Morning guys. Today I made a WORLD CLASS SHOT with a .17HMR, 20gr Hornady XTP! I've always been a fan of Sub calibers, and even built a Smoking .17VLR & a .17PPC; but this year I was asked to RID a Golf Course & Driving Range of the Ground Hogs that totally took over the place the last few years. I've had my EYE on the place for years, and ask the Home owner if I could hunt there. He LEAD me to BELIEVE he was the property owner, when infact he was NOT! He just rented the house on the property. I'd always stop and glass the Course and Driving Range a few times a week due to the extreme numbers of Hogs! This place WAS POLLUTED with them. One day while sitting in the parking lot eyeballing the Driving Range and Golf Course with my 12x-60x70mm Binocs, a man walked up and asked, "What are you doing?" I explained that I was watching all the Ground Hogs, and since I couldn't shoot them, I was Studying them to further learn their habits & traits. He asked, "Who said you couldn't shoot them?" I replied, and pointed to the house he rents to the man I talked to earlier a few years back. With a chuckle, he said My father, brother & I OWN all this property. Well, I immediately introduced myself and asked if I could hunt the Hogs. I gave him my DL #, my PA Hunting Licence #, and my PA Handi-Cap Permit License. I explained that I'm an avid Extreme Long Range Shooter, build my rifles, load all my ammo, and have been a serious ground hog hunter for over 50 years. I informed him that since his property lies in Allegheny County, PA., that I could ONLY use Rimfires to comply with PA. Game Laws. He talked to his father and brother that evening and promptly called me informing I was cleared to FIRE AWAY! I have EXCLUSIVE PERMISSION to hunt their property! This was like HITTING the LOTTERY, because since mid March of 2019 I killed 64 Ground Hogs, ALL HEAD SHOTS, at ranges from 70 yards, out to today's kill at 404 yards! I started taking my .22 Mag, my .22 LR, and my .17 HMR. All are Extremly accurate, with nice high power Long Range scopes with 50mm Objectives. I made some nice shots over 200 yards with the .22 mag, and with the .22 LR; but one day while using the .17HMR, I saw a few hogs way out there, and didnt feel like walking all the way back to my vechile to get the mag. I had 17gr Ballistic tips and 20gr XTP Hollow Points Hornadys in my bag. I loaded up with the 20grs, lasered the hog, doped the scope, and performed Brain Salad Surgury on his Skull! I was Amazed that lil piil was still Lethal at 225+ yards. So I started shootin at all the hogs I'd see with the HMR. I got kills at 273, 309, 328 yards, which I considered a World Class shot! This morning I took 4 more hogs with the .17 HMR. One at 383 yards, and a TRUELY WORLD CLASS SHOT of 404 yards! Gotta be some kinda RECORD! 20 gr Hornady, .17 HMR XTP going 2550 fps., KILLED it DEAD with a HEAD SHOT at 404 yards! 3 wItnesses, besides myself! In all Honesty, I missed it 2 times. We did however give the hog a PERFECT 10.0 SCORE for the Back Flip it did when the 2 misses hit right at its feet. I re-doped the scope, waited for it to stand up again, and WHACK! 3rd time TRUELY WAS THE CHARM! Theosmithjr
