Groundhogs

Gil Martin · Posted: Wed May 24, 2006 3:10 pm Post subject: Groundhogs

I live in a rural area surrounded by farmland. Very few folks hunt woodchucks around here. I use a .223 Winchester 70 with a 3x-9x scope for most chuck hunting. The local farmers would welcome skilled and careful shooters to reduce the numbers of chucks. All the best...
Gil

Crackshot · Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 3:05 pm Post subject: Re: Groundhogs

Hello Gil Martin, No one hunts the little pigs here either, no problem, more fun for me!

Morax · Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 8:47 am Post subject: Re: Groundhogs

Gil Martin wrote:

I live in a rural area surrounded by farmland. Very few folks hunt woodchucks around here. I use a .223 Winchester 70 with a 3x-9x scope for most chuck hunting. The local farmers would welcome skilled and careful shooters to reduce the numbers of chucks. All the best...
Gil

GIl where you at? as in where is schecksville or where ever yer from there? I am close to pittsburgh, maybe do a get together for some haog erradication this year?

TomTalker · Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 5:21 pm Post subject: Re: Groundhogs

HeHe I shoot them! I live about two hrs drive from the finest shooting there is Laughing

. We shoot 40 or 50 a day most times and some times way back it went even more. We shot 39 in one field inside of two or three hrs last time up. Another day we hit a field just before an all day downpour and shot 21 in less than an hr. Great sport and the farmers love you for it/tt

Mush · Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 4:03 pm Post subject: Re: Groundhogs

The Ground Hog hunting in Penna. is great. On some farms it is hard to walk because of the Ground Hog holes everywhere. When I wish to hunt an area I go introduce myself to the farmer. I will express my intrest in hunting on their land and I promise I will not harm them, their property or live stock. After a couple months of hunting with out harming the farm (and taking out some varmits) I have been invited to dinner, invited to go fishing in their pond, and invited to take deer when it is in season.

A little courtesy goes a long way.

Morax · Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 6:53 pm Post subject: Re: Groundhogs

AMEN!! this was first year for my son hunting and i purposely stopped at a few places just to show him how it is done, and got the reactions as was expected for hogging to deer to squirrel, to hey if yer in the area just swing on by!! where abouts in SW-Pa are you? I am near pittsburgh, maybe get together for something this coming season?

Mush · Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 7:32 pm Post subject: Re: Groundhogs

I took a 15 year old kid from down the block out ground hoging this year. I told him to work on hitting varmits at 200 plus yards then hitting a deer at the same range will be a piece of cake. He did well on the varmits and got a buck just 10 minutes after daylight on the first day. I think he is still smileing.......

I am NW of the city. Any place with farm fields out here has it's share of varmit.

TomTalker · Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2006 3:02 pm Post subject: Re: Groundhogs

Below is a link to some pics from the hunt with the 39 in one field. These were victoms of my Sako .375 Shocked

Very graphic so be forewarned Confused

smg.photobucket.com/al...ugust%207/

Mush · Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2006 5:53 pm Post subject: Re: Groundhogs

Nice pix. I hope to get my new 6.5 x 55 working this summer with similar results like your pix.

With my 223 and 45 gn hollow points or 50 gn balsitic tips, I do not see an exit hole past 100 yards and sometimes I have a hard time finding the entry hole. I just find a dead G-hog. With a normal to minimum load I can see the bullet impact from my scope. However, with the 223 from 200 to 300 yards, sometimes I can hit them but they run into the hole. Sometimes they come out, sometimes not.

When I give the farmer a "kill" report they don't seem to care to hear any specifics, just the "dead" count. And will I be comming back to keep the count going up.

TomTalker · Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 8:55 am Post subject: Re: Groundhogs

LOL when you hit them with the .375 you can see the hit because they're still airbourne when you recover from the recoil. I only used it to prove a point to some ney sayers on another forum who claimed most guys can't shoot the big rifles well enough to make them a good choice . I had only 14 rounds left after sighting in with 235 Speers and 87 gr of 4350. I never missed a chuck with that rifle that day. 14 for 14 and some were offhand shots at 100+. Some of them flew 7/8 ft in the air doing the helecopter Shocked

.243 is my favorite for the hayfields where shots can be 400 and even more. .223 0r my .222 are great for walking the fence rows and shots under 300

Grant · Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 9:41 am Post subject: Re: Groundhogs

Tom, I was going to ask you what caliber you use for deer since you use a 375 for ground hog, but then I read your last post....... Wink

Dimitri · Super Member Joined: Nov 25, 2005 Posts: 5947

I use a 8mm Mauser for EVERYTHING being my only rifle up untill recently (got myself a Sears Cooey Model 6C 2 weeks ago :D), but I don't have a scope on it and mainly shoot at 100 yards and under, so the 375 isnt too big in my opinion. Smile

Dimitri

Crackshot · Posted: Mon May 14, 2007 10:28 am Post subject: Re: Groundhogs

First G-hog for 2007 with DEP 44magnum.

hunterjoe21 · Posted: Mon May 14, 2007 7:20 pm Post subject: Re: Groundhogs

So far .243 with 55 gr. ballistic silvertips have been my favorite load for little pigs. I will be working on a handload for the .243 once turkey season ends, along with an acceptable load for the .22-250. I've only killed one with the TC Encore w/ the .22-250 barrel, but have probably taken around 70-80 over the last 4 years with the .243. They are fairly skittish around here (most adults have been shot at,as cattle farmers dont want holes in pastures, and grain farmers would prefer not to lose crops to them), so fairly long shots (250-300 yds) are the norm. A great way to practice your woodsmanship is to carry your .22 lr and try to stalk within 30 yards. A .22 slug in the noggin at that distance will result in a quick and painless kill.

Crackshot · Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 8:39 am Post subject: Re: Groundhogs

The 44 magnum @ 80 yards did a darn respectable job! The side you dont see is gone! Very Happy