2010 Rockchuck hunting!!! First video of the season!

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longdayjake

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpFcXbEXlm8

I was able to get a little video yesterday of my horrible hunting ability. I was using my new Ruger Hawkeye m77 in .223 and I was shooting FMJ. I am very unimpressed with the fmj. We shot several more that we were unable to get on video and I noticed that the fmj never made an instant kill. 22lr did a better job of killing them then did the 55 grain fmj. I think they just went straight through. I usually hunt with my 25-06 and with soft points so I am used to instant kills. Looks like I am going to have to buy some more expensive bullets and work up a new load. Oh well, thats half the fun of the sport.
 
the 223 is ok for deer but not enough gun for rockchucks.
Oh I'm sure with soft points or hollow points there would be a much bigger difference, but I had already sighted in my gun with the fmj and I didn't have time to develop a new load and get it sighted in. I personally wouldn't hunt deer with a .223 but I know folks that do it and they get their tags filled.
 
In my opinion we owe to the game, whatever it is, to ensure quick kills. I thought it was pretty well known that FMJ's aren't going to do this. You might try the Hornady 55 gr. SX for chucks, etc and leave the FMJ's for paper and cans.
 
Try the rounds with plastic tips! V-Max, Ballistic tip, Blitz-Kings all do wonders for this sort of thing in the .223.

FMJ is like poking them with a hot metal rod.
 
Okay so why do the .22LR seem to do more damage than the .223 fmj? You would think that hydrostatic shock from the .223 would do something more than a 22lr???
 
Where abouts were you shooting? I've been trying to find some spots where they are a little more prominent.

longdayjake said:
Okay so why do the .22LR seem to do more damage than the .223 fmj? You would think that hydrostatic shock from the .223 would do something more than a 22lr???

Mainly because lead is a lot softer than copper. A round nose lead bullet can expand more than a FMJ bullet of the same diameter. the .223 has a lot more energy than a .22lr but hardly any of that energy will be effective using fmj's. It just puts a nice hole in it as rock chucks aren't big enough for the bullet to effectively tumble.

Buy some bullets loaded with hornady vmax's. You'll see the rock chucks blowing apart because all the energy of the .223 is dumped quickly, causing rapid fragmentation. I think cabelas sells HSM ammunition loaded with 55gr. Vmax's. It's like $18 for 40rds.

I use 110gr vmax bullets for my .308, loaded with 50gr of Varget, it will send the bullet around 3200fps. It's devastating on whistle pigs and jack rabbits. Numerous times its thrown a whistle pig 10ft in the air. Inside 50yds you can actually hear them pop from a solid hit.
 
I hunt by McAmmon. Its quite a drive for you if you are over in Boise. I bought some 60 grain vmax and I am going out again today to see if we can get some better video.
 
Rockchucks appear to be similar in size to a woodchuck. I would not use an FMJ for woodchuck; they are tough enough to kill with an expanding bullet even when you hit them in a vital area. I use 110 gr VMax out of a .308 and I have gotten instantaneous kills on everyone I have hit except one that some how managed to crawl into his den while leaving a solid blood trail several inches wide and about 6-8 feet long.
 
Some chucks can get pretty big but I think they are basically the same thing as a groundhog or woodchuck. The 60 grain vmax did a much much much better job today. Video will be posted soon.
 
vid

OK after watching this vid it kinda makes me mad , 1st off you need to site that rifle in or get a better gun , or you need to practice a lot more, and really fmj come on spend the $ and respect that animal and take it in a humane manner the first chuck gets my goat , with a ballistic tip or hollow point he would have been dead i hope he expired and didn't crawl into a hole and die later ! im not even close to a ainti gun or anti hunting, im a hunter and atleast shoot twice a week and compete in benchrest shooting but when i see things like this its why they are after us , i groundhog hunt here on the east coast and you dont shoot at 15-20lbs chucks with ball ammo to me that's being cheep , do them a favor and use the right loads for what your doing , ball ammo is paper punching not hunting ammo , why was ball ammo developed because in war its not to kill just to wound and give them a change to live one wounded takes atleast 2 more to get him off the field , why do they not use hollow points in war ? because it will kill remember this when your hunting , And another thing if your shooting 200yds and your not able to make a 200yd shot dont do it i would rather put up clean kill# instead of well he might be dead or well hes wounded . I gets me when i started deer hunting when i was 12 i would see deer coming into the check station with legs missing and everyone was happy , i didn't understand when my dad drilled in my head from age 6 when i started shooting if you don't have the shot don't take it , i guess i was blessed with a really awesome father who tought me i didn't have to kill every time i went out and now i have 3 boys i dont like them to see these vids or the hunting channel gut shooting deer and calling it killing shots its getting away from what we should be doing right , im not trying to sound like a downer but it gets me , just practice ,practice , practice then you can make 200yd shots all day no prob and if the gun wont do it get rid of it and move onto something that will with good optics , remember the youth is watching , i think we should put the same training into actual taking game correctly as we do in gun safety, we all have seen maimed animals in the woods because someone just couldnt put the basics together to get the job done the 1st time , i have a custom build 6mm br that i deer hunt with and its set up as a single **** and its only taken 1 well placed round to bring those deer down anyway enough with the rant just wanna point out we need to pay more attention to what we do and lets do it the right and humane way .
 
Easy there xpppcbr,

I will inform you that he isn't doing anything illegal. Marmots and ground squirrels are a non game species in Idaho. If you shoot them, the only requirement is that you have a valid hunting license. You can poison thousands of them if they're on your property and not get in one bit of trouble.

The antis aren't after us because some hunters might not have "humane ethics". They're after us regardless of how humanely we harvest game. Even if we could harvest game by throwing flowers at them, with everyone from every race/nationality holding hands under rainbows singing kumbaya, they'd still be after us. Ethics is a subjective word, meaning its not a 1 size fits all noun. Everyone's ethics are different and its pretty ignorant to push your ethics onto someone else or say they're wrong because they don't hunt the way you do.

They're called varmints for a reason. It seems for every one you kill, two more pop up next season. Very different than any game animal. The OP has since started using varmint bullets but I wouldn't look down on him for using FMJ's on one. Keep in mind that you could legally club one in the head with a stick if you get close enough.
 
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You know what? I tried fmj because I thought that they would work just fine. They didn't so I switched over to vmax bullets. Its not like I went out thinking that I was going to wound a bunch of chucks with my evil fmj. I figured that since 22lr dispatches them just fine that a 55 grain bullet going at a much much higher velocity would do just as well or better. I admitted that I needed better bullets and I fixed the problem. I was raised by a single mom and didn't have a dad drilling me from the time I was 6 so please don't hold me to your dad's standards. I am sorry that you find me so inferior to yourself and that somehow angers you.

The first video posted was of the first rockchuck of the season. I practice a lot, but out in the field is totally different than on a bench at the range. You don't always have a perfect shot and you don't always have a flat surface to rest your bipod or butt on. Then when you add wind into the shot it gets much much harder. The reason I like chuck hunting is because it offers a much bigger challenge than a deer. I am not the best shooter in the world but I am getting better each time I go out. If I was a really horrible shot like you suggest then none of those shots would have been anywhere close to hitting. If you were guaranteed a hit every time you shot then it wouldn't be much fun would it?
 
longdayjake:

Kudos! Seriously, you learned a lot in that experience. As you said, no bad intent, and very little foul. One can tell from the narration on the video that you were both being as professional as can be. You logic regarding the .22LR versus the .223 is reasonable. Even more reasonable is your admission of the error, and the fact that you corrected the matter. It takes a good secure man to make a public admission. It takes an equally strong man to not rub someone's face in their errors. I hope others will exercise as much strength!

In closing, I would go shooting/hunting with you any day! Good work, keep being safe and professional!

Geno
 
the only thing im saying is in your right mind are you taking deer with fmj rounds ? No ! just choose right you all know fmj arnt good for anything killing just punching holes , and as for varmint i cant say were your from but i live here in wv and me and friends have pretty much wiped out our groundhogs were we hunt so in my opinion there better be a kill in every round fired we dont replenish that quick , im not here to bash or fight just to make it know fmj are not the way to hunt , some that will read this are prob 1st time shooters/hunters and dont know anything all they see is shell prices or 30$ oppose to 9$ and they dont reload but to each his own i think of it like personal defence your going to load hollowpoints i
n your pistol then fmj for personal protection , why because it will get the job done right the first time .
anyway not to make people mad just didnt really understand fmj use when there were so many other bullets to get the job done
 
Come on Jake! I wanna see the next video!!!! :D

What about imbedding text into the video to let the viewer know the yardage... would have no idea how to do it, but it is possible...


Wish I could shoot some chucks...
 
I went out again today and found that if you leave the camera plugged into the computer it will drain the battery. So, though today were some of the coolest kills I do not have any more to post. If you would like I can post some more misses from last week, but they seem to generate a lot of negative comments.

Today I got my longest kill yet and it was awesome!!! 296 yards was what the rangefinder said was the rock just in front of the one I shot today. I will charge up my camera and post a picture of my gun so that you can see what is doing all the damage. I previously thought badly of the .223 because I had only shot it from a 16" AR and could never keep a really tight group at 200 yards. Since buying this 22" ruger hawkeye I just can't get over how much I love the .223 as a varmint gun. The 60 grain vmax has been very very impressive for me as well. Oh I guess I'll mention the scope that I am using too, its a 2.5x8 VXIII Leupold. I know its not much of a varmint scope, but my 6x18 vxII does not hold a zero and will be going back to leupold for the third time. :mad: Anyway, I am leaving town from thursday to sunday so don't expect to see any more videos posted until next week.
 
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