Let's hear your rockchuck hunting stories.

[jt183]

Shot this guy yesterday at 200 yards with a 55 gr Ballistic Tip Lead Free out of my .243 at 200 yards. I didn't realize how big he was until I went to pick him up. In 15 years of rockchuck hunting he is the biggest I've ever shot. The produce scale at Albertson's put him at 14#. The one behind him weighed 12#.






These two were a double shot at 300 yards with the same gun and load. One shot, two dead chucks. Another first for me.




Having a great season so far. I shot 50 on Saturday to bring my total to 230 for the year. How is everyone else's rockchuck season going??

 

[rugerdog5]

How many dirty looks did you get when you drug two dead chuck into Albertsons? The picture of that in my head is priceless HAHA!!

 

[Terry Scott]

Where are you hunting?

 

[codyjoe1128]

Fat bastages! Nice

 

[outback andy]

Thats alot of chucks, there must be a big problem with that many of them.

 

[jt183]

I do most of my hunting on farm ground in Southern Idaho. Seems like that's where the big concentrations are. Last year a farmer friend of mine lost an entire 12 acre field of corn to the hungry critters. They went right down the row and took out every plant. It's taken a lot of bullets but I think we've got them under control this year. (It's a tough job but somebody has to do it). Total count for the year is approaching 300 now. We've got quite a few up in the mountains too but they are more scattered and not nearly as big as the farm fed ones.

 

[mtnwrunner]

I do most of my hunting on farm ground in Southern Idaho. Seems like that's where the big concentrations are. Last year a farmer friend of mine lost an entire 12 acre field of corn to the hungry critters. They went right down the row and took out every plant. It's taken a lot of bullets but I think we've got them under control this year. (It's a tough job but somebody has to do it). Total count for the year is approaching 300 now. We've got quite a few up in the mountains too but they are more scattered and not nearly as big as the farm fed ones.

Nice! I'll let you know how our season goes----I have a group of buddies that come over the first week of June to central Idaho and we spend a week shooting and having an absolute blast. We have founded CIRCA (Central Idaho Rockchuck Association) and our mission is to shoot at them long range. We have 3 of our members over the 1000 yard club and we have several places that we can shoot to about 1700 yards. We have been really close at 1500 yards but man, everything has to be perfect. Our club record is 1157.

Randy

 

[crowsnest2002]

Well, I actually got out tonight. The wife said hey you go groundhog hunting tonight. I shot from next to the silo, don't let the picture fool you its only about 250 yards, dang camera phone. Anyway here's some pics.

 

[crowsnest2002]

Happy Memorial day everyone. Shot this one with my hunting buddy.

 

[kenpcpilot]

recent rockchuck management. My buddy is shooting a 6.5 grendel necked down to .20. the old man kicked my *** as he missed only a couple and could pick those suckers out among the rocks and sage. A lot of fun I am probably going to be reincarnated as a rockchuck. good good times can't wait for next trip. here is my rockchuck along side my 700 remington 22-250 the best shootin rifle i have ever owned. Love central desert Washington state. Sounds like I should get to know those Idaho boys. I am a member of Washington State Predator Hunting Association. Nice group of guys.

 

[kenpcpilot]

Well, I actually got out tonight. The wife said hey you go groundhog hunting tonight. I shot from next to the silo, don't let the picture fool you its only about 250 yards, dang camera phone. Anyway here's some pics.

250 yards that is a good shot I am a bit skeptical about these 1,000 yard claims people post. I would sure like to see it to believe it and learn from a long distance shooter. What is your set up?

 

[kenpcpilot]

Happy Memorial day everyone. Shot this one with my hunting buddy.

What a sweet heart. I am trying hard to get my boys to be true outdoorsman like myself. (very hard with the X-Box 360 short attention span immediate gratification generation.) thanks for sharing

 

[crowsnest2002]

The trick for the kids is to talk it up as much as possible. Also don't over do it when you take them out. She was tuckered out after an hour so we quit and went and got drinks from Sheetz gas station as a kind of reward. Just remember for every one of your steps its 3 to 4 steps for them .

Also for post earlier. My setup isn't really anything special, just a Rem 700 BDL varmint in a VLS stock and leupold FX 12x. I wish I had a little more umph in the optics because baby groundhogs are hard to see when they are low to the ground eating. Best group for what I've got is 2.5" at 400yrds 5 shot group. Around here finding the long shots is harder because of hills and houses. : (

 

[jt183]

Had another good evening shoot last week. Found an out of the way spot that apparantly hasn't been hit for a while. I ended up getting 21 in less than an hour but the best part was the albino I shot on the drive out of the field. I've seen thousands of chucks over the years but have never seen one with this coloration. It doesn't show well in the photo but in the sunshine his eyes appeared pink.






This is another picture of the big one next to the albino. He weighed 13 lbs. The scope and sunshade on my rifle are 17.5" long.





I figure I have about another month of season left before they start heading underground because of the heat. To date my total for 2013 is 375. Not my best year ever but it's hard to complain!