Brian Pfleuger
Moderator Emeritus
My uncle and I used to hunt woodchucks very often during our short NY summers. It was not unusual for for us to shoot 75, occasionally over 100, each.
Unfortunately, we pretty much ran out of places to go, as they were all leased off to deer hunters. Well, we just found out that our long time favorite (and most productive) spot was available, as the deer lease guys only care about deer and turkey season.
Obviously, we got on it right away.
I was a bit worried because I've been told over and over again that the coyotes had almost eliminated the woodchuck population in that area.
Boy, were those guys wrong!
Within 30 seconds of starting our walk, we were on the ground lining up the first shots. My uncle had not used his gun (Rem700 .22-250 Bushnell Elite 8-32) for precision work in quite some time and had made an adjustment, which proved excess, after shooting a couple shots at home. He shot twice and went over both of them (225-ish yards). No trouble, drop it 1 MOA and we're good.
Many of you have read my stories about my .204 (Ruger M77 MkII, blued, wood, Mueller Eradicator 8.5-25). All I need to say is that it will be a sad, sad day when I burn that barrel out. That gun is *stupid* accurate. I made shots from 75-250 yards, 8 for 8. I only missed one and it was pretty much the definition of a lob shot. We couldn't get a range, only knew that the trees behind him were 585 yards. He was anywhere from 50-100 yards diagonally in front of the trees, so I went with poke and hope. Missed him. I hit one that was about the size of a 20oz Pepsi bottle, at 180 yards from a sitting position. That was a nice shot.
This is my first hunt using 39gr Sierra BKs instead of 32gr V-Max. True to form, my Ruger eats anything I put in it and spits them into holes a quarter will cover at 200 yards. As usual, I didn't even bother looking for an "accuracy load". I just loaded up to max (give or take, unpublished data) and went with that. I swear, I'd have to look for an INaccuracy load with this gun.
Anyhow, these Sierra's are impressive. Anyone who's hunted with the .204 (especially with Hornady V-Max) knows that it quite often looks like you've basically scared a woodchuck to death. You'll find a pin hole and nothing else. This is especially true at close range (50 or so) and long range (over 250). Not so with the BKs. They are De--struc--tive. I hit one at about 75 yards that literally blew to pieces. I've never seen a .204 do anything like that. The front legs and forward were found 15-20 feet from the body.
Anyhow, long story short, it was good to be back out there. Good day, 15 total, 15 for 19 even counting my lob shot.
Unfortunately, we pretty much ran out of places to go, as they were all leased off to deer hunters. Well, we just found out that our long time favorite (and most productive) spot was available, as the deer lease guys only care about deer and turkey season.
Obviously, we got on it right away.
I was a bit worried because I've been told over and over again that the coyotes had almost eliminated the woodchuck population in that area.
Boy, were those guys wrong!
Within 30 seconds of starting our walk, we were on the ground lining up the first shots. My uncle had not used his gun (Rem700 .22-250 Bushnell Elite 8-32) for precision work in quite some time and had made an adjustment, which proved excess, after shooting a couple shots at home. He shot twice and went over both of them (225-ish yards). No trouble, drop it 1 MOA and we're good.
Many of you have read my stories about my .204 (Ruger M77 MkII, blued, wood, Mueller Eradicator 8.5-25). All I need to say is that it will be a sad, sad day when I burn that barrel out. That gun is *stupid* accurate. I made shots from 75-250 yards, 8 for 8. I only missed one and it was pretty much the definition of a lob shot. We couldn't get a range, only knew that the trees behind him were 585 yards. He was anywhere from 50-100 yards diagonally in front of the trees, so I went with poke and hope. Missed him. I hit one that was about the size of a 20oz Pepsi bottle, at 180 yards from a sitting position. That was a nice shot.
This is my first hunt using 39gr Sierra BKs instead of 32gr V-Max. True to form, my Ruger eats anything I put in it and spits them into holes a quarter will cover at 200 yards. As usual, I didn't even bother looking for an "accuracy load". I just loaded up to max (give or take, unpublished data) and went with that. I swear, I'd have to look for an INaccuracy load with this gun.
Anyhow, these Sierra's are impressive. Anyone who's hunted with the .204 (especially with Hornady V-Max) knows that it quite often looks like you've basically scared a woodchuck to death. You'll find a pin hole and nothing else. This is especially true at close range (50 or so) and long range (over 250). Not so with the BKs. They are De--struc--tive. I hit one at about 75 yards that literally blew to pieces. I've never seen a .204 do anything like that. The front legs and forward were found 15-20 feet from the body.
Anyhow, long story short, it was good to be back out there. Good day, 15 total, 15 for 19 even counting my lob shot.