Spring time means two things for me; groundhog hunting and crunch time for my college classes. I made a compromise between fun and study time and took a text book and rifle to the edge of a nice field this afternoon. Didn't get a lot of reading done in the time I was out, but I ended up having a very enjoyable hunt.
1st poked a hole in one @ about 25 while walking a logging road through some hardwoods about 200 yards from the nearest field. Some people forget that there's a reason these critters are called 'woodchucks' a lot of places.
10 Min later, took a 25 yard headshot at another one in the woods and <span style="font-style: italic">think </span> that I heard the bullet hit his skull, but he fell/crawled too far down the hole for me to reach and I saw no blood. I generally know when I make a bad shot, and that wasn't..but...no cigar. Unconfirmed, but pretty sure it was a kill.
20 min later, I rolled this gal @ about 40 yards on the run when she busted me as I got up to move to another location.
While I was dropping her down a hole, this one popped up at what I guesstimated to be about 95 yards, so I dialed up 3 minutes from my 50 ysrd zero and sent a 40 grain Speer GoldDot sailing over his head. He casually waddled to his hole and stopped to thumb his nose @ me. By this time I had calmed down sufficiently to control my breathing, knelt, and sent the next round through his shoulder. Heard that satisfying 'thwap' and watched him drop and wave his tail in surrender. FWIW, this is either the 19 or 20th groundhog I have killed at over 90 yards using this round.
Bullet entered at tip of knife and ended up under skin where the mag is touching the animal's side. This is the first time that I have had this bullet fail to pass completely through a groundhog...probably because all the other 100+ yard shots have been broadside
Here's what it looked like after I dug it out:
Orig weight: 40 grains; retained: 37.8g. Orig dia: 0.223"; opened to 0.330". Good 'nuff in my book.
Shot @ one more, but totally air-balled it and decided to go home after that.
Synopsis: Saw 12 in about 2 hours of hunting(some @ 500+ yards), fired 5 shots; 3 confirmed, one unconfirmed/probable kill and one clean, undeniable, inexusable miss (@ less than 50 yards...kneeling position...at a standing target. -cringe- ).
Now I'm home procrastinating a little more before I write the paper that's due tomorrow.
-The Kid.
1st poked a hole in one @ about 25 while walking a logging road through some hardwoods about 200 yards from the nearest field. Some people forget that there's a reason these critters are called 'woodchucks' a lot of places.
10 Min later, took a 25 yard headshot at another one in the woods and <span style="font-style: italic">think </span> that I heard the bullet hit his skull, but he fell/crawled too far down the hole for me to reach and I saw no blood. I generally know when I make a bad shot, and that wasn't..but...no cigar. Unconfirmed, but pretty sure it was a kill.
20 min later, I rolled this gal @ about 40 yards on the run when she busted me as I got up to move to another location.
While I was dropping her down a hole, this one popped up at what I guesstimated to be about 95 yards, so I dialed up 3 minutes from my 50 ysrd zero and sent a 40 grain Speer GoldDot sailing over his head. He casually waddled to his hole and stopped to thumb his nose @ me. By this time I had calmed down sufficiently to control my breathing, knelt, and sent the next round through his shoulder. Heard that satisfying 'thwap' and watched him drop and wave his tail in surrender. FWIW, this is either the 19 or 20th groundhog I have killed at over 90 yards using this round.
Here's what it looked like after I dug it out:
Orig weight: 40 grains; retained: 37.8g. Orig dia: 0.223"; opened to 0.330". Good 'nuff in my book.
Shot @ one more, but totally air-balled it and decided to go home after that.
Synopsis: Saw 12 in about 2 hours of hunting(some @ 500+ yards), fired 5 shots; 3 confirmed, one unconfirmed/probable kill and one clean, undeniable, inexusable miss (@ less than 50 yards...kneeling position...at a standing target. -cringe- ).
Now I'm home procrastinating a little more before I write the paper that's due tomorrow.
-The Kid.
