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I do my share of Varminting, though it is typically larger than a P-Dog and not many shots/day. I'll post what I typically get after each question, but would like to know what you all think. 1. When you are Varmiting, what do you count - Kills, Wounds and Misses? Do you consider Kills being separate from Wounds? I count Kills, Wounds and Misses separately. 2. How many shots do you take on a "typical" Varmint Hunt and what are you Hunting? I "might" get 0-3 attempts on Strays, maybe 0-6 on G-Hogs and occasionally 1-2 12ga boxes on Crows(during the Crow Season). 3. What is your "typical" Kill Percentage by yards? Example: 99%-100yds, 99%-200yds, 95%-300yds, 90%-400yds. That is about "typical" for me. I've not taken a long(beyond 400yds) shot in a long time, because I've not had a lot of time. 4. Are any of you "Required by Law"  to use Non-Lead Bullits?I'm not. 5. How many firearms do you normally carry on a Varmint Hunt? I generally have a rifle in my hand, one in the truck and a revolver on my hip. Good Hunting and clean 1-shot Kills. | ||
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Had no idea these questions would be too tough for you guys to be able to answer.   Sure thought I'd be able to learn something from you all, but maybe I was a bit optomistic with that line of thought. | |||
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It isn't that it's a hard question. It's just that I've never broken it down like that. I don't keep some sort of "kill log". I'm not that sort. Just like the number of fish in the basket at the end of the day doesn't always determine what sort of day it has been. On a Ghog hunt, I wouldn't shoot at a hawg at 100 yards unless I was under strict orders from a garden or pasture owner. Same kinda deal on Pdogs. You start popping 100 yard Pdogs and next thing you know, your buddies are calling you "Chip shot". That hurts. I carry two rifles on a Pdog shoot. And wait a measured 1 minute between shots with a 5 minute rest for each rifle after 5 shots. That's kinda hard to do when you can see 50 dogs out there jumping up and down squeeking "shoot me next". I carry one rifle when I am hunting groundhogs. Hitting a groundhog and especially a pdog with a hyper-velocity hollow point sort of makes a wounding ratio a non-issure. I daresay a few have made it long enough to crawl into their burrows but I don't think that indicates survival as much as it indicates tenacity. A groundhog, body shot with a 55gr hollow point leaving the muzzle @ 3600fps, is pretty disgusting to look at. I've never hunted with non-lead bullets, and never wear a sidearm. As posted above, if the Ghog survives a hit from the rifle and charges, I think I'd be better off climbing a tree than trying to finish him off with a mere .357.  | |||
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1. We count obvious kills but only in fun. We shoot pds for fun and not competition. We do note hits that leave runners/divers. We take breaks and will often walk out to confirm hits/kills/wounds whatever. I can see counting half dozen or so GHs or even 40-50 in a day but who really cares on a pd shoot where you could potentially shoot hundreds. 2. I shoot pds on private land and can get up to 300 shots perday...average 150-200. If I chose to move more often I could get more shots. We don't decriminate between pds at 50 yds. or 500 yds. they are all pests. The people that shoot with me couldn't care less if they were called "Chip shot" or anything else...thicker skin I suppose. 3. Inside of 100 yds. = 95% 100-200 = 90% 200-300 = 80% beyond 300 = percentages drop off considerably depending on weapon of choice, wind and cooperation of dogs. 4. What fun would that be. There is not a non lead varmint bullet I have found yet that is worth a damn. Besides being only marginally accurate they have terrible BCs. 5. I could take a truck load as its farm property and guns are just a short drive away. You can't ask questions that are too hard. | |||
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Hot Core,when I go on a pdog hunt i carry a 22lr for short range,a 223 rem for short to med. range and my 250 sav Imp for the long range.I sometimes take my 257Rob Imp also.But i never kept a log book or score when doing this.My b-in-law and myself have worked out a spotter and shooter team thing that works well and I have tried the new no-lead bullets but have not any luck in getting them to shoot,so i use the lead bullets ranging from 50-55 gr 22 cal tothe 75 grv-max in the 25 cal.Good luck | |||
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Oh on rounds taken to the field 500 or so usually.Good luck | |||
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Thanks for the responses. I'm not trying to "trick" anyone with the questions. Just trying to learn about how the rest of you Varmint Hunt. The smallest things I've Hunted with a rifle were Chipmunk with a 22Rimfire from the hood of a Jeep while slowly easing down a creek. I'm sure we did not count them back then, because we missed a lot more than we hit. Whoever was on the hood would signal to STOP and then it would be an off-hand shot. I've no first-hand experience with P-Dogs, and am not sure if we have any Varmint in the Southeast of an equivalent size. Any comparisons? Rabbit? The County where I grew up "was" primarily involved in raising and training Thoroughbreds. Every truck carried a 22Rimfire and some kind of centerfire(mostly 30-30s) to eliminate anything that could harm the Horses. About 8x-10x the number of people in the County now due to people trying to make it entirely into Louisville East. I see nothing that I consider "good" for the County has happened in the 40 years I've been away. Though that opinion is not agreed with by those making the Changes. We used to have a good many G-Hogs, but I've not seen one in a little over a year. I am looking though. Spotted a Coyote within the City Limits about 25yds from the road in an open field a few weeks ago. It was focused on a mouse or something small which I could not see. No chance for a shot, but they are apparently in good numbers. ----- The reason I asked about the counts and Percantages, is I was wondering how you know if you are "improving" if you do not maintain some kind of count. Didn't mean it in the context of a Game against other folks, or who Kills the most. Perhaps the question would be better if I'd said, "How do you know if your accuracy is improving on the P-Dogs?" The Varmints I Kill generally end up with me carrying them off to be burried to eliminate the smell, and any trace of them if it is a stray pet. ----- I'd seen where a lot of Western Varmint chasers load 500-X000s of Cartridges. That was the reason for asking about the number of rifles you all take. Looks like it would be easy to ruin a barrel in a single day "if" you didn't have more thna one rifle. ---- Thanks for the info. Good Hunting and clean 1-shot Kills. | |||
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my bunch had to travel to shoot Pdogs so we tried to get as much fun out of it as we could. Thus the chip shot thing. We used a shooter/spotter team kinda thing too. Lotsa fun. I might toss a groundhog down his hole but I figured why rob the other varmints of a meal. That said, I've never shot groundhogs in an urban setting. I let the yotes take care of the Pdogs. Everyone who likes to shoot small bullets, very fast, at things far away needs to make at least one Pdog shooting trip. And yes, take 2 rifles and x000 rounds of ammo. | |||
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My father was in the Army and we lived all over the place,But mostly with the Grand folks on the coast of Miss.My Dad's fahter was the outdoors man and we went small game hunting in season and deer hunting.It wasn't till i got married 31 yrs agao that we moved to Texas for goodand I got broken in to varment hunting by her Uncle.So i can relate to not having many varments to hunt or shooting a lot of shots.I don't know how my grandfather would react to shooting hundreds of shells in a day,cause when we went hunting it wasn't for fun is was for somthing to eat same for fishing.when we got back from fishing we took out what the family could use then we sold the rest to the other folks down the street to pay some of the cost of the next trip.Good Luck | |||
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Sorry Hot Core, the title sounded too fluffy for me so I didn’t bother to look at this thread until now (I was bored). Prairie Dogs are the subject of my response. 1. When you are Varmiting, what do you count - Kills, Wounds and Misses? Do you consider Kills being separate from Wounds? I count Kills, Wounds and Misses separately. A hit is a hit, if I blow them to hell or they manage to crawl back to their hole, I don’t care, If they’re dead or dying, that’s good enough for me. 2. How many shots do you take on a "typical" Varmint Hunt and what are you Hunting? I "might" get 0-3 attempts on Strays, maybe 0-6 on G-Hogs and occasionally 1-2 12ga boxes on Crows (during the Crow Season). I’ll shoot 100 to 500 rounds in 2 to 4 days. It depends on were I’m shooting. Marmots (ground hogs) and crows don’t bother me so I don’t shoot them. 3. What is your "typical" Kill Percentage by yards? Example: 99%-100yds, 99%-200yds, 95%-300yds, 90%-400yds. That is about "typical" for me. I've not taken a long(beyond 400yds) shot in a long time, because I've not had a lot of time. When you’re hot you’re hot. Sometimes you can’t miss at any distant. Last October I was shooting 1 shot for 1 kill at 400-425 yards for 37 shots. Then I drop my “Hot” rifle in the dirt. It was all over after that. Than there are days I can’t hit my ass with a fly swatter. 4. Are any of you "Required by Law" Mad to use Non-Lead Bullets? I'm not. No. 5. How many firearms do you normally carry on a Varmint Hunt? I generally have a rifle in my hand, one in the truck and a revolver on my hip. 5 but I usually only use 2 for the most part. My hand gun lives at home for the most part. | |||
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. Up here Vermin are anything that causes a problem Most things here have a use , so they don,t just get blasted ..However squirrels are a nuisance .. Today I finally blooded my 223 . 10 yards 53 gr TSX Moly tumbled @ 3250 fps . My goal was a neck shot but it was flicking around so I got him just behind the shoulders . it nearly cut it in half , I,m not sure the bullet expanded , but it made a huge hole ...Definatly DRT. I,ll have to try some FMJ BT to see the difference ........ .If it can,t be grown , its gotta be mined .... | |||
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I keep track just for fun. Compared to some, I've hardly gotten any. But 19 GH this year, so far, with 5 of them so far this week, is a pretty good season - ties the best I've had since moving to PA, and I look to surpass that number by a bunch if the hunting goes as expected. They will be bailing the hay fields on my sister's farm today, I'll be out there with the brush cutter tomorrow to clean up the weeds around the edges and then probably about every morning next week alternating between the pasture and the two hay fields to take advantage of the increased visibility. I shot two of them after they mowed it but seeing them was just luck. It's a heavy hay crop and the winrows are pretty tall. They are really hard to see in the shade along the edge of the pasture at distances beyond 200 yards or so. They can move around in 4" grass at 300 yards in the afternoon shade and be about invisible unless I'm looking right at them when they move. I've not had any that were wounded since I stopped using the .17HMR and started using a .223 Rem. with handloaded 40g Nosler BT's leaving the barrel at around 3,700 fps. It shoots into dime sized groups @ 100 yards and has devastating terminal performance. That basically jellies the innerds and dumps some, sometimes a lot, out the other side. Hit them in the boiler room and they dead in their shadow. Period. No exceptions. Better yet, it is +/- 3/4" from 27 yards to about 208 yards - so I can use a 3-9x40 variable scope with nothing to fuss with. Place cross hairs on boiler room, squeeze (and not very hard with the single set trigger on the CZ527), watch 'em drop, rack a new shell in the chamber, switch to the binoc's, and start looking for the next one. Here in PA where I hunt the shots are seldom more than 300 yards. Where I hunt I can set up so the maximum range is about 200 yards. I frequently sit in a very light aluminum lawn chair with a bipod and that is a pretty steady rest. No problem out to 210 yards, even 225 if I hold at the top of their back, or if they stand up I can shoot at the top of their head and hit them solid at as far as 280 yards. I may get a chance to hunt another farm with shots out to 400 or so yards in which case I'll take the .22-250 loaded with 69g hollow points and the RASS. Fitch | |||
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The big difference for us is that we don't travel far at all to shoot so we are less stressed to get the most shooting in the shortest amount of time. Far more casual than shooters who have alot more invested in the trip. I could take one rifle and if at some point it failed or was a problem I could just go back and get a different one. Most of the time when I go its just me and one or two other people and one is spotting and either one or two of us shooting and a slow steady pace. I agree if you've never shot 'em in volume before its something you have to do. There is just something about a reactive, multi distant target the size of a 20 oz. drink bottle taking on a center mass hit from a 52 gr. Amax at warp speed. Gives one a true concept of terminal ballistics. | |||
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Hey Still beeman, I carry a revolver or pistol nearly all the time. Never know when the doughnut eaters will be too busy to make it when you really need them. Just had a situation about 10miles over where a carreer criminal cut the roof on a convertable, used the garage door opener to get inside a home with a Concealed Carry Owner and two retired FBI agents visiting overnight. Everything went OK until the doughnut eaters arrived and the bad guy apparently thought he could take them. His flick in the paper shows a HUGE diagional split across his forehead for some reason.But I carry a revolver afield with the Speer Shot Capsules filled with the old #7 size Lead Shot for snakes and a few Bambi Blasters during the Season. It gets used on snakes a lot more than I'd prefer. ----- Hey skb2706, 300 shots or more per day has got to be wild. Nice that you are close enough to get re-armed if need be. Have you burned out a barrel? ----- Hey Plainsman and the rest of you guys as well, When you mention a buddy as a "Spotter", how do you tell him which P-Dog you will be shooting? Have you fried a barrel? ----- Hey Mick, "Too fluffy?"  WOuld you have prefered for a title, "Blood/Guts and a Red Spot vs. A slight Trickle of Red Fluid?  I'd say I "owe you one" - fluffy - HA!Sounds like you are getting plenty of shots too. And some way out yonder. I'll toss in a sincere congratulations on the 37-shot string at that distance. I feel sure it would take me awhile to get back anywhere close to my old shooting form. Just haven't been able to go for awhile - way WAY too busy. Planned to go today and other Priorities pushed that down the List, maybe tomorrow. ----- Hey gumboot, I Moly Coat too. How did the Moly do with the TSX Bullets? Did it seem to reduce the Fouling enough to make it worth the effort? Those Rings around that Design would keep the BBs I use away from the insides of that Grooved area. ----- Hey Fitch, I know what you mean about the G-Hogs being able to hide in the short stubble. The chair in the shade (with some cold tea alongside) sounds real nice. I'm a sure enough 223Rem fan too. Never tried the 40gr Bullets though. Since my Varmints are a bit bigger, the 50, 52 and 53gr Bullets seem to do just fine for me. Glad you mentioned the 3-9x scope. It surprised me at first, but after thinking about it for awhile, I can see where that would be nice. I tend to lean toward more scope power, but I feel sure it is because my eyes are older. ----- Hey skb2706, Mentioning the 20oz. drink really put it into perspective for me. Excellent example that makes it easy to visualize. ------ For all of you. How many times do you "typically" get to go Varminting and Shooting Paper a month(when the weather allows)? | |||
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That was just one of those perfect days. I never had a string of hits half that long before that day. I sure as hell haven’t had a day like that since. Oh Well! I guess the best thing to do is enjoy them when you get them, because you may never see another one again. | |||
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Well, maybe "fuzzy" would have been a better description! | |||
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The two man shooter/spotter "rules" we worked out was the shooter got 5 shots. If he missed a shot his turn was over and the spotter was up. If the spotter called a dog and the shooter thought he was stretching things, then the spotter had to make the shot. If he missed, then the shooter was back up for 5 more shots. One thing I learnt when I took a T36 to WY: You can definitely get overpowered on scopes and a fixed scope kinda sucks. Especially top end powered ones. A good 4x16X works awfully well. I tried an 8x24 but by the time I'd get to 24 the mirage was pretty bad. Use the low end to spot the dog and then dial in on him. | |||
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Groundhog hunting has changed here in VA over the last 45 years. I used to take my little Crackshot 26 and walk around the farms and shoot a few groundhogs. If I'd had a 17HMR back then, groundhogs would be non-existent in VA!! Glad I didn't! I remember carrying the great big ones home to show mama and daddy. Then I got an old Arisaka that had been rebarreled to 300 Savage!! Mowed yards and saved my pennies and paid Woody Greer about $90.00 for a 4x Leupold and rings and base. Would walk for hours carying that thing and if I got to shoot 2-3 groundhogs a day it was good. Then things changed! At 18 I got a Remington 700 in 243 and put a Weaver V9 on it! Range was extended and since by then I had a drivers permit I wasn't limited to just home anymore! Then I went to college at VA TECH. That's where my interest in accuracy and riflebuilding and long range shooting got it's real beginnings. I was in Dairy Science at VT and the associate herdsman and I got a permit signed by the Governor of VA to shoot groundhogs on the VT Dairy Farm.........1976 was the first year......we shot 246 confirmed dead on that property! Things have progressed since then. I still keep count. Can't count them unless you can pick them up! Crawl offs don't count! If you look at the pics of "Groundhog Expedition" further down this forum there is a picture of Bobby Brown holding a big groundhog with guts stringing. That groundhog was shot with a 22-250 at 385 yards or so and hit low by a 50 grain VMax. He was crawling! If he'd made it to the den, he would not count! Bobby sent another VMax home before he made it to the den. Generally there will be two of us, sometimes three, all experienced at spotting and calling shots. Arsenal brought along will almost always consist of 204, 223, 6mm, 25-06, 260 with either a 17HMR or in the case of last week, the light 6x47 for the occasional 50-250 yard shots that pop up(not the 17HMR for the 250's, it generally stops at 150). On a good day we'll fire 50-60 rounds. Percentage hits will probably average in the 80% range on targets past 350 yards. Wind plays a factor. Playing the wind is something that only comes from experience, not a computer screen! Bottom line is, I'd rather hunt groundhogs than eat when hungry!! If I only had one kind of hunting that I was limited to I would choose groundhogs. I hunt deer also but they are just oversized vermin!! I still get a thrill when a deer is approaching a tree stand and I have a bow. I still get a thrill when I see decent horn mass at whatever range. But mostly I like to see just how far I can humanely dispatch another cropeater!! This year we have 6 doe tags on our bonus license(can buy 6 more for $18.00) and just yesterday was invited to a place to help depopulate an orchard where I can set up in one spot and shoot 400-850 yards............come on November!! Charlie (GHD) Groundhog Devastation(GHD) | |||
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Hey Stillbeeman, I can see where that Rotation would encourage people to focus on their shooting - if they want to keep shooting.  I've only had one Fixed Power Scope and still have it. A K3-C3(3X with a Post) ElPaso Weaver. Got it on a 243Win M77 in `70 or`71 that had 3-shots through it. Bought a V9 ElPaso Weaver with a Range Finder Reticle(2 horizontal crosshairs spaced so a 6" object fits between them at 100yds) to put on it. Still have it too. Reticle crosshairs are too thin to work well in low light, but that 6" drop is just about perfect for some brands of 22Rimfires at 100yds. Today I do prefer the higher power variables. Always nice to crank them back to the point the Mirage is "useful" but doesn't prevent a shot from being taken. ----- Hey Charlie, My first G-Hog kill was with a Savage Pump 22Rimfire. Got it plus a M24 Savage 22LR/.410 and a 16ga Double Barrel Lefevre for my 6th Christmas. Finally got my first box of 22 bullets for the 7th Christmas and they were handed out one-at-a-time under close supervision. You could shoot Shorts, Longs or Long Rifles in them, which made things nice for a kid. No scope on the Pump or the M24. The places I Hunted needed relatively close shots back then, so the lack of a scope was not a handicap. Not sure how scopes of that era would have held up to a kid anyhow, plus the bouncing of the horses might have been tough on them. I do understand about the wind, that is one reason I like to use the Mirage as an indicator. Plus my Percantages are higher because my typical Varmints are bigger than G-Hogs - stray dogs and coyotes. Now that I'm back in KY for awhile I want to squeeze in some G-Hogs. Soil was too loose for them in the SC Lowcountry. I carry a 223Rem a lot, so it will probably get the most opportunities. But a 243Win is available with some extremely accurate 75gr Sierra Loads available for it. Not sure if I have any 115gr 7mm Bullets or not, I need to look. By the way, I have a box of 50gr Bergers that I need to Moly Coat and get into the 223Rem. Have you tried any of them on G-Hogs? You mentioned the 50gr VMax, do you prefer VMax Bullets across the board, or have other favorites for each rifle? | |||
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For the 204's, I've used the VMaxs and the Sierra BlitzKings and prefer the 39 grain BlitzKings. For the .223 and 22-250 I like the 50 grain VMaxs and in the 6mm I like 87 grain VMaxs and I use 140 grain AMax's in the 260. Quite honestly, I've never shot any of the Barnes or Bergers in a varmint field. The VMaxs have shown extremely good accuracy and their terminal performance has been exemplary! I've used the 40 grain and 50 grain and 55 grain Nosler BT's but don't feel that they give the same kind of terminal results as the VMaxs. The 85 and 100 grain BT's from the 25-06 seem to perform well in that caliber though. Charlie (GHD) Groundhog Devastation(GHD) | |||
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We do the spotter thing and generally it works something like others described. Since its a bit more casual for us we will alternate 4-5 shots each, one spotting and one shooting. So it goes locate, confirm, adjust, shoot and re-confirm. At times it can be a little tricky getting both spotter and shooter on the same dog but half the fun is in visual confirmation. By alternating nobodys gun gets too hot....saves barrels I suppose. I have burnt up a barrel on an old Savage 22-250 but I have no idea how many thousands of pds it killed first. Lets just say it was our first pd rifle and we would occasionally get smoke curling up from around the barrel channel. I suppose that if we dropped down two tables and both shot there would be alot more dead dogs but we aren't really in any hurry and we also get a bit choosy about what shots to take. My personal favorite is the "peaker", 75-100 yds. out giving you just a sliver of head shot above the eye. Those often require a 'walk about' as the remainder of the carcass typically drops back in. A setup for us looks something like this. In this case that rifle will only get 40-50 shots in a day. Its a 22-250 AI and most likely has a limited barrel life anyway. Makes prairie dogs look like they got tossed under the lawnmower.  | |||
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Hey Charlie, I'll need to look through my Binders, but I don't think I've tried the BlitzKings and I'm sure I've not tried the VMax Bullets yet. I've had real good luck with the 50gr Nosler B-Tips and Benchmark in my 223Rem. Once I had the good Load, I started messing with less expensive Bullets and settled on the 50gr Rem PLHP. Not quite as accurate as the B-Tips in my rifle, but plenty accurate enough for me out to about 300yds. May be more accurate than that, but right now I don't remember shooting it beyond 300yds. Generally move on up to the 243Win and the 75gr Sierras for longer stuff. ----- Hey skb, Sure is a fine looking outfit and set-up you have. I can see where having a bit more weight in that situation is actually a good thing. How much does it weigh? What kind of scope and what Power? ----- You all will love this. I FINALLY got to go shoot 17 shots yesterday. I was shaking like a Wino with the DTs. Must have been low on Tea. Humidity at 80% and temp at 87deg or so. Managed to break a sweat fairly easily, which is fine with me. Planned to shoot the 22Rimfires a bit and then ease into the Centerfires. Granted it has been a good while since I've actually been able to go shooting, but I don't mean that as an excuse. Took 7-shots to cut a Thistle off - Pitiful! Then shot a couple of 5-shot groups at 25yds with some (new to me) 22Rimfire Fed Premium Match and Fed Premium Ultra Match. That is about as far as I take shots at tree Squirrels, so that is why so close. The groups are very small, but it makes no sense at all the way I was shaking. They have the "Waxy" Coating like Eley and are quite expensive, so I won't be "plinking" with it. But it would make some really fine Squirrel ammo. ----- When you all are using your 22Rimfires on Varmints, do you have a specific brand and type you prefer? | |||
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I have some old ww super x that i ues every now and then,but usually use rem,fed bulk.as for the spotter thing the spotter calls the target and you have to be on the same page to get it.we usually shoot out of the truck whoever calls a pdog first goes first.my shooting table I made fits in my reciever hitch ,the shooting chair is a third seat out of a surban.It's real comfy.Good Luck | |||
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Hot Core, The Sierra BlitzKings are not to be confused with the older Sierra "Blitz" bullets.......not the same. BlitzKings are Sierra's version of polymer tipped, highly accurate, varmint bullets. As far as the Remington "PLHP" bullets go, I have shot a lot of varmints with either 50 or 55 grain Remington bullets in .224 dieameter and a lot using .257 diameter ones that were 87 grain PLHP bullets. Those bullets were always decent accuracy but SUPER killing bullets! GHD Groundhog Devastation(GHD) | |||
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There was a retired Winchester Rep that frequented Leeds Range in Chester County, SC. He mentioned he uses the 80gr Rem PLHP in his old 6mmRem M70 on Mule Deer "out West" every year. Needless to say I had to question him about that. At the time he said he had Killed about 15 Mulies with it and all were 1-shot Kills. He did not say he used it on the local Whitetails though. And as amazing as it may seem, I didn't ask him why not. Back at the 2000 NRA Convention in Charlotte, I was talking to the Rem Manager of Bullet Production and one of the "Wheels" rolled up. After introductions I asked if either of them had ever shot any of the 50gr PLHPs. They both said they had and wanted to know why I'd asked. I mentioned at the time I only knew of the 0.224" 50gr, 55gr, and 0,243" 80gr PLHPs, and wondered why they were not making more sizes of them. Told them it looked like to me some in larger calibers would be great Deer Killers. The Manager had alook on his face like he had a bad case of the old Green Apple Quick Step and he was about to loose it. But, the "wheel" said, "If you keep your eyes open, you never know what you might see coming along shortly." A couple of years passed and Rem released their "Bonded" Bullet which is simply a large PLHP. I feel sure they were already Testing them when I asked. I've not used any of the larger ones, but the Plated on Jacket is an excellent Design because it allows more precise alignment of the Lead Core. I'll look into the BlitzKings and the VMax Bullets. Might as well do something to stimulate the economy. ----- Went to the store this morning and the lady checking me out mentioned they had a lot of Hay windrowed that they needed to get up before the rain. I asked if she was having any problems with G-Hogs. She said, "No, I love animals!", since she knows me. Then I said, "I thought you all had a calf with a broken leg awhile back." She stopped and said, "I don't think it stepped in a G-Hog hole.", but her voice kind of trailed off at the end. I need to see her husband. Then on the way out, I asked a Greeter how their G-Hogs were doing. She said, "I can't remember the last time I saw one - too many Coyotes." Perhaps an opportunity for me there, but I'll give her a chance to think about that. Up here though, instead of the 50gr PLHPs, I believe it would be better for me to lean toward the 50gr Speer TNTs, since they appear to be a good bit more fragile and I sure don't want any ricocheting off into the distance. I need to ask the Board that. | |||
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Anybody out there have any of the Winchester 90 grain P.E.P.(Positive Expanding Point)(.257) bullets they'd like to trade for something? That bullet is the "Holy Grail" of blowing up a varmint!! Winchester still loads it in factory 25-06, as well as the 120 grain P.E.P(hell on wheels for deer and antelope!) but I would like to find 1000 of those bullets!! Let me know! Thanks! Charlie (GHD) Groundhog Devastation(GHD) | |||
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I enjoy the odd bit of varminting myself, but have never taken it to the level where every shot must be accounted for. If I go out Pdoggin' I don't count every hit/miss/wound seperate, I mostly consider myself to have a good day just by getting out there and taking a few shots!
I'm usually lucky to shoot 100 rounds per summer on vermin with the centre fire rifle. Mostly Pdogs, with the odd crow thrown in. Usually every couple of years a Ghog shows up around the house (2 years ago one was under the house) and gets a good going over.  I also shoot quite a bit with my .22lr, but no more than about 2,000 rounds a year
I don't really keep track of kills, or percentages, as long as I get out a time or two per summer I'm okay with not knowing!
I, like you, am not required to use lead free bullets, lord help us if it ever comes down to it 'round where I live.
I usually just take 2, my 22-250 and my .22lr for the closer shots.....I wish I could carry a hand gun...that would be the ultimate! | |||
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Varmints for me are from (by weight): Scrub Jays up to Coyotes so take these answers as they were given. 1) Kills, wounds, and misses are seperate counts (firing with safety on counts as a beverage of choice to all other party members when done). 2) 15 shots at Coyotes between the 243 (85gr tsx) and the 12ga. (#4 buckshot), 200+ shots of 22lr w/ 38gr jhp at Jackrabbits and Field Mice, 50 shots w/ 12ga w/ birdshot at Crows, Mice, Rabbits...basically anything menacing smaller than a Coyote, too many to count shots of 22lr and 22-250 at Belding Ground Squirrels (Sage Rats). 3) This is hard to quantify: highest when at rest and target is stationary, average at rest and target is moving or off hand and target is at rest, lowest when off hand and target is moving. 4) Lead is cool in Oregon. 5) 4 usually: 10-22 w/ scope and 25rd magazines, 243 bolt w/ 85gr tsx, 12ga pump w/ #4 buck, 22lr semi-auto pistol w/ scope Hope this helps | |||
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Thanks for the added info. Just intended for fun. Since I originally posted this, I've seen " 0 " G-Hogs, maybe 5 coyotes and no Stray Pets. Have seen thousands of $$$HIGH$$$ houses built on land I used to Hunt.  A lot of them are in forclosure(SP?) and going down, but they are still eating up fields and woods where they were never needed.Appreciate and cherish the land you now Hunt! | |||
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When I go, it's to the farming districts where there are a few "picket pins." I use a Rem M700V in .222 Rem. with an 8-32X on top. To "keep track," I put two paper bags on the floor of the pickup bed, as I'm shooting over the cab with cloth bags full of packing "popcorn." When I miss, I throw the M/T case in one sack...the hits, in the other. I can't even imagine a "wounded" animal, as I use Speer 52gr hollow-points. The "count" is made when I get back to the motel at night, as I prepare to reload them. The farmers offer a bounty of $.50 per tail, but it's just a vacation for me, so I don't collect. We have a novel way of counting the availability of targets...We go into the field and mark a 3'X3' square on the ground and count the holes in the square. If there are over 10 holes on average, we know that it is a good (bad) year. I'm glad I'm not a farmer!! Under 100yds, my "other half" does the shooting. She uses her Marlin M39, but doesn't keep track. She just shoots, and has fun. My average is around 65% to 75%, with ranges of 200yds to about 300/350. The longer shots REALLY bring the averages down! Another "game" we play is to line up as many as possible at about 200yds or so and see how how many we can get with one shot!!! There is a Coke box set up at a paced 200yd before we start shooting. we usually shoot from the corner of a field, so the "spotter" is nowhere near exact. The cases are counted, so the averages are not exact, either. "Picket pins?" Richardson's squirrel "M/T cases?" Cases with nothing in them Have fun, Gene | |||
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I can tell you with confidence my % goes down in a drastic way when the wind blows harder! | |||
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Hot Core wrote:
Shooting from a motorized vehicle is illegal in many locales. You may want to edit that post. Bobby Μολὼν λαβέ The most important thing in life is not what we do but how and why we do it. - Nana Mouskouri | |||
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Johnny, I think we have an answer!!!!!!!!!! According to Ricochet rifleman Hot Sh#t he normally gets around 0-9 shots on his varmint hunts. (see his above quote), Wow a whole 9 shots per trip on the average,my but I'm impressed with that high volume shooting. Seems a little slim in the EXPERIENCE area for the 22 centerfires, so maybe my estimate of 50 rounds per year may be on the high side as that would involve 5 hunts!!!!!! Out West we shoot 150-250 rounds per hunt and seem to find something to shoot all year round with average annual rounds from 1500-2000. Makes you wonder about his EXPERIENCE with 22 centerfires in total let alone on deer. Just quoting the old boy from the horse's...........! | |||
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Since that was around `62-`66, I'd guess the statute of limitations has run out. For teanscum to have me on "Ignore" he sure seems to be able to read a lot of my posts. Almost as if the sack-of-obummer is pulling a clinton. Not realsure of where he got his math classes. When I carried a rifle about 350 days a year, I thought I was getting a fair number of shots. But of course, I'll defer to the infinite wisdom of "my hero" - teanscum. | |||
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Me too. Always difficult to make clean Kills at distance when the wind rears up. | |||
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