There were four of us varminters in the 700 acre field that spring evening. The groundhogs were stirring about in the tall grass, and from time to time, one would stand upright for a look around.
And since it doesn't take a groundhog very long to take inventory, a successful shot on such a critter has to be executed within about 5 seconds of seeing him. After that, he'll go back down, making it necessary to wait for his next appearance.

I was shooting my dad's old Mannlicher-Schoenauer .243 win, with its antique Weaver K6 scope. Other rifles in use that afternoon ranged in power from a .223 Remington to a 7mm Remington Magnum. The guy with the big seven was chiding the youngest of us, a twenty-something country boy with a Ruger 25-06. It seemed that the owner of the Ruger had scoped the heavy barreled rifle with a 3 to 9 power Bushnell. He explained that the scope was a birthday gift, and since it hadn't given him any trouble he hadn't seen a need to replace it.

Big Seven's rifle was scoped with a 6.5 x 20 Leupold, and most of the one way conversation consisted of his extolling the virtues of Leupold scopes and Talley rings and Jewell triggers and McMillan stocks and Leica rangefinders and...

We had taken about six or seven groundhogs at ranges between 160 and 275 yards. Most of these were shot by the landowner, who did so with a light Remington 700 in .223, shooting 55 grain Speer spitzers with 21 grains of IMR 4198. This particular landowner has an uncanny ability to spot groundhogs, which is, of course, a necessary first step in killing them. I got my only kill of the day when I sent an 85 grain Sierra BTHP, pushed by 46 grains of IMR 4831 into a young one at a distance of just under 250 yards.

Way over on the hillside, at a range of about 500 yards, a fairly large groundhog kept popping up through the clover. We could only see his head briefly, then he'd go back down. Big Seven took three shots at him, and claimed after each of those shots that he'd "got him..." Funny, though, how "another" groundhog would pop up five or ten minutes later in exactly the same spot.

The 20-something fellow with the Ruger 25-06 had not taken a shot all day. He seemed content just chewing tobacco and whittling. I thought that perhaps Big Seven had convinced him that he was ill-equipped. I didn't know the boy--he was a farmhand for the dairy, but I suspected that he was afraid to embarrass himself.

But now he stood up from where he'd been sitting Indian fashion on the ground and said "I'd like a shot at that groundhog over there, if it's okay with you guys." He pointed toward the spot where Big Seven had been shooting divots.

"You're not serious!" Big Seven laughed. "You've got a good rifle, but it's not bedded, and that load you are using is unproven at that range and that trigger pulls like a steel trap spring and that scope probably lost zero on the way over here because the rings aren't lapped and well, hell, it's just a cheap Bushnell anyway--no offense, of course."

"None taken," the boy said as he took up position over my sandbags.

And we watched and waited...

I was beginning to think that Big Seven might have actually downed that groundhog with his third shot when ten or fifteen minutes had passed and it had not re-emerged. Or perhaps the critter had decided that it was a bad day for foraging and he'd just stay in the house till morning.

"There he is," the landowner said as he ranged the critter with his Bushnell YP800. "Four hundred and eighty-eight yards."

"I had four-ninety," Big Seven interjected. "It's four hundred and--"

BOOM!

The 25-06 went off. And if the load was unproven before, that seemed to no longer be the case. A string of intestines went airborne about eighteen inches when the Hornady VMAX struck home. The echo of the shot rang back to us as the disembowled varmint's carcass slumped out of sight into the grass.

"Got him," the boy said without even a hint of excitement in his voice.

"Yep, you got him alright," I said, still looking at the blood splattered clover through my Bausch & Lomb Zephyrs.

"It's getting too dark to go check 'em out now," Big Seven erroneously opined, then nervously added "Good shot kid... Let's hit the trail home. That's enough groundhog shootin' for a day... boy I ain't never seen three groundhogs come out of the same hole like that... must have been a whole family of them rascals over there I reckon..."



Dan Newberry
green 788

green 788,

Great story! I really enjoy stories like these. It is how alot of oldtimers used to write...when there was a time where they did not give a shit about promoting and getting brownie points from the manufacters.
I know some farm boys(used to be one myself)who can really shoot. It is downright scary.

Daryl

I was always of the opinion that it was the Indian,as much as the arrow. Further convinced,that the best Indians made the greatest usefulness,of the best arrows.

Point bein' there is little that can't be done with much practice and great tools...............

Some people have more talent than others also. Sometimes a lot more.

Of course once again a belted case fails!

Green - Excellent story and you make a subtle point that I have long believed in and put forth many times...mostly to deaf ears.

Anyway, I REALLY believe in this confidence thing. In fact I equate it almost to the level of magic. Over my hunting and competitive shooting career, covering 45 years worth, I have made some tremendous shots...and I am sorry to report that I have made an equal number of sorry shots with a generous serving of spectacular misses. No one need look for my name in the "Halls of Glory" for shooters. But what I have noticed is whenever I had confidence in myself, my load, my rifle...great things happened that day. Quite often after having a great day I would go out the following day to the target range to try to "duplicate my greatness" shooting the same rifle and the same ammo only to discover the ammo didn't group all that well and sometimes my rifle wasn't even sighted in well for what I had been doing either!! This discovery always left me baffled.

The converse is true. I've done great things on the range and gone to the field the next day with a perfectly sighted rifle and ammunition tuned almost to perfection...only to turn in a hunting day of supremely mediocre shooting.

Over the years I have become totally convinced there is a heck of a lot to this confidence thing. Days when I believe I can...I do. Days when I don't feel that "inner force," well...ho hum. Perhaps some of us are more "sensitive" to the pulls of this force?

You will never get an argument out of me that there is a great deal of psychology behind shooting...or most any other sport for that matter.

In summary, and to reinforce the point your story made so well, there is a lot more to shooting than having the greatest gun, the fastest bullet, the greatest SD or BC, and all the other crap we all waste too much time worrying and arguing about. When it's time to step up and take your shot, knowing yourself may be the most important factor of all. IMHO

[ 01-26-2003, 04:31: Message edited by: Pecos45 ]

Competence. The real be all end all...

Pecos,
Confidence is a fine thing. That said confidence does not make up for competence. I agree with Stick in that the best indian with the best arrow is a fearsome combination. Dumb luck aside, shooting at 500 plus yards and hitting a ground hog sitting in his hole is proficiency.

Nothing wrong with Leupold Scopes, Jewell Triggers, or Leica Rangefinders. In the right hands they can be right impressive. In the wrong hands they are window dressing.

Now I DO believe in the MOJO... When a competent individual is in the bubble, so to speak, look out for the damned impressive.

Matt.

green 788: Your wonderful story reminds me of a humbling experience I had Hunting Rock Chucks in Idaho several years ago. I was breaking in a new partner who was an accopmplished Prairie Dog Shooter but had never Hunted Rock Chucks. My friend Irv took immense glee in rubbing out whole rock piles full of Chucks but he preferred them in close! He had missed several that morning at 250 yards and a couple even closer. That Rifle of his was deadly though at 150 yards. He was using one of those AR-15 type 223's with a Leupold 6.5X20 scope. His favorite Praire Dog Rifle! It was late afternoon of our first day of Chuck Hunting and we had just resumed Hunting after a heavy spring shower. We were driving down a ranch road when I spotted a VERY large Chuck way off across a field feeding on the wet grass! (Rock Chucks love to come out and eat wet grass after a rain!) This one was a whopper! I pulled the VarmintMobile over and we got our gear ready. We were lying prone on our shooting mats my friend using a bipod and I had my swivel top tripod with sand bag top in use. It was Irvs shot but I was making myelf ready as I KNEW he was going to miss this Chuck! After all there was now a 5 MPH crosswind, the extreme distance, his previous misses - it all got me pumped! I wanted that Chuck - he was a trophy! I was going to shoot the instant he missed and that would keep that slam banger from going into rapid fire mode! The Chuck reappeared under a barbed wire fence and resumed feeding. My friend asked me how far out he was. I told him 470 yards. My friend was certain it was further but I did not have time to explain we were shooting nearly directly across the ranchers "quarter" section, fence line to fenceline (440 yards plus about 30 more)! I knew the range, I knew he would miss, I knew my Remington 40XB 220 Swift would take out this double chubby Chuck as soon as it was my shot!
Well you guessed it! Somehow that 223 bullet from that rattle trap of a Rifle found its way into that Chuck and killed him! I was so amazed! I immediately congratulated him on the shot of the day. This Chuck was so big we wanted to fetch it for photographs! We were just getting up when another Chuck appeared and was standing on alert about 25 yards to the side of the dead Chuck! I was happy my friend had taken his quarry but it somehow "rattled" me! I mean I was amazed and incredulous and grinning as I held into the wind the proper amount and held for elevation the proper amount and made myself squeeze the trigger of the 40X! Pow - a clean miss occurred! Proper elevation but incorrect windage according to the spotter! His shot now at the waddling towards a lava rock Chuck. You guessed right again! Pow - whop! Irv hit that one also! It was a long wait for the next Chuck to appear. This time it was on the lava rock and my bullet lifted the Chuck into the air for its last ride! I thank that bullet for finding its mark as I was now the opposite of confident I was rattled!
Yes mental "attitude" and confidence are important factors in achieving any difficult goal. And calmness is a big part of the correct mental attitude in any shooting situation or discipline! Whether shooting at targets or Game mental clarity is needed for higher scores and higher success rates.
Again great shot Irv and great story green 788!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I'd rather be lucky than good on any given day!

Lady Luck is seldom with me so I also have to do everything I can to build confidence in myself and my equipment whether its in the field or at the range.