Chuck ??

[jdsingleshot]

I shot at a woodchuck recently with my .222 Rem. The chuck was on all fours facing me at about 100 yards. It hunkered down and stayed put for a few seconds then scuttled off into the brush. It didn't bound as they sometimes do.

I found no hair, blood or other indication of a hit, but I haven't seen the critter in more than a week. (We have had a lot of rainy days, if that matters.)

I checked my zero and my shot at the chuck was probably a couple inches high.

Any guesses as to the unexcused absence ?

 

[Hookeye]

I shot one facing me many moons ago. Dropped him.
Ran down and the shot had gone high and grooved the top of his skull (not penetrated)
Knocked out he was.

 

[Hookeye]

Once shot a big sow coming at me straight ahead out from an old empty shed.
Dropped at 150 yds.. No exit, no blood, soybean greens still in mouth.
WTH?
Closer examination (removal of greens) shows a little white chip on one of her teeth.
Yup, nicked a toof and went down her throat.
75gr Speer .243 bullet grenade inside.
Too bad it wasn't a big boar late in the year, woulda been perfect for taxidermy.
I pop a good fall fuzzy w my .22 mag and will get it mounted if over 16#

 

[.308 Norma]

Any guesses as to the unexcused absence ?

Could a coyote, or even someone's roving dog have carried it off?

 

[jdsingleshot]

Could a coyote, or even someone's roving dog have carried it off?

Nope. I saw it run off to its hole. Just puzzled about not seeing it again. Don't think I hit it.

 

[buck460XVR]

They get spooked pretty easily....and many have more than one hidey spot. The fact it hunkered down for a while before it ran off tells me it probably was trying to figure out the threat before it ran and exposed itself again. Most of the "chucks" down at the cabin only give me one shot before they wise up and get quite elusive. But the security cameras tell me they are still there.

 

[Axis II]

What bullet? I’m guessing ya missed.

 

[jdsingleshot]

They get spooked pretty easily....and many have more than one hidey spot. The fact it hunkered down for a while before it ran off tells me it probably was trying to figure out the threat before it ran and exposed itself again. Most of the "chucks" down at the cabin only give me one shot before they wise up and get quite elusive. But the security cameras tell me they are still there.

That makes sense. You are probably right.

 

[jdsingleshot]

What bullet? I’m guessing ya missed.

50 grain sierra (don't recall the name--a varmint bullet). I agree that I missed.

 

[MacAR]

50 grain sierra (don't recall the name--a varmint bullet). I agree that I missed.

No, you hit it. Your bullet just didn't do what it was supposed to do. The reason I know this, is it happened to me a couple years ago. I was using 50 gr Sierras soft point varmint bullets in my 222, over 22.2grs of H322. A good, accurate load. A chuck came out around 125 yards, and I shot him broadside on just behind the shoulder. He hunkered down and scuttled into his hole, like yours did. I figured I missed, but then a day or two later the dogs and I were in the same area and they dug him out of his hole (he didn't make it very far in). He had a .224" hole all the way through, with absolutely no evidence of expansion. After that, I started loading hollow point 50 grain (Speers?) and haven't had that happen again.

Mac

 

[dh1633pm]

Why such wimpy guns? I shot one with my K31 Swiss. He went a rolling down a hill. Shot of opportunity. Was target shooting and he appeared next to the barn. Choose to live next to a pole. Choose to die near it. He was at a near run. Pesky varmint.

Teasing about the wimpy guns. I normally would use a 223 rifle, but with a 55 grain, mostly because I have lots of them.

 

[jdsingleshot]

No, you hit it. Your bullet just didn't do what it was supposed to do. The reason I know this, is it happened to me a couple years ago. I was using 50 gr Sierras soft point varmint bullets in my 222, over 22.2grs of H322. A good, accurate load. A chuck came out around 125 yards, and I shot him broadside on just behind the shoulder. He hunkered down and scuttled into his hole, like yours did. I figured I missed, but then a day or two later the dogs and I were in the same area and they dug him out of his hole (he didn't make it very far in). He had a .224" hole all the way through, with absolutely no evidence of expansion. After that, I started loading hollow point 50 grain (Speers?) and haven't had that happen again.

Mac

Well, maybe I did hit it. That IS the second chuck that behaved that way after I shot at with those bullets. The first was a couple years ago. That first one never showed up again either...

 

[Wildfan99]

I shoot a lot of gophers in my yard.
Had to go to hollow points because of pass throughs that don't drop them in their tracks.
If you are going to shoot a critter, it has to be a quick, humane kill.

 

[JmacD]

I recall a chuck that was making a dreadful mess in my grandpas yard and getting closer and closer to his blueberry bushes etc… he parted its hair(with a 220 swift if I recall correctly), so it was educated after that. He ended up getting it with a weapon of opportunity: a 7mm rem mag… ears and mist it was

 

[horsey300]

50 grain sierra (don't recall the name--a varmint bullet). I agree that I missed.

Try the hornady spsx or Speer 52 gr hp, if staying with sierra, try a blitzking or hp. Also the varmageddons, dogtowns, and varmint nightmare extremes would be worth a look for thin skinners. The 50gr spsxs and 40 gr vmaxs are my favorites in .223.

 

[MacAR]

Try the hornady spsx or Speer 52 gr hp, if staying with sierra, try a blitzking or hp. Also the varmageddons, dogtowns, and varmint nightmare extremes would be worth a look for thin skinners. The 50gr spsxs and 40 gr vmaxs are my favorites in .223.

A good idea, but loading for the .222 is hard (for me anyhow). The problem I've run into is trying to drive the bullets fast enough that they perform correctly and maintain accuracy. Suffice to say, I understand why the 223 is more popular!

The bullets you list are good, and ought to perform at 222 velocities. I like how the Speers do, but blitzkings have been good for me and so have vmax bullets.

Mac

 

[horsey300]

A good idea, but loading for the .222 is hard (for me anyhow). The problem I've run into is trying to drive the bullets fast enough that they perform correctly and maintain accuracy. Suffice to say, I understand why the 223 is more popular!

The bullets you list are good, and ought to perform at 222 velocities. I like how the Speers do, but blitzkings have been good for me and so have vmax bullets.

Mac

Yeah, I picked the splodeyest flat bases first with accuracy and low velocity in mind , it's been some years now but I do know that with an impact velocity around 2800 those lil spsx pills won't exit a fox, and generally, leave the prairie dogs in too many pieces to count at most average distances.
I don't know what powders the op has on hand but I'd think he should be able to launch a 50 gr spsx or 52 gr Speer with some kind of satisfying accuracy around 2900ish fps and get the results he's seeking.

 

[horsey300]

I recall a chuck that was making a dreadful mess in my grandpas yard and getting closer and closer to his blueberry bushes etc… he parted its hair, so it was educated after that. He ended up getting it with a weapon of opportunity: a 7mm rem mag… ears and mist it was

I remember a pair of chucks making a home in my grandpa's wood pile, as we were only visiting, we didn't have much of an armament, dad had taken one a few days before several yards off behind the barn with grandpa's .223 at just a couple of yards, so we laid in wait (maybe 5 feet from their entrance) with my brother's .36 navy revolver loaded with simple roundballs, my brother missed his first shot, chunks of wood went flying, and the chucks disappeared, we busied ourselves for maybe half an hour until we started to hear them chattering and then we took up our positions again, this time it was my turn and when the shoulders up were exposed, I took the head shot and showered the wood pile with skull fragments, he fell back down into the wood pile and his mate wasn't seen again for the rest of the week, I believe there was a relocation under the cover of duskness or something because we didn't even HEAR them again, but grandpa's raspberry bush certainly rewarded us well enough!

 

[jmorris]

Any guesses as to the unexcused absence ?

It didn't like getting shot at?

Sounds like wood ducks. I have seen them year after year on some ponds. Also have seen them ran off for more than two decades once hunted, on one of them...

 

[Axis II]

No, you hit it. Your bullet just didn't do what it was supposed to do. The reason I know this, is it happened to me a couple years ago. I was using 50 gr Sierras soft point varmint bullets in my 222, over 22.2grs of H322. A good, accurate load. A chuck came out around 125 yards, and I shot him broadside on just behind the shoulder. He hunkered down and scuttled into his hole, like yours did. I figured I missed, but then a day or two later the dogs and I were in the same area and they dug him out of his hole (he didn't make it very far in). He had a .224" hole all the way through, with absolutely no evidence of expansion. After that, I started loading hollow point 50 grain (Speers?) and haven't had that happen again.

Mac

Thats why i asked bullet because i used to use soft points and V max. I knew for a fact they were hit but ran. These .224 Nosler Varmageddon ballistic tips usually field dress them. This is probably my craziest woodchuck hit. About 200yards.

 

[CraigC]

We seem to get a new crop of them every year, using the same burrows all over the front 5-7 acres. Usually hidden at the edge of a treeline. I may go days without seeing them but eventually, they all make the same fatal mistake. As others have mentioned, they don't give me much chance but I usually get two or three a year.