Longrange woodchucks with 308 bad idea???

[Nic Longway]

Hi guys I'm actually new to the forums chats but recently bought a 308 for longrange predator and varmit hunting and choose to shoot 175gr Berger hunting vlds witch worked very well for the coyotes but did not work at all for woodchucks my first time out I shot 3 woodchucks and they all ran atleast 10 yards back to there holes and I was hoping u guys could explain thank you

 

[retiredcpo]

I have not used a 308 with bergers to shoot chucks I have used a 7mm Mag
Basicly what I found was they just penciled right through them most of the time
I think it to fast with a sharp pointed bullet on a soft target ect.
I switched to a 120 gr vmax and it was very devistating.
In my new 308 i will be using 168 gr nosler BT
Just my 2 cents
retiredcpo

 

[SidecarFlip]

+1 on the drill through.... Not enough mass to cause expansion.

Never fear, they bled out in their den......

I use a .223 with a V-Max on Whistle Pigs, wild dogs and nasty opossums.

 

[Nic Longway]

Hey thanks guys that was sorta my theory on the hole thing to, I sorta figured they wud bleed out in there hole, but I was sorta used to shooting them with the trusty old 22-250 and wen I watched one run after I shot it with the 308 I was sorta dumbfounded

 

[SidecarFlip]

'possums die the hardest IMO. I think that there is so little brain involved that they have 9 lives.

We get a lot in the hay barn, especially in the spring. chucks too. No rifle in there, too close. I use a 410 No.8 shotshell in my trusty derringer. Less messy removal.....

 

[hunterbob]

Hi guys I'm actually new to the forums chats but recently bought a 308 for longrange predator and varmit hunting and choose to shoot 175gr Berger hunting vlds witch worked very well for the coyotes but did not work at all for woodchucks my first time out I shot 3 woodchucks and they all ran atleast 10 yards back to there holes and I was hoping u guys could explain thank you

Nic, A wood chuck will test the skills of the best marksmen. I grew up in the Northeast and had fun huntin those critters when i was 16, back in the 60's . I had a Model 100, .308 and I never saw one run after I hit it, no matter what bullet I used.
I shot at a hellva lot more of them than I hit, for sure. Sometimes you may dust one and think you got him; if the round hits close or right under the varmint... it will flip them over, but they'll keep on truckin for their hole. LOL ...You may think you got him but it was a miss. Been there, done that..

 

[IdahoCTD]

I'd try 150gr ballistic tips, 155 Amax's, or 110 Vmax's. All are pretty explosive. I've killed a ton of rockchucks with 150gr BT's but mostly in bigger magnums. Years ago I shot a .308 a lot and shot 125gr Sierra's and 130gr Speer's. The 130gr Speer's were pretty good but the BC sucked due to the big open hollow point. They would blow some pretty good chunks out of them though.

 

[hunterbob]

'possums die the hardest IMO. I think that there is so little brain involved that they have 9 lives.

We get a lot in the hay barn, especially in the spring. chucks too. No rifle in there, too close. I use a 410 No.8 shotshell in my trusty derringer. Less messy removal.....

Sidecarflip,
Yup I grew up on a Dairy Farm ... Know whatcha mean... I woodchuck hunted every morning and afternoon. Had my rifle in the milking parlor all the time. I took a great long range shot, on a coyote one time, from the barnyard . He was at the end of the field 200 + yards and running into woods. I slammed him with the 308 open sights from that distance, a standing shot. One of my braggin shots. Aint got many of them either.
I took four shots in my chicken coop a couple years ago, though.
I went out to get some eggs and as I bent down to get a couple, I caught a movement in my peripheral. A snake and a big one, raising off the nest 5 feet from me. I never thought I could draw a firearm that fast, while I was screamin like a woman, and hit what I was shootin at. Hit it 3 out of four shots. Thought I was on deaths ground ....Still got four holes in the chicken coop... Hee hee hee.

 

[topbrass]

Never shot a woodchuck, they must be real tough. But I have shot a few prairie poodles with a .308 150gr and there was nothing left but a pink mist.

 

[tulku]

Try some Hornady 110 Gr Vmax , Nosler 125 Gr Bal Tips , or 110 Gr. Sierra Varminter HPs . I don't think you will get many walk-aways . BTW , what do you call LongRange ?

 

[hunterbob]

Never shot a woodchuck, they must be real tough. But I have shot a few prairie poodles with a .308 150gr and there was nothing left but a pink mist.

What is hard is that they can see you at 300 yards and duck down their hole.
They're never very far from it. You got one shot is all. If you miss, that chuck will not come back out for the rest of the day. If you peak out of the brush and one can see you, or if others in the field see you, they will let out a shrill whistle and every chuck that hears it, will go down their hole.... hee hee hee

 

[topbrass]

What is hard is that they can see you at 300 yards and duck down their hole.
They're never very far from it. You got one shot is all. If you miss, that chuck will not come back out for the rest of the day. If you peak out of the brush and one can see you, or if others in the field see you, they will let out a shrill whistle and every chuck that hears it, will go down their hole.... hee hee hee

Do we even have woodchucks in Texas?

 

[Nic Longway]

Hunterbob I though missing/ bad shot placement was my problem to my first shot was 257 yards and I went out and there was blood and hair and I said maybe it was just a bad shot so I decided I was going to take the 308 to one of my shotgun holes and shot the second one at no more then 10 yards so I no they weren't misses, but for the one who asked what I consider long range I'm comfortable with my 22-250 to around 250 everything after that I try and use the 308 but I'm comfortable on a woodchuck a 400 450 on a calm day lol may not be the furthest shots but seems far to me

 

[crowsnest2002]

125 grn speer TNT on top of 47 grns of 4064 does the trick for me.