Woodchucks 2018

Status
Not open for further replies.
We took out dogs in the truck to a walking trail one day and we saw some chucks. They came after the dogs. Mine are not wood chuck killers like Sarge. It scared the heck out of them. They will charge you.
 
Once upon a time, 30 years ago, i was planting beans along a fencerow. I spotted a young groundhog out in the field. As luck would have it, i wound up on tge endrows between the fencerow and the groundhog. I opened my toolbox and selected a ball peen hammer and a half inch drive breaker bar as my weapons.
I squared off with that groundhog in the freshly tilled earth.
He tried several times to make an end run around me and get to the fencerow...but i was a match for his short legs.
Soon he decided his best chance was to fight, but alas, a groundhog skull is no match for a ball peen hammer.
The next day, i wondered why i could hardly bear to push the clutch pedal on my tractor, then i remembered my great groundhog battle.
 
Well we went to the range so my buddy could sight in his new Ruger AR and check zero on his 22-250 and he tells me to shoot the 223 a bit. I loaded about 25 rounds with 25.3gr of benchmark which I was a little skeptical about but they put 4 out of 5 in the same hole at 100yards. We went to lunch and headed to about 5 of our woodchuck spots and every single one either had corn or not even tilled and planted yet!! We went to a lower field surrounded by the river we have shot a lot out of and there was small patches of beans possibly from last year but not one woodchuck showed! We did see about 4 different deer though so it was a good night.
 
I don't go looking for woodchucks but I've taken 3 this year and will probably get a few more before summer is done. Shot the first one in my pasture using an AR-15. Took the other two in my neighbor's yard using an M&P 15-22. They burrow under her outbuildings and I get rid of them for her as she is getting up in years and doesn't shoot too well anymore.

Last year, I shot one at my neighbor's place....it was up in a tree. Is that very common to find them in a tree?

woodchuck.jpg
 
I have only seen and have only shot one in a tree. I was using a 308 Winchester. It isn't wise to shoot a 308 Winchester into the air when there are houses all around starting at 200 or 300 yards but I was using a plastic bullet so no danger and it worked fine.
 
I had a rental house that had an infestation. Under the deck, under the shed, under the neighbors sheds. I killed 14 off of that 1 acre property, mostly with a bow. I only had 1 be aggressive, but he was mean. He got a 9mm dose of lead round nose. When I tore the shed down I smoke bombed the burrow. Smoke was coming out everywhere. 3 bow kills that day.

If you are where you can trap them, they like tomatoes.
 
I've yet to see a woodchuck up in a tree........ Maybe it's because I don't get out enough. Because enough close friends and relatives of mine who I know and trust have sworn that they've seen 'chucks climb trees. And these are people I know well enough that I can tell when they're pulling my leg. Speaking of trapping, an elderly owner of a farm I used to 'chuck hunt on used traps on those that decided to burrow down alongside the foundations of his out buildings and IIRC he was using tomatoes for bait also.
 
I don't go looking for woodchucks but I've taken 3 this year and will probably get a few more before summer is done. Shot the first one in my pasture using an AR-15. Took the other two in my neighbor's yard using an M&P 15-22. They burrow under her outbuildings and I get rid of them for her as she is getting up in years and doesn't shoot too well anymore.

Last year, I shot one at my neighbor's place....it was up in a tree. Is that very common to find them in a tree?

View attachment 791436
Climbing trees gives them more wood to chuck.
 
Oh i would love to take credit for that shot...but it was actually #1 son with my LCP
View attachment 790845
I must be doing it wrong! I have been trying the across the field shots! Time to get out the bow I guess. lol
812yds (.260 Rem) The son in the back spotted it for me as it took 2 shots. Wife insisted I go get it for dinner.
PART951434323674920952015061495191340.jpg
All 500+ (.223 Rem) My friend and I took quite a few that day from two fields.
FB_IMG_1511229930994.jpg
500yds (.223Rem) and my daughter refused to go get it since she missed it. Thus ending the game that if you miss you fetch.
FB_IMG_1511229959294.jpg
 
When i turned 18 I bought my first rifle, a Remington 700 ADL in .243 Win. I was already handloading for a couple other guns since I was 15, so that is what I did for the .243. I was a farm boy and we had groundhogs plenty along with every other farmer in the area. My first year I killed 173 from 20 yards to 470 yards with that gun. I would stop at all the neighbors farms and ask permission to hunt their bean fields and hay fields for ground hogs. The next year I only was able to kill about 80 because I had thinned them out so much. I still have my .243, and it has never had a factory shell through it to this day 30 some years later.

I cleaned out a lot of barns that had pigeons too with my 20 gauge shotgun. Farmers liked to see me coming to thin out the vermin.
 
WGI_0251.JPG WGI_0248.JPG ...... "Fun With Trailcams"..... Here's a couple live ones to balance out all the deceased 'chuck photos. Put a trailcam about 100 yards out back by a couple 'chuck holes. In a "no discharge of firearms" area, ( too close to the houses). It was the only way I could legally "shoot" them. I was hoping to get some more hunting themed pictures with dead 'chucks next to varmint rifles but haven't even had a chance yet this summer. So here's my first "Woodchucks 2018" photos.
 
We took one out a couple weeks ago at my dad's. He has a lot of land. Got him with a Camp 9 at 50 yards. He as eating things we would rather him not eat, like an over hundred year old building. Pesky varmint. We got another to stop digging near the lawn by filling up his hole with used cat litter and then filling it in. No new holes after a good bunch of cat cigars.
 
When i turned 18 I bought my first rifle, a Remington 700 ADL in .243 Win. I was already handloading for a couple other guns since I was 15, so that is what I did for the .243. I was a farm boy and we had groundhogs plenty along with every other farmer in the area. My first year I killed 173 from 20 yards to 470 yards with that gun. I would stop at all the neighbors farms and ask permission to hunt their bean fields and hay fields for ground hogs. The next year I only was able to kill about 80 because I had thinned them out so much. I still have my .243, and it has never had a factory shell through it to this day 30 some years later.

I cleaned out a lot of barns that had pigeons too with my 20 gauge shotgun. Farmers liked to see me coming to thin out the vermin.


I have and reload for a Remington 700 in .243 Win. I've probably shot factory rounds in it, but can't remember.

Have a blessed day,

Leon
 
Finally got #1 of the season! 630 I get a text to meet for an evening hunt so I head out and we get to a large hay field that has train tracks running through it and someone is already there! We go to the large bean field and walking in we see a huge chuck! 75 yards or so resting on a tree the 223 with 55gr noslers barks and puts him down! We wait till 830 and just get ready to leave and my buddy says coyote! One large one steps out along with 2 pups and another is 100yards away in the other field! My buddy was on his sand bag and me on the rear bag for a front rest and we fire and he dropped the larger one while it layed down watching the pups play. Mine ran hard and all 3 disappeared! 10min later the pup comes back out and my buddy fires and the yote jumps and trots off! I fire and it jumps again and trotted off out of site! No blood was found from either of the pups and upon checking the one he killed was the male! I'm guessing the one in the other field was mom. 300yards the 22-250 dropped it like a sack of potatoes! Possibly 3 more targets left!
 
John's Savage 110.JPG

When I was around 15, I bought a 30-06 Savage, got a Bishop semi-inletted walnut stock and shaped it to mimic a Weatherby, and epoxy bedded the action. Not having much money, I opted for a 2.5X Weaver scope. Practice for hunting deer, a couple of us hunted woodchucks, mostly with handloaded ammo.

One year, I kept track of my kills and averaged 230 yards. The longest shot I ever made with it was a side-hill woodchuck 450 yards, that was lying on top of it's freshly-mined mound. First shot was about 6" low and I aimed about 4 feet above and
allowed about 8" for wind.
 
Last edited:
Here it is July and I haven't even pointed a gun at a 'chuck this season (yet). One of the farms I used to hunt is up for sale due to the elderly owners death and a few other spots are currently in limbo, too......... So the only 'chucks I've managed to "shoot" have been with a trail cam about 125 yds. out back in a "no discharge of firearms" area. I could most likely get away with popping one in the head with a 22LR round but I'm not gonna push my luck. Here's a few pix from the "gun free" zone along with a young fox that stopped by to check out the woodchuck holes. First time in my life I've ever had pictures of live 'chucks instead of dead ones posing next to a rifle. It's frustrating to be reduced to currently being limited to shooting 'chucks with just a trail cam but boredom can do funny things. But it's still fun anyway. WGI_0119.JPG WGI_0116.JPG WGI_0086.JPG WGI_0128.JPG WGI_0137.JPG
 
We drove around Sunday evening to about 5 farms and every single one was corn! We headed to another farm with a bean and hay field side by side and a 30ft wooden tower to shoot from! First 10min on the tower my buddy says there is one at 150yards. One shot and he was down! Another appeared at 200yards and he was also taken out with one shot! My buddy began glassing with the spotting scope and 2 chucks at 455yards. I went prone on the spotting scope and he climbed in the hole of the tower with a Remington 700 stainless 22-250 50gr V max handloads and 6-18 Burris scope. The chuck kept popping up and down in the beans and did this about 4 times until it stood still and the 22-250 barked! I thought for sure he hit the chuck by the way it went down but he just missed! Moments later it reappeared at 300yards and i took the shot and he said it appeared it went right through it but he came out a little later and made a mad dash across the field! We seen 2-3 more but we would be shooting towards houses so we didn't take the shot.
 
We had company here last week, but when I opened the blinds to the back yard, there was a chuck on the lawn, sitting up about 5 yards from the house. I wasn't about to grab a rifle and try to kill it with company here, but I haven't seen it since. Unfortunately, there's only one safe shooting direction and in the past, it has proven difficult to sneak up on them, due to heavy brush and the house at that area. Stay tuned...this battle isn't over.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Many moons ago, I was hunting chucks with my Rem 700 ADL, .22-250 and carried a Ruger bull-barreled semi-auto .22LR handgun. Didn't see any chucks. Looking down on a field, I spied an old rusty can in the hay field about 100 yards away, and decided to take a shot at it with the handgun. I put the rifle down and, bracing two-handed against a small tree with the handgun, aimed about 6" above the can and fired a shot. I heard a "plop". Can's don't do that when hit, so I walked down to see what I'd hit and when I got there, it was a woodchuck with a fresh bullet hole through the head. You could have knocked me over with a feather.
 
Last edited:
Thats some serious firepower for woodchucks. If you guys aren't aware, woodchucks can be good eating. The young ones are the best to eat, as the bigger older ones can be tough. It may sound strange, but when i was a kid some of my most fond memories of eating wild game were groundhogs. Wed fry up the liver and kidneys as a snack, waiting on the groundhog to boil with carrots and potatoes. I always used 22lr, but i could see a 223 or something bigger being fun, if you arent worried about the meat.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top