Groundhog Hunting

[Old Hickory]

I have been doing some groundhog control lately with my Savage .17 WSM suppressed rifles.

 

[John4st]

You must know some tricks to finding ground hogs? There are scarce around me or I just don't know how to locate them?

 

[Old Hickory]

You must know some tricks to finding ground hogs? There are scarce around me or I just don't know how to locate them?

I was having the same problem as you, John. None to be found until some friends dropped some luck into my lap.
Until then scouting produced absolutely nothing.
I am convinced there are no groundhogs in the areas I was searching. One of my pals living in a no groundhog area told me coyotes were digging out groundhog dens, killing the groundhogs and eating them, and then taking over the dens. He owns a lot of land and is a good hunter so I take his opinions seriously. He is also the gunsmith that takes care of my rifles.

I think you live a hundred miles from here in Burlington and should be able to find some pretty soon if you can find the right folks to ask about groundhogs.

I am fortunate because of my now retired custom knife shop business and my working with the public day job of many years.

 

[Spikedriver]

My best advice for groundhogs is to get permission to hunt old abandoned farmsteads, especially if they have brush grown up around the buildings. That is where I see them most often.

When it comes to groundhogs I like bigger calibers. I want them to be really, really dead. 243 and 25/06 would be my choice...

 

[Old Hickory]

My best advice for groundhogs is to get permission to hunt old abandoned farmsteads, especially if they have brush grown up around the buildings. That is where I see them most often.

When it comes to groundhogs I like bigger calibers. I want them to be really, really dead. 243 and 25/06 would be my choice...

That is very good advice. One such place is near my home with groundhogs but the tall weeds and grass offer no shots.
I recently bought a new Ruger American Ranch gen 2 5.56 rifle that is ready for action. Because the factory trigger was lousy, I had a Timney trigger installed and set on 2 pounds. My gunsmith pal just finished a trigger job on my Savage A17 .17 WSM rifle. Its factory trigger was a real bum too.

 

[Old Hickory]

That is very good advice. One such place is near home with groundhogs but the tall weeds and grass offer no shots.
I recently bought a new Ruger American Ranch gen 2 5.56 rifle that is ready for action. I also had a Timney trigger installed and set on 2 pounds because the factory trigger was lousy.

 

[John4st]

Growing up, we always just shot the ones that we noticed around. We never went out looking for them. I have just discovered Prairie dog shooting in the last few years and it is going to ruin me for about anything else. That amount of shooting in one place is just so much fun. I found a nice patch of them in eastern Colorado about 10 miles from my girlfriend's mothers house. All of the sudden I'm all in for visiting her.

 

[Old Hickory]

Another with my Savage A17 .17 WSM.

 

[Old Hickory]

Another one, Sunday morning.

 

[Spikedriver]

Good shot! I would normally argue that the 17 is too small for groundhogs, but with shot placement that good, I'll shut up...

 

[Old Hickory]

Good shot! I would normally argue that the 17 is too small for groundhogs, but with shot placement that good, I'll shut up...

I shot groundhogs and varmints with my HMR since the first day they were for sale. The HMR was somewhat a lightweight until I bought my first .17 WSM rifles when they became available. My HMR is fully retired and my .17 WSM rifles are 100% filling the bill. From coyote size and down, one shot one kill with my WSM rifles.

 

[Old Hickory]

Good shot! I would normally argue that the 17 is too small for groundhogs, but with shot placement that good, I'll shut up...

My .17 WSM rifles are very accurate but cannot match my HMR super accuracy. My tricked out HMR shoots one single hole group at 100 meters, witnessed. Righthand rifle with custom lefthand stock and Basix sear kit installed, and trigger is set on 12 OZ.