Browninglover1
Well-Known Member
Well it's been a week for the record books. Memorial Day I met up with my friend Zac and we loaded our packs up with all our gear and hiked about 30 minutes up into a favorite rock chuck perch. From this perch we can see almost 180° of prime chuck country.
As the afternoon turned into evening the chuck action really picked up. We found 5-6 that were running along a ribbon cliff at 1200ish yards that provided a ton of fun shooting opportunities. Despite spraying a few of them with bullet/rock fragments, we had yet to kill one as the wind was really tricky. Our wind holds were varying between 4 and 10 MOA with no discernible difference at our shooting location.
One particular chuck decided to give me a few different opportunities and stayed in one location just a little too long. I got the wind figured out in a few shots and then sent a 75 grain ELDM out of my 223 all the way across the canyon where it connected solidly on the chuck a whopping 1230 yards away! He swelled up like a balloon and tumbled off the front of the rock. I was blown away…I had just killed a rock chuck at 1230 yards with a dinky 223!
That same night my shooting partner killed one at 1030 with his 6.5 PRC; his first confirmed kill over 1k yards.
Fast forward a few days later and my friend Josh and I were headed into the same spot. We spent a few hours low in the canyon fly fishing while we waited for an afternoon thunderstorm to roll thru. Once the blue skies were visible we loaded our packs and made the familiar hike up the steep hill.
It was literally seconds within arriving at the chuck perch that we were finding rock chucks at 900-1000 yards away. I started the shooting and looked like I connected with one at just over 1k but neither of us could fully confirm it. After shooting at a few at the 1200 yard rock wall from Monday, I found a few closer at 950.
My first shot went about 1/2 moa high and the chuck froze in place trying to figure out what had just happened. His delay was long enough for me to send a second round right thru his vitals. He flipped off the rock and ran/flopped all around on the ground with blood staining his fur a bright red before he gave up the ghost. About 20 minutes later his fellow chuck sat on the same rock and experienced the same demise as a lone shot was all it took with the 223 to send him to greener pastures.
As the shadows grew longer we found a chuck at about 1200 yards sitting on Pride Rock. This rock is IMPOSSIBLE to kill them on as I think we've shot at 50 chucks on that rock over the years and I don't ever recall killing one. 2 or 3 shots in I landed a bullet at its feet and the chuck took off like his tail was on fire. Josh told me there was another one just down the hill into the draw. I took aim and fired a shot…nothing.
I grabbed my rangefinder and got a new range of 1280 yards. The Revic BR4 called for 39.7 MOA of drop with 0.7 MOA of wind. I dialed in the elevation on the Burris XTR3 and settled in behind the rifle. With about 14 oz of force the TT Diamond released the firing pin and it stuck the primer, igniting the party sequence. The little 75 grain ELDM began its 2 second journey, reaching an apogee over 44 feet above the unsuspecting chuck, before locking in on the target like a heat seeking missile during its final decent. The bullet impacted the chuck dead center as he slightly swelled from the hydrostatic pressure, went stiff legged, and flopped off the rock.
Holy crap! In one week I had killed two chucks over 1200 yards with a 223! Josh and I were pumped with the accomplishment.
A few minutes later Josh would end our day with a beautiful kill shot on a chuck at 780. His 6.5 PRC delivered a perfect shot to the vitals as the 140 grain Hornady hollowpoint found its mark and the chucks body rippled from the impact.
We gathered up our gear with the sun dropping behind the horizon and had big smiles on our faces with the 30 minute hike back to the truck.
If you're not out looking for long range Varmint action, you don't know what you're missing!
As the afternoon turned into evening the chuck action really picked up. We found 5-6 that were running along a ribbon cliff at 1200ish yards that provided a ton of fun shooting opportunities. Despite spraying a few of them with bullet/rock fragments, we had yet to kill one as the wind was really tricky. Our wind holds were varying between 4 and 10 MOA with no discernible difference at our shooting location.
One particular chuck decided to give me a few different opportunities and stayed in one location just a little too long. I got the wind figured out in a few shots and then sent a 75 grain ELDM out of my 223 all the way across the canyon where it connected solidly on the chuck a whopping 1230 yards away! He swelled up like a balloon and tumbled off the front of the rock. I was blown away…I had just killed a rock chuck at 1230 yards with a dinky 223!
That same night my shooting partner killed one at 1030 with his 6.5 PRC; his first confirmed kill over 1k yards.
Fast forward a few days later and my friend Josh and I were headed into the same spot. We spent a few hours low in the canyon fly fishing while we waited for an afternoon thunderstorm to roll thru. Once the blue skies were visible we loaded our packs and made the familiar hike up the steep hill.
It was literally seconds within arriving at the chuck perch that we were finding rock chucks at 900-1000 yards away. I started the shooting and looked like I connected with one at just over 1k but neither of us could fully confirm it. After shooting at a few at the 1200 yard rock wall from Monday, I found a few closer at 950.
My first shot went about 1/2 moa high and the chuck froze in place trying to figure out what had just happened. His delay was long enough for me to send a second round right thru his vitals. He flipped off the rock and ran/flopped all around on the ground with blood staining his fur a bright red before he gave up the ghost. About 20 minutes later his fellow chuck sat on the same rock and experienced the same demise as a lone shot was all it took with the 223 to send him to greener pastures.
As the shadows grew longer we found a chuck at about 1200 yards sitting on Pride Rock. This rock is IMPOSSIBLE to kill them on as I think we've shot at 50 chucks on that rock over the years and I don't ever recall killing one. 2 or 3 shots in I landed a bullet at its feet and the chuck took off like his tail was on fire. Josh told me there was another one just down the hill into the draw. I took aim and fired a shot…nothing.
I grabbed my rangefinder and got a new range of 1280 yards. The Revic BR4 called for 39.7 MOA of drop with 0.7 MOA of wind. I dialed in the elevation on the Burris XTR3 and settled in behind the rifle. With about 14 oz of force the TT Diamond released the firing pin and it stuck the primer, igniting the party sequence. The little 75 grain ELDM began its 2 second journey, reaching an apogee over 44 feet above the unsuspecting chuck, before locking in on the target like a heat seeking missile during its final decent. The bullet impacted the chuck dead center as he slightly swelled from the hydrostatic pressure, went stiff legged, and flopped off the rock.
Holy crap! In one week I had killed two chucks over 1200 yards with a 223! Josh and I were pumped with the accomplishment.
A few minutes later Josh would end our day with a beautiful kill shot on a chuck at 780. His 6.5 PRC delivered a perfect shot to the vitals as the 140 grain Hornady hollowpoint found its mark and the chucks body rippled from the impact.
We gathered up our gear with the sun dropping behind the horizon and had big smiles on our faces with the 30 minute hike back to the truck.
If you're not out looking for long range Varmint action, you don't know what you're missing!
! 
