318 woodchucks this year and done

[pa_wdchuckhuntr]

I'm ending the year at 318 woodchucks since starting my season on the 24th of May. Here's a little breakdown of the year thus far.

2010 Woodckucks
Savage BTV 17HMR -Shots 60, Kills 46 ( I love this little rifle)
Stevens 200 .223 -Shots 116, Kills 97 ( A good old fashioned no BS rifle)
Savage 111 .243AI(1)-Shots 88, Kills 72 ( My fireforming while hunting rifle/barrel)
Savage 110 .243AI(2)-Shots 89, Kills 76 ( I can't get enough of this new rebuild. 105 Berger VLD's @ 3350fps)
Savage 111 25-06 -Shots 3 , Kills 2 (Action previously a .270 then 6.5x55 then 243AI(1) now 25-06..whew)
Savage 111 6.5x55 -Shots 32, Kills 22 (Just to big for woodchucks. Since rebuilt to .243AI(1))
Savage 16 300WSM -Shots 2, Kills 2
Mossberg 835 12Ga - Shots 1, Kills 1 ( A shot of opportunity)

[nomosendero]

Impressive!!

[shovelheadave]

Wow !!! That's a boatload.

[viper9696]

136 was my max many years ago, 207 is cool 8)
we have one retired guy that does 500-600 every year but I didn't talk to him this year yet.

I have to find a new place to hunt,THIS year has been horriable for me!!! seen 3 this year and got all 3 so atleast I'm at 100%. I don't know if I killed too many the past couple years or if they are just staying in the high weeds or what. the farmers were late with cutting the hay fields this year for the first cutting and haven't made a second cut yet so when they do I'll be back out

[pa_wdchuckhuntr]

I got 303 last year and 294 the year before. This will be my fourth year going over 200. I'm not doing too bad considering I'm working around 50 hrs a week.

[DanSavage]

That is incredible wdchuckhuntr, how can you possiblly find that many chuck's? Where do you live? I wish I could find that many, do you have any tips on how to find them? I just drive around in my truck near hay fields until I see one. I cover part of 3 counties in New York, Livingston, Stueben, Allegahny. I tried google maps but you can't zoom in close enough to find dens. I've only got 9 chucks so far. :-[

[pa_wdchuckhuntr]

That is incredible wdchuckhuntr, how can you possiblly find that many chuck's? Where do you live? I wish I could find that many, do you have any tips on how to find them? I just drive around in my truck near hay fields until I see one. I cover part of 3 counties in New York, Livingston, Stueben, Allegahny. I tried google maps but you can't zoom in close enough to find dens. I've only got 9 chucks so far. :-[


The best advice I can give is to,

Look for farms with tufts of grass in a mowed field where the farmer lifted the hay/discbine up over the woodchuck hole to avoid damaging the cutting knives.

If the crops are rotated often and the ground is fully tilled every (or nearly every) year then the woodchucks will move into the ditches and the woods edge. In this case look for farms with many diversion ditches, hedgerows or streams.

Talk to the farmers. Ask if the area is being hunted by others and where the woodchucks are. If they're around the farmer will be the first to know.

Avoid heavily hunted areas. Besides the fact that the chucks are being shot, missed chucks get smart quick and will dive for a hole as soon as they spot you and stay there. Also avoid hunting an area too hard for too long for the above reason. I hunt many farms and rotate through them. I don't hunt a particular area for more than a night or two at a time. I may come back a week later but they've usually relaxed some by then.

Park the truck and walk. I may cover a mile or so on foot in an evening in a big loop from the vehicle. I usually don't sit in one area for any length of time while I'm walking. If their's no chucks showing within a few minutes I move on.

Avoid white clothing. I don't wear camo, just darker or earth tone clothing. Here in PA I have to wear a blaze orange hat when hunting chucks so it kinda defeats the purpose worrying about camo anyway.

And the best tip if you find an area with a lot of chucks is....hit the ones you shoot at ;D

[DanSavage]

Thanks for the good advice wdchuckhuntr I appreciate it.

[Inrut24/7]

What part of Pa are you from? I live in bedford county this year i have been able to get out about 2 evenings a week, I am at 93 kills so far this year, mostly with my howa 204 and ruger m77 vt 22 ppc My savage build is in the works though.

[pa_wdchuckhuntr]

I'm up in the northwest corner of Bradford County. A .22 PPC would be a fun little varmint caliber.

[pa_wdchuckhuntr]

updated count

[Uncle Jack]

Any favorite recipes for Chuck a la Orange?

uj

[pa_wdchuckhuntr]

Updated count.

No recipes UJ. I'm not much for eating them.

[pa_wdchuckhuntr]

I passed my old record of 303 tonight so I'm entering into uncharted territory.

[shovelheadave]

You're slammin' them !!!

[possum1]

H*ll, and I'm trying to get crow's in to shoot. All I've got to kill is paper.

[pa_wdchuckhuntr]

I've got 2 crows with the 17HMR this year. They are elusive buggers to say the least.

[pa_wdchuckhuntr]

I finished out my "unofficial" woodchuck season last night. All told I sent 318 woodchucks to the big field in the sky this summer. I may still get out once or twice with my buddy before archery season begins on Oct.2 but I have my doubts.

So what does a 318 woodchuck year amount to-
68 outings
392 shots
318 kills
Avg-5.76 shots per outing
Avg-4.67 kills per outing
Avg-81% confirmed kills

I started the summer with a .223, .243AI(9.75 twist) and 6.5x55 as my primary hunting rigs. The .223 is a no BS rifle and a joy to shoot and I've yet to be dissapointed with the 55gr bullets out of it out to 400yds. The 6.5 just didn't live up to my expectations. It was both too heavy overall, the bullets were too heavy (140gr) for groundhogs and it was intended to be a long range rig but I couldn't hit crap with the gun past 300yds (which is not the 800-1000yds I had in mind). So the barrel and all the goodies found a new home and I moved the .243AI barrel over to the long action while I waited for a fast twist Shilen in .243AI for my short action.

Upon recieving the new Shilen ratchet rifled fast twist and shooting some 105gr Berger VLD's through it I knew it was a keeper. I did have misses with it but I also had a number of one shot kills out to just under 500yds. I haven't had time to put it through good range sessions at extended yardages yet so I've been mostly winging-it for drop and drift. I don't have 150 rounds through the barrel yet and I'm extremely pleased with both the point and shoot accuracy and the terminal performance of the Berger hunting VLD bullet. For being a high BC hollow point match bullet the Bergers perform great even compared to a 70gr Blitzking @ 3850fps or an 87gr V-max. I couldn't post many pictures of kills with the Bergers because they exceeded the graphic pic policy of the site. With some winter range time I'm hoping to post some kills next summer in the 800-1000yd range with this rifle.

With my love for the new Ackley I decide to use my old one to fireform up a bunch of brass then send the barrel to a new owner. It had served me well and I was itching to try something else. So along comes a 25-06 barrel from Midway. It's just a Adams & Bennett that was on sale but I'm quite happy with it. It shoots good and makes good use of the long action. I took it out for one outing and had a score with it at 100yds & 275yds. The 115gr Nosler BT's work very well on GH's and I'm thinking next year it will see a few more outings even though it's more of a deer rifle at this point.

I bought a 17 HMR this summer for some of the spots I never cared for using the LOUD centerfires. I absolutely love the .17 for woodchucks. I honestly didn't think I'd like it, as much as I thought I ought to have it out of necessity. Boy was I wrong. After shooting a few 'hogs with it and seeing how effective it was with so little noise and recoil I fell in love. Granted shot placement is more critical with the little bullet versus centerfires and I did have some failures-to-recover but its mild mannered nature more than make up for it's short comings and it's nice to have a break from the noise and recoil of centerfire rifles. Because of its low noise one of its greatest assets was multiple kills from the same position within seconds to minutes of eachother with none of the other 'hogs being any wiser.

I had one kill with the 12guage which was more a target of opportunity than actually hunting. I killed a couple with my 300WSM just to say I got kill #300 with my 300. Neither the 12ga or the 300wsm are guns I intend to hut 'hogs with on a regular basis but fun none the less when I do. I had thought I might take my .41mag revolver out hunting a couple times but that never came to be. I've hunted with it in past years with dismal results and I was enjoying hunting with my rifles so the handgun stayed home.

As for looking towards next year. I'll be shooting a great .17 I'm sure. The .223 will still be around. The .243AI is going to be ready for some extended ranges and their will be a new addition to the woodchuck arsenal sometime after January. Shilen will be sending me a .20 Practical barrel around then for another low recoil, low noise 'hogslayer build.

Only 10 months 'till season 2011 boys and girls.

Jeremey