dbHunterNY Posted April 8, 2012 Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 So things are greening up and the woodchucks are out. My weekends have been too busy or rainy. Today was much cooler and windy which made things pretty slow, but i did manage to pop a couple. close shots under 200 yards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun_300 Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 Nice! I hope to get out and smoke a few myself, nice rifle! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adjam5 Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 Nice shooting Dan. Them critters can wreak havoc on a field and are good for testing shooting skills . I shot 8 of them off my deck last year. Slammed a nice Reddish one with the 22mag and had it mounted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkneck Posted April 11, 2012 Report Share Posted April 11, 2012 Looks like fun sport, closest we have here are armadillos, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted April 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2012 as you can see from the piles of dirt, they tear up a hay field pretty good. these are full grown adults out of hibernation that are looking to mate. they don't form large colonies like prairie dogs. however, by june a female will have on average of four young ones running around and then finding or digging new holes themselves. so you could imagine they could turn a nice smooth productive hay field into a problem quick. i don't get out as much as i'd like to. this is going on the 3rd year i've hunted with the gun and i've used it to take out 54 of them so far; 40 the first year, 12 last year, and 2 this year so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkneck Posted April 11, 2012 Report Share Posted April 11, 2012 Are there any laws about hunting them or is it just open season? Dumb question probably but we actually have a sseason on crows here lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted April 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2012 Are there any laws about hunting them or is it just open season? Dumb question probably but we actually have a sseason on crows here lol This is NY we're talking about. Any question about laws is not a dumb question John. lol Porcupine, red squirrel, english sparrow, starling, rock pigeon, monk parakeet, and WOODCHUCK are all unprotected species here in NY. What that means is you still need a general small game hunting license or license that includes small game. However, you can take them at any time and without bag limits. Everything else, including coyotes, have a season or cannot be hunted. It'd be pretty difficult if not impossible to wipe out the woodchuck population, despite being unprotected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkneck Posted April 12, 2012 Report Share Posted April 12, 2012 Gotcha Dan! Looks like a fun time with some long range plinkers from pics I've seen over the years. Would be great to be taking 300+ yard shots with a 204 Ruger or 17 remington or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted April 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2012 yea what i'm using is a Savage Model 12 chambered in 223 Rem, shooting Black Hills 60gr Vmax ammo. even out to longer range it still anchors them, and i don't have to feel bad about wounding any or worrying so much about head shots. BTW I hammered another one yesterday evening, at my parent's house, adding one more to the tally. It was more of an urban sniping adventure. It had a hole that went under one of the barns, near their garden. This was all behind their house. I don't have any pictures, but I was basically laying across the hot tub (with the cover on) on their back deck. no veggies for him this summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerClay Posted April 13, 2012 Report Share Posted April 13, 2012 Nice shootin Dan! I used to hunt the whistle pigs all the time when I lived in central NY. Up here in northern NY where I live they are few and far between. Shooting woodchucks is something I really miss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted April 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2012 #56 down this past Thursday..... so i was at my parent's house fixing my car and went for a quick hike. spotted another one down the valley in a 30 acre alfalfa field. got in the UTV out around the back side of where it was. stalked down the rest of the way. got there and it must have heard me coming. it was hiding in the hole. i put my scope on 18 power and just managed to see it's head sticking up out and within the grass. put the crosshairs on it's eyeball and let him have it.... ....the picture of how i found him is a little graphic. i'll post it in another thread with a warning in the title. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adjam5 Posted April 21, 2012 Report Share Posted April 21, 2012 #56 and counting . Nice shooting Dan. The chucks keep your shooting skills sharp while there is nothing to hunt. I have froze a few in the past and they became coyote/fisher bait for trapping season. What do you do with them? Bone Pile for the birds/scavengers or what ever? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted April 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2012 #56 and counting . Nice shooting Dan. The chucks keep your shooting skills sharp while there is nothing to hunt. I have froze a few in the past and they became coyote/fisher bait for trapping season. What do you do with them? Bone Pile for the birds/scavengers or what ever? yea anthony i pretty much leave them somewhere the birds and see them. doesn't take long. sometimes they disappear too. like you said something like coyotes maybe snatched them up. if there's a den near by i'll throw them at the entrance. traps i know don't really care to deal with chucks when i've asked. my intentions are mainly to just keep them from populating the hay fields. i'm leaving soon the the parent's house again. they have a 18-wheeler coming to get a load of square 40lb hay bails. maybe i'll get another one while i'm there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adjam5 Posted April 21, 2012 Report Share Posted April 21, 2012 My son Joe missed one yesterday eve off the deck at our hunting camp in Sullivan county. That was my fault. I changed the scope on the 22mag, bore sighted it and never fired it. They are fun to shoot...no doubt. Have fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted May 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2012 hammered #57 yesterday evening.... happened to be at my parent's house again. as usual i brought my chuck gun. scanned some fields with hole locations and couldn't see anything. hay is getting pretty tall in the fields so i stalked through one to it's edge, where i knew a couple active holes were. i glassed constantly as i came up over rises in terrain. picked out a chuck that picked out me as well. slowly shouldered the rifle and picked it off free handed. if i got down and put out the bipod i probably wouldn't have had a clear shot. getting to the point where i may need to wait until we start mowing some hay fields. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted May 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2012 #58 down.... I was out trying to roost some birds for the AM and spotted a woodchuck standing out the field below me. I saw him so it was a done deal. If I wasn't higher up in a treestand and it wasn't standing I don't think I would've ever saw it though. if only i could be as good/lucky at finding turkeys! lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted May 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2012 got another one... (#59) while scouting.....pretty uneventful but this last one was. shot #60 at my house.... fiancee came home... called me from in her car parked in the driveway. said they was a woodchuck by the shed. went out with the rifle. it was sticking it's head out from a little spot between the privacy style solid fence and the corner of the shed. before i could get a clear shot it was gone. normally i wouldn't have an issue because it's not in my yard or a farm field, but it had dug under my shed and the electrical service to my garage is under there. so i repositioned on a bank across the driveway so i'd have a better angle and at least a few inch diameter opening and clear shot between the shed, fence, and a canoe rack. then i waited. sure enough and not long after it popped its head back out. i waited a little while and all i had was its neck just behind the skull. thought it was good enough and the shock from the 223 would anchor it. i took the shot and popped him. when i went to check it had just enough left to get back under the shed. can't believe it wasn't paralyzed. it wasn't living long, because it had a golf ball sized hole through it's neck, but i hate it being dead under my shed. hopefully i won't be forced to jack up my shed and retreive it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted June 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 some hay fields are now mowed around here so the count should start climbing, if i get some time to go out. mean while there's some to take care of next door at the club. #61 is down from this morning. next door at the club there's a group of them living in the pole barn/grounds equipment shed. so this morning i setup and watched it for 45 minutes early this morning. the chuck came right out from the shed and as soon as it cleared the tractor bucket it was done. it was a juvenile so i'm sure the bigger ones members have seen are the culprits that dug a huge hole under the workbench in the garage bay. word has it there's 5 or so in there. so i'll probably go back again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elkoholic Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 I can say that groundhog hunting is one of the few things I miss about summers on the east side of the country. There were a few summers when a couple of friends and I had contests to see who could shoot the most before school started again in the fall. We hunted with .22 long rifle shells that were 39 cents per 50 shells and to win those contests you needed 200+ kills. Those were some good summers, working on the farm and hunting groundhogs. Seemed like every time you shot one five more would take their place. Enjoy it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun_300 Posted June 20, 2012 Report Share Posted June 20, 2012 Good shooting bud! Was hoping to dust the .220 swift off and get out to pop a few but never got to it, all the crops are growing up pretty good so I'll be lucky to get the opportunity to get out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arrow32 Posted June 20, 2012 Report Share Posted June 20, 2012 Nice!! I want to get out and pop a few. Not had the time yet been very busy here lately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted June 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2012 yea busy here too... if i was retired or won the lottery and didn't have to work, they'd be in trouble! lol shaun you gotta get that thing out anyway... if it ever cools down. clay birds or bottles of water don't dig everything up but are still fun to shoot at. keeps you shooting good leading up to the fall. elkoholic more i shoot them the closer i'm finding myself get to them. i actually don't own a 22 LR rifle otherwise i'm sure i'd be shooting them with one. 200+ is a lot but it's definitely possible. i'd have to travel to other farms and places to shoot that many. not sure i have that much time at the moment. right now i'm shooting them when the opportunity arises where i happen to be right then. can't believe i didn't go after them as a kid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted June 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2012 #62 down while at my parent's farm yesterday... managed to slip out for a half hour and go check the mowed fields. bigger one came out into the 30 acres hay field. he was anchored with one shot at 178.6 yards. noticed another one but it was down in the grass. ended up making it back to it's hole in the field before i could move to a better position to get a shot. the one i did shoot was very weird though it's two bottom teeth were close to 5" long and curled out and up, growing almost into its nose. the top two teeth curled back in toward the back of its mouth. guess there just like beaver and need their teeth to shear against each other and stay worn down. it was one of the biggest i've shot so far and older i believe. it would've been in some pain eventually if it lived. not sure how it ate either. as i said weird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adjam5 Posted June 25, 2012 Report Share Posted June 25, 2012 Nice shooting Dan. #62 he heh heh. Did you save the skull of that wierd looking one? Must have looked pretty cool. I shot one myself this weekend with the .22mag I videoed the shot also. Pretty funny how it rolled. They love that cut grass. Keep shooting straight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted June 26, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2012 congrats... yea i wish i could've took a picture. no i didn't save the skull. i'll see if i can get some more Wed. i'm sure that's not a very common thing to find though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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