fish, Game, and he published it for $75. That woodchuck article was the beginning of my freelance writing career. Sure has been a fun ride so far. Even though I live in in the west now where there's always some varmint to shoot 365 days a year I think often about the great chucking days in Western MD.
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snert
Silver $$ Contributor
18.4 pounds, shot at 120 yards with a reduced load (unique) in a 220 Swift, about 8 or 9 years ago. Stupid thing looked like a boulder with a grapefruit (head) on it. When it stood up there was no wondering if I was going to miss windage...stupid thing was so wide I just planted the T10 in the middle and smacked him between the shoulder blades. Sadly, I had no cell phone (still don't) and no camera, so no proof. But I did have a fish scale!
Bangs OH
Silver $$ Contributor
Speaking of groundhog-related literature: You're not a groundhog hunter unless you own a well-worn copy of Paul Estey's The Woodchuck Hunter. (Looks like one can now buy a copy from Amazon/Sportsman'sVintagePress.com.) Written in the mid-1930s, Estey captures the full experience of Depression-era farm living and 'hog hunting. A lot on the "varmint" rifles of the era (the .257 Roberts must have been the "cat's pajamas" then), but also a lot of groundhog-related anecdotes.
My favorite is the story of the farmer who, frustrated by an itinerant preacher's constant hanging around and hitting on the womenfolk, killed and cooked a big groundhog after the "guest" claimed he loved to eat them. When the plate of greasy woodchuck meat was placed before preacher-man, he suddenly remembered another soul that needed saving, and high-tailed it out of there, never to be seen again.
Good reading on a cold winter's evening.
My favorite is the story of the farmer who, frustrated by an itinerant preacher's constant hanging around and hitting on the womenfolk, killed and cooked a big groundhog after the "guest" claimed he loved to eat them. When the plate of greasy woodchuck meat was placed before preacher-man, he suddenly remembered another soul that needed saving, and high-tailed it out of there, never to be seen again.
Good reading on a cold winter's evening.
This thread has me thinking, not only of progression of GH hunting, but my hunting and shooting progression overall.
Like sscoyote, I had no one to mentor me. My father and mother were educators and somewhat liberal. Scared to death of guns. I received my first shotgun on my 15 th Christmas ( my father's reasoning was I had killed everything around with a recurve bow, why not ?). A rifle followed the next Christmas, a Marlin 39A. I started reloading when I was in my mid 30's. Read everything I could on the subject. After reloading for a few cartridges with very little data, I learned quite a bit. Maybe the fact that I am self taught has caused me to keep an open mind about different ways of doing things. This thread has been a real look into people's lives and how people raised differently come to love the same things. Here's to accurate rifles, rolling soybean fields and fat hogs that sit still, and the men that hunt them.
I raise a glass gentlemen.
Like sscoyote, I had no one to mentor me. My father and mother were educators and somewhat liberal. Scared to death of guns. I received my first shotgun on my 15 th Christmas ( my father's reasoning was I had killed everything around with a recurve bow, why not ?). A rifle followed the next Christmas, a Marlin 39A. I started reloading when I was in my mid 30's. Read everything I could on the subject. After reloading for a few cartridges with very little data, I learned quite a bit. Maybe the fact that I am self taught has caused me to keep an open mind about different ways of doing things. This thread has been a real look into people's lives and how people raised differently come to love the same things. Here's to accurate rifles, rolling soybean fields and fat hogs that sit still, and the men that hunt them.
I raise a glass gentlemen.
Those days when I got started into accuracy varmint shooting (early '70's) you had to have a drive for it to learn as it wasn't just a simple click of a mouse button to get info and data about varminting, especially for a teenager with no mentor. So few knew anything about it. A 300-yd. shot in MD was almost unheard of, and never talked about since everyone knew you were lying. My dad would just shake his head when I'd talk about my "addiction."
Loved anything knew the gunrags would publish about it. Guys like Don Lewis, Bob Bell, Nick Sisley, and some others were doing great things with the resources of that time. Then Bob Milek started writing about the custom specialty pistols which was really cool, and true cutting edge, but I never used them for chucking (missed that opportunity).
Bob Bell wrote a small piece on the romanticism of long-range woodchuck shooting, in the Introduction of his book "Scopes and Mounts," entitled "In the Beginning," about a 300-yd. shot he made on a woodchuck's head, with a Model 70 240 Cobra/18X 1 1/2" Unertl, that probably embodies the essence of long-range varminting about as well as anything I've ever read. I'll try to scan it and copy it here somehow.
BTW this thread needs more pictures. This was my Martini 225 Win. with the old original Harris tall(er) bipod...and hair--
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Hear, hear sir! Very well said! No glass right now--just a coffee cup, but it's raised!
Heres a story ya'll might get a kick out of. My dad was a chicken-neck crabber (MD guys will know what that is). We were baiting our crab trot line one day when I put some woodchuck backstrap on it, since I was always trying to find a way to use what I shot. My dad just looked at me with a look of disapproval, pulled them off and chucked them. I still dug some out and baited a trap or two with them and lo and behold we caught some crabs the next day with them. Still got the disapproving look though--oh well.
MarkS
Silver $$ Contributor
I was born at an early age.
I started g'hog hunting when I was 12 or 13. Like most, my first gun was a 22 rim fire. I would sneak up and try to smack them at 75 yards or less, iron sights. Then at 15, I got my first CF, a 30-06 and put a 4x Unertl on it, mainly for deer. I shot 125 grain handloads and the 55 grain accelerators out to 150, maybe 200 yards at groundhogs. At 18, I bought my first true varmint rifle, a Remington 700bdl heavy barrel in 6mm Remington. Can't remember what scope I put on it but it was probably a 3-9. I remember killing one at 440 yards and was ecstatic. And all the locals thought I was telling a tall tale.
Now I expect a 600 yard shot to be a kill 90% of the time. I've killed 2 over 1000 and I've had 2 chances past 1100. Of course, equipment is much better. 6XC and 6SLR shooting 105 AMax's, 16 pound rifles with wide bipods, Sightron SIII 10-50x60 scopes
I started groundhog hunting in 1974 when we moved to SW VA. I started with a 22 LR, moved to a 22 mag. I later moved to a 22-250. I have ranged from a 17 rem, 223, 222mag, 20 BR, 20 Tac, 6mm AI. My current guns are Bat 6brx , Stiller Diamondback 6 BR, Savage LRPV 6BR, Savage Striker 6BR
Mark Schronce
All -
Thought I had already posted a pic of my anti-groundhog wildcats, but apparently I had not ?!
Those two are:
" .22-35 Remington ", seen on the Rt; w/ a 75 "A"-Max seated. 26* shoulder angle, .250" lg neck.
My current varmint/target round " DEEP 6 " is pictured in the middle, w/ a 95VLD seated.
Chamber is cut by running a 6mm Remington reamer in " short ", for a .466" base diam.
7 X 64 Brenneke is the parent case, which is .308 bolt face compatible.
26* shoulder angle, l-o-n-g neck. This is a 1,000yd capable cartridge, in my 29" Broughton SS 1-8 5"C".
The third case:
" 6.5 KIWI " is shown ( un-fire formed ) on the Lt, w/ a 123 "A"-Max seated.
A wildcat designed for a New Zealand shooter, that hunted Tar.
With regards,
357Mag
Thought I had already posted a pic of my anti-groundhog wildcats, but apparently I had not ?!
Those two are:
" .22-35 Remington ", seen on the Rt; w/ a 75 "A"-Max seated. 26* shoulder angle, .250" lg neck.
My current varmint/target round " DEEP 6 " is pictured in the middle, w/ a 95VLD seated.
Chamber is cut by running a 6mm Remington reamer in " short ", for a .466" base diam.
7 X 64 Brenneke is the parent case, which is .308 bolt face compatible.
26* shoulder angle, l-o-n-g neck. This is a 1,000yd capable cartridge, in my 29" Broughton SS 1-8 5"C".
The third case:
" 6.5 KIWI " is shown ( un-fire formed ) on the Lt, w/ a 123 "A"-Max seated.
A wildcat designed for a New Zealand shooter, that hunted Tar.
With regards,
357Mag
That workie fo' me!
I never thought hunting groundhogs would bite me so hard - but it did. I bought an old Bausch and Lomb 36x to put on a rifle I don't even have yet.Not sure what I want, factory or built or what caliber, but I'm getting the itch. I don't have a 250 in the war room yet.............so many choices. And so the progression continues.
Quick... GET OUT NOW, while you have a chance. If you keep on in this direction, you will wind up a bean field bum like the rest of us !!!
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We just got a dusting to maybe 1/2". Temperature is hovering right around freezing. And the temperature is not to reach 50 for the next 7 days.
Even if the groundhogs aren't hibernating, I will be.
snert
Silver $$ Contributor
We just got a dusting to maybe 1/2". Temperature is hovering right around freezing. And the temperature is not to reach 50 for the next 7 days.
Even if the groundhogs aren't hibernating, I will be.
despite all my prep...it was 70 degrees yesterday....i lost my driveway and found myself driving in my lawn just a few minutes ago.....10 inches blown snow now and no stopping for 2 days....time to start prepping brass! got 400 222 sized and cleaned today!
snert
Silver $$ Contributor
collatoral damage in the hog wars of 2014
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