Shotgun for woodchucks?

[A strange person]

I'm thinking of using my 12GA with heavy #6 turkey loads for woodchucks when I get the chance. Where I live, it is common to see them at the edges of overgrown fields and clear-cuts, and quick, running shots at 50 yards or less are the norm. Most people hunt them on farms with small-bore "varmint" rifles, but I'm curious if anyone else here (especially easterners like me) hunts them with shotguns. I'm also kinda just out to prove that you can hunt anything with just a shotgun in the East. Any success?

 

[W.E.G.]

I'm sure that more than a few groundhogs have fallen to the 12 gauge.

Fifty-yard shots are stretching it for any kind of quick kill - or even a reliable hit.

If you are going to take shots that far with a shotgun, you should practice it a lot before you expect satisfactory results. Once you actually know your limits, you'll make better decisions.

 

[matrem]

One of the farms I hunt has several machine sheds, a milking parlor and several barns within 300 yards of a four lane state highway. Since those hogs still like to dig under those structures, and I consider it my responsibilily to get rid of their g-hogs, you bet I've killed a few with a shotgun.

Most of the ones I've killed there have been with a 20ga with a modified choke and #6 shot.( I'd guess close to two dozen total. )

I've never shot one at over about 30 yards or so, but at 30 yds or closer, that #6 gets it done quite well.
Not as much fun as using the rifles to "reach out and touch em", but hey, you gotta take the slightly less fun with the more fun!

 

[CountryUgly]

I use #6 for all kinds of critter control don't see why a chuck/g-hog would be any different. Close range of course. personally I like to stretch out hog plinking with my AR.

 

[T.R.]

I killed my first ground hog with a single barrel Savage in 20 gauge. Distance was about 35 feet.

TR