Anyone woodchuck/groundhog hunting yet? I never used to be a fan of it until recent years when I started target shooting with a rifle and saw the destruction they do to bean fields around me. I usually go several times per week and average 1-2 kills per week if not more but this year is going to be slow for me, so I have to live through you guys. I will get out a little bit and pretty excited. My buddy is going to take my rifle Savage Axis 22'' heavy barrel with a pepper Boyds Classic stock and Vortex 6-18 scope and see how it shoots out to 400yards with 55gr Nosler BT. He marked my turrets and made a drop card for me last year and it seemed to work pretty well with the furthest shot being about 250-275yards prone. Last year we sat on a 30ft tower overlooking train tracks and 50 acre bean field and shot about 10 in 2hrs.
Woodchucks 2019
- Thread starter Axis II
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Used to be a popular sport.
Places built up, old farmers died off...........coyotes.
Just no chucks around here anymore.
See em in town by the old steel mill LOL.
Started hunting in 6th grade, Rem 660 in .222.
Moved to Ruger #1B in .243 in jr high.............had that rifle when I got married.
Still some around, got new places, burned a lot of time and gas for mediocre hunting at best.
And that too faded away.
Good times. Miss it.
We waited until they had their pups out. More shooting. Plus ya didn't pop momma and starve the little ones waiting that long.
Pest control, but still done humane.
Still have a 700 sporter in .243 win I could use.
I did drive by several of my old spots last summer.
The changes were a bummer.
Places built up, old farmers died off...........coyotes.
Just no chucks around here anymore.
See em in town by the old steel mill LOL.
Started hunting in 6th grade, Rem 660 in .222.
Moved to Ruger #1B in .243 in jr high.............had that rifle when I got married.
Still some around, got new places, burned a lot of time and gas for mediocre hunting at best.
And that too faded away.
Good times. Miss it.
We waited until they had their pups out. More shooting. Plus ya didn't pop momma and starve the little ones waiting that long.
Pest control, but still done humane.
Still have a 700 sporter in .243 win I could use.
I did drive by several of my old spots last summer.
The changes were a bummer.
troy fairweather
Member
lots of shooting chucks, but i don't have a place to do it any more. the farmers would just about beg guys to shoot them in the pastures but with less and less farms by me, and farmers just don't have the cows out much anymore. i should get my nj firearms card, i know lou dobbs pretty good and i bet his horses would not mind. his farms only 5 miles from me in ny.
We wait until June to start so we don’t orphan pups.
22250Rem
Member
Only chucks I shot last year were right near me in a no discharge of firearms zone..... I shot 'em with a trail cam set up by their holes. I'm also running out of places to shoot them with an actual centerfire rifle. One spot the landowner passed away and right now the place is in limbo. Another spot it seems that chucks no longer inhabit. Buddy of mine has a few leads on some big fields that may be promising. Sure do miss the days when old farmers were glad to have me come and "thin 'em out" . I'd even love to find small meadows that need thinning out with a 22lr doing head shots from 20-50 yards. Did lots of that back in the day.
stillquietvoice
Contributing Member
Didn't see a caliber on your axis. I've done trigger jobs on 2 standard axis's and 1 axis 2. The first was a muddy girl camo pattern in 243 win. She, being a fairly new mom, needed cash and sold it to a coworker for his neicewho used it to take a six point and a doe the first year and an eight point the following year. It had a 2.75 Lb trigger pull, no creep, and no overtravel.
Sounds like fun. I've already got 2 with my crossman 760 from my back yard.
troy fairweather
Member
i stopped by my old boss/friend farm today, really wish i had my ny card and licence. saw like 30 turkeys and 2 chucks in the field. the farms only 3 farms from lou dobbs farm. i wish i could shoot in my yard, id have killed a few.
stillquietvoice
Contributing Member
I really need a better, more precision, higher powered air rifle.
223rem with the accu trigger. My buddy touched up the trigger on my other axis rifle.
stillquietvoice
Contributing Member
Had 1 also shot mine out to 550 with 50 gr vax reloads. It now resides iny son in laws safe. Stoned the trigger on that one. It is almost as good as the Timney on my r 700.
22250Rem
Member
Seeing as how this is the 2019 woodchuck thread; have any of you noticed less 'chucks over the last few years? They sure aren't as thick around here as they used to be. I'm thinking it may have something to do with the coyote population being a lot bigger than it was years ago. Foxes are also a lot more common.and I get them on my trail cams all the time. Last summer I even had a trail cam picture of a fox checking out a 'chuck hole. Been looking for some new areas to 'chuck hunt and if we get permission for some of them I'm wondering if there will be any out there.
troy fairweather
Member
the amount off coyotes, haws and eagles are up here in orange county ny. also seems woodchuck pop goes down the more rain. the best years i remember were the very dry years.
Enfielder
Member
Tiny little milk cartons with the missing pictures on the back.No chucks around here, but my prairie dogs have been putting up "missing" posters
Definitely fewer chucks here than in past years. I have a shed that they like to live under. In years past I'd kill 10-15 a summer. Last year maybe 2?
There was a field behind the house that I used to hunt a couple of times a year and always get some action. Last several years I only saw 1 in about 5 trips. I know the landowner of that field had a guy hunting there practically year round with orders to kill them all, but even he has quit coming. Coyotes, disease? Don't know but they're definitely not as many.
There was a field behind the house that I used to hunt a couple of times a year and always get some action. Last several years I only saw 1 in about 5 trips. I know the landowner of that field had a guy hunting there practically year round with orders to kill them all, but even he has quit coming. Coyotes, disease? Don't know but they're definitely not as many.
22250Rem
Member
Weird, ain't it ? I can recall when they seemed to be everywhere. Some folks wanted me to help reduce their numbers. It's depressing...... I feel so unwanted. Twenty years ago an old farmer used to tell me to "Shoot the bas#$%ds" and I was happy to oblige him. Now it's difficult to find any in an area where you can discharge firearms.
troy fairweather
Member
ya i guess people changed, i am on the border line for city people. im 1 1/2 hour from nyc. they have move in and destroyed many things. land owner now are afraid about getting sued to. about the WC's a large bald eagle nest fell down here and they found 20 or more pet callers. i seen haws snatch young WC's before.
Well I was getting reports of a family of 3 living under my back shed and my brother killed one with the 22lr. Yesterday while doing dishes I look out the back window and there is a baby on the concrete pad of the shed and the biggest woodchuck I ever saw in my life in the back yard by the fire pit. I would put $100 this chuck weighed close to 20lbs or more. I grabbed the Savage Mark II and loaded 3 rounds, put the crosshair on its head at 30yards and fired. It just stood there and ran back under the shed. I went out looking for blood and not a drop in the grass or the gravel around the shed. I saw another one in the garden and it went under the shed. Having hunted them in field for several years I know they tend to stay hidden for at least 30min or so but after 5min a big blonde one showed up by the back wood pile. I put some Aguila super extra in the gun and settled the crosshair on it at 40yards and fired. The chuck dropped and twitched on its side for 10-15 seconds and I ran outside to grab it and throw over the fence before it bled out and the damn thing was gone! I don't know if it ran under the fence or under the shed. I ran up to the hunt club to double check the gun and both rifles barely touch holes at 50yards and at 25yards but the one rifle was about an inch to the right. Still a 40gr HV 22lr round to the face or even neck/vitals at 40yards should have killed this thing right? My brother said he shot the baby with a CCI standard Velocity and it killed it. Are these things really that tough?
troy fairweather
Member
Those big chucks can be hard to kill. The farm i hunted had one, the hole looked like a wolf den the hole was so big. I shot it twice over a few weeks time. The 3rd shot did it in, well I think it did never saw it again.
I seen a few hit with 17hmr and just run back to the hole. I had a nice sako 222 my dad let me use for over there.It was nice to deer hunt with, and if I saw any coyotes or chucks it was just right.
My dad said he hit one with a m2 when he was in the army, It still ran in the hole.
stillquietvoice
Contributing Member
I've hit 5 this week in my yard with my 760 crossman and killed one with a Ford explorer front strut. There are still about 6 more that I haven't been able to shoot yet but, there is still time.
earlthegoat2
Member
I was up visiting my folks in MI and my dad was fighting off a whole family of chucks under the porch.
He had shot one and trapped two others in conibear traps.
We were eating breakfast one morning and he was looking out the window and then got up suddenly and went to the back door. I looked at mom confused and then heard a loud bang. The old man had seen a chuck out the window but I was at the wrong angle and couldn’t see it. He went for the back door gun which was an H&R 20 ga single with a high brass #4 pheasant load.
Chuck didn’t make it.
He had shot one and trapped two others in conibear traps.
We were eating breakfast one morning and he was looking out the window and then got up suddenly and went to the back door. I looked at mom confused and then heard a loud bang. The old man had seen a chuck out the window but I was at the wrong angle and couldn’t see it. He went for the back door gun which was an H&R 20 ga single with a high brass #4 pheasant load.
Chuck didn’t make it.
I should have just used my 20ga in the back yard instead of the 22lr. He was a bit far and I would have peppered the shed but had I been able to get outside undetected I would have just peppered the wood pile.
I sent my hunting buddy a message letting him know of the family in the back yard and the babies are weaned and eating on their own. The response I got back was "next nice day its on!!!" I need to get both 223rem rifles sighted in and checked out to 300-400 and then I'm ready!
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