Hey guys, I'm a long-time .22lr (casual) target shooter and relatively new to .17 HMR. I'm currently shopping FOR a .17 HMR for this purpose and will likely get it regardless of the input I get here....BUT, what has your experience been with groundhogs using a .22lr? What ammunition, what effect, how instant was the kill, etc. I know guys who say nothing less than a .17, others who say nothing less than .223 for the 100 yard shots they like to make but really...hasn't the .22lr taken more groundhogs than any other round? The place I've been invited to go next spring has some spooky (nervous?) groundhogs and apparently, you need to be prepared to make 100 yard shots almost every time. Sounds like .17 HMR territory to me. Your thoughts?
.22 lr vs. groundhog~capable or compromise?
- Thread starter .22LRGUY
- Start date
I generally use .22lr for up to 75m, .17hmr up to 200m, and .204 for any time I want to see gopher acrobatics.
Sometimes .22 doesn't kill on the first shot.
17hmr always seems to kill on first shot (with some good flips etc.)
.204 always disembowels and dismembers and adds many gophers to the varmint air-force trick-flying acrobatic team
Sometimes .22 doesn't kill on the first shot.
17hmr always seems to kill on first shot (with some good flips etc.)
.204 always disembowels and dismembers and adds many gophers to the varmint air-force trick-flying acrobatic team
My feeling, after hunting these guys, is the .22 is marginal, especially on long shots. They are tough little boogers. I shot two of them with HP CCI mini mags at about 20 yds in the chest. Both ran away. I recovered them later. Bullet did not pass through. It kills them but not instantly- which is what you want. I have head shot them and that is more effective but I don't think head shots at 100 yds, even with an accurate .22, is going to result in instant kills. The .223 is appropriate at longer ranges IMO. I wouldn't hesitate to use it or my .204 Ruger. Bang, pink mist, done like dinner. Next.
I don't have any personal experience with the .17 HMR but it has to be better than the .22 at ranges over 25 yds. Best thing, of course, is to check with the guys you will hunt with as to what they use.
I've hit them with a .22 and seen them run back down the hole. I usually assume I missed, but the vultures the next day prove that was false.
In my opinion, the only way to shoot a groundhog is with a round which will kill it instantly, or almost instantly. .22 will not do that, so I consider it inhumane to use it on them.
A .17 or a .223 is much better.
In my opinion, the only way to shoot a groundhog is with a round which will kill it instantly, or almost instantly. .22 will not do that, so I consider it inhumane to use it on them.
A .17 or a .223 is much better.
Ardent
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
If you use a .22 on gophers, there is only one load: CCI Velocitor. It is hands down the most effective .22 load on the market, nothing comes close, not even CCI's own Stinger. 40gr bullet at 1440fps, that really opens up gophers, and lifts them off the mound frequently too. PHHHHooomp. I've shot hundreds of gophers with them, they are also absurdly consistent and accurate. About 5 years ago now in a match I shot a 2.27" 200 yard 5 shot group with CCI Velocitors out of my Kimber. That's damn near MOA at 200 yards, with a .22LR! It beat the purpose built match ammo in the shoot. I've run it over my chrono too and it is bizarrely consistent.
Do you possibly mean prairie dog? I used to shoot prairie dogs in Ab all the time with a 22lr and they didn't live long, if at all. I don't know the range but I needed a cheap scope. We always called them ground hogs and real ground hogs were called marmots. It wasn't until later I learned the real names.
oops, just read Ardent's post, gopher's is what we called prairie dogs. Sorry it was 30 years ago.
oops, just read Ardent's post, gopher's is what we called prairie dogs. Sorry it was 30 years ago.
I generally use .22lr for up to 75m, .17hmr up to 200m, and .204 for any time I want to see gopher acrobatics.
Sometimes .22 doesn't kill on the first shot.
17hmr always seems to kill on first shot (with some good flips etc.)
.204 always disembowels and dismembers and adds many gophers to the varmint air-force trick-flying acrobatic team
The OP said groundhogs- i am assuming he didn't mean gophers. That is a totally different scenario if he meant gophers.
groundhogs are 5 x the size of gophers. .22 is plenty for a gopher, I never shot a groundhog. I would guess a .22 would kill up to 50 yards with a headshot but not a body shot. I seen some huge groundhogs in Lethbridge. They must get to about 20 lbs
Someone else said it, groundhogs get to be over 12 lbs. and I've shot a lot of them and .22 will kill them but most of the time they make it back to the hole to suffer/die. If you hit them at anywhere near 100 yds., your odds are worse. I believe that even the .17 rf. and .22 mag. would still leave alot wounded in their holes, depending on range. The .22 centerfires from .222 up will drop them on top with no suffering, some folks like 6mms and .25s for long range, sure kills. I think the .204 Ruger would be good, as is the .22-250, unless you are trying some ridiculously long shots.
- Location
- Peace River, Alberta
22lr on hogs
You will need something other than a 22 if your serious about hunting groundhogs.
Greg
You will need something other than a 22 if your serious about hunting groundhogs.
Greg
Ontario Groundhogs
The OP lives in Ontario. Ontario has BIG Ground Hogs, not the smaller Prairie Dogs, Gophers or Richardson Ground Squirrels of the Prairie Provinces.
I started out in the 50s with an old single shot .22 Long Rifle Cooey. (Didn't almost everyone?) At that time, 13 years old, you could bicycle around Southern Ontario with a rifle strapped to the handlebars in search of the local big game known as GROUND HOGS. I quickly found out that the Long Rifle Hollow Point (remember the Whiz-Bangs) were the way to go. Also, stalking these animals to well under the 40 yard range was much better for sure kills.
These things are tough to kill with a .22 Long Rifle bullet, and shot placement is critical for a clean kill. I hate to admit it now, but many of them that I shot got back down the hole, to die there.
I then went to the .22 Hornet, .222 Remingtton and the .22-250. Much better and cleaner kills. If the .17 HMR would have been available then, I would have used one and been perfectly satisfied. If I were hunting them today, with a RIMFIRE, I would be using the .17 HMR
Lets face it, you want a HUNTING rifle for Ground Hogs. You are going to fire maybe a dozen shots on a great day at them, and you want something that is economical, effective and fairly good ballistics. The 17 HMR will do all that.
My hunting partner here has a .17 HMR and I have been very impressed with it's performance on larger varmints....even up to Coyote size. Most of our Gopher hunting (smaller varmint, about 9 inchs high and two wide) is done with the .22 LR and Hollow Point bullets, but I also have a .17 HM2 that I take along for longer shots. Although smaller than the .17 HMR (Magnum), I like it for the accuracy, quiet report, and price of ammo. Last weekend I shot a very large Raccoon with it, (much bigger than a Ground Hog), and one round did the trick. It rolled on its back, feet in the air, tail twitching.
My advice, for Ontario Ground Hogs, is buy the .17 HMR, and use the .22 LR for general target and plinking shooting.
The OP lives in Ontario. Ontario has BIG Ground Hogs, not the smaller Prairie Dogs, Gophers or Richardson Ground Squirrels of the Prairie Provinces.
I started out in the 50s with an old single shot .22 Long Rifle Cooey. (Didn't almost everyone?) At that time, 13 years old, you could bicycle around Southern Ontario with a rifle strapped to the handlebars in search of the local big game known as GROUND HOGS. I quickly found out that the Long Rifle Hollow Point (remember the Whiz-Bangs) were the way to go. Also, stalking these animals to well under the 40 yard range was much better for sure kills.
These things are tough to kill with a .22 Long Rifle bullet, and shot placement is critical for a clean kill. I hate to admit it now, but many of them that I shot got back down the hole, to die there.
I then went to the .22 Hornet, .222 Remingtton and the .22-250. Much better and cleaner kills. If the .17 HMR would have been available then, I would have used one and been perfectly satisfied. If I were hunting them today, with a RIMFIRE, I would be using the .17 HMR
Lets face it, you want a HUNTING rifle for Ground Hogs. You are going to fire maybe a dozen shots on a great day at them, and you want something that is economical, effective and fairly good ballistics. The 17 HMR will do all that.
My hunting partner here has a .17 HMR and I have been very impressed with it's performance on larger varmints....even up to Coyote size. Most of our Gopher hunting (smaller varmint, about 9 inchs high and two wide) is done with the .22 LR and Hollow Point bullets, but I also have a .17 HM2 that I take along for longer shots. Although smaller than the .17 HMR (Magnum), I like it for the accuracy, quiet report, and price of ammo. Last weekend I shot a very large Raccoon with it, (much bigger than a Ground Hog), and one round did the trick. It rolled on its back, feet in the air, tail twitching.
My advice, for Ontario Ground Hogs, is buy the .17 HMR, and use the .22 LR for general target and plinking shooting.
- Location
- Winnipeg,Man.
The eastern Groundhog is the Western woodchuck and the West coast marmot. rather larger than a gopher but hit right, can be stopped in it's tracks with a .22.......the center fire is a better choice for long distances over 100 yards.
This summer I put down 7 badgers ( larger than a groundhog and tougher with only head shots available) which did not move after the shot and were hit with head shots with .22 hollows from 20 yards to 100 yards. Shot placement is imperitive on hitting any animal.
This summer I put down 7 badgers ( larger than a groundhog and tougher with only head shots available) which did not move after the shot and were hit with head shots with .22 hollows from 20 yards to 100 yards. Shot placement is imperitive on hitting any animal.
- Location
- In lalaland, that is Ottawa.
Groundhogs, pasture poodles of Ontario & N.E. USA
I figuratively cut my teeth on these guys in the '40s in SW Ontario, along the bottom land fields of the Thames River east of Chatham & Thamesville. I hunted with a neighbour, a barber who owned a Winchester pump .22 but not a plain L.R., still rimfire but fractionally larger and even then, almost impossible to buy ammo for. Myself, I used my father's .22LR Mossberg 46B, peep sighted bolt action, tubular mag, usually CIL Whiz-Bangs.
My mentor, Harland Smith, set the rules, no hunting until the first crop of hay was cut and the pups big enought to exit the den and look after themselves. Secondly head shots only on the adults after stalking to well within 100 yds. With a head shot, you had a body to pull out of the den by the tail or it was a "miss", we hoped. Body shots on adults were not made.
These were the days when the hot shots from Ohio would every year make a pilgrimage to the rolling country of central Ontario with their fancy single shot center fire fire .224 necked down from .25-20 cases and such, using jacketed bullets and big scopes. They wrote about their one-of-a-kind single shot rifles and the long range shooting in Ontario. These were the guys that took the 250 yds and up shots out even further, body shots of course with explosive results. This was exotic stuff in those days when even a .22 Hornet had been available for about 10 or 12 years.
Mean while, two or three evenings a week, Harland and I drove 5 or 6 miles in his Ford Model T, later a Model A to the flats along the Thames. On a good evening, we would score 3 or 4 kills each, head shots on the adults, body shots on the pups, using stealth, stalking and the curiosity of a ground hog to raise his head from one of the holes into the den for a look-see, after going to ground. I bought my prewar BSA Model 12 .220 at that time with the great vernier tang peep sight. I could if the head was plainly vissible get kills out to about 75 yds. None of this shooting, BTW was offhand, sitting, fence post or whatever available.
So, is a .22LR OK for ground hogs, very much so but go for head shots after stalking. This hunting was for me the prairie equivalent of a 500 yds stalk to bag an antelope!
The days when a kid could ride a bicycle for miles on country roads with a rifle slung over his shoulder and do the farmers a good turn by keeping the ground hogs in check.
I regret that I never ate a ground hog but knew people that did, cutting out the glands in the arm pits, skinning soaking in salted water and slow cooking the dark meat. Said to be excellent. And the old timers would dehair the hides, and cut them for boot laces, no round slippery synthetic cursed laces then.
I figuratively cut my teeth on these guys in the '40s in SW Ontario, along the bottom land fields of the Thames River east of Chatham & Thamesville. I hunted with a neighbour, a barber who owned a Winchester pump .22 but not a plain L.R., still rimfire but fractionally larger and even then, almost impossible to buy ammo for. Myself, I used my father's .22LR Mossberg 46B, peep sighted bolt action, tubular mag, usually CIL Whiz-Bangs.
My mentor, Harland Smith, set the rules, no hunting until the first crop of hay was cut and the pups big enought to exit the den and look after themselves. Secondly head shots only on the adults after stalking to well within 100 yds. With a head shot, you had a body to pull out of the den by the tail or it was a "miss", we hoped. Body shots on adults were not made.
These were the days when the hot shots from Ohio would every year make a pilgrimage to the rolling country of central Ontario with their fancy single shot center fire fire .224 necked down from .25-20 cases and such, using jacketed bullets and big scopes. They wrote about their one-of-a-kind single shot rifles and the long range shooting in Ontario. These were the guys that took the 250 yds and up shots out even further, body shots of course with explosive results. This was exotic stuff in those days when even a .22 Hornet had been available for about 10 or 12 years.
Mean while, two or three evenings a week, Harland and I drove 5 or 6 miles in his Ford Model T, later a Model A to the flats along the Thames. On a good evening, we would score 3 or 4 kills each, head shots on the adults, body shots on the pups, using stealth, stalking and the curiosity of a ground hog to raise his head from one of the holes into the den for a look-see, after going to ground. I bought my prewar BSA Model 12 .220 at that time with the great vernier tang peep sight. I could if the head was plainly vissible get kills out to about 75 yds. None of this shooting, BTW was offhand, sitting, fence post or whatever available.
So, is a .22LR OK for ground hogs, very much so but go for head shots after stalking. This hunting was for me the prairie equivalent of a 500 yds stalk to bag an antelope!
The days when a kid could ride a bicycle for miles on country roads with a rifle slung over his shoulder and do the farmers a good turn by keeping the ground hogs in check. I regret that I never ate a ground hog but knew people that did, cutting out the glands in the arm pits, skinning soaking in salted water and slow cooking the dark meat. Said to be excellent. And the old timers would dehair the hides, and cut them for boot laces, no round slippery synthetic cursed laces then.
I'd set a 60 yrd limit on the 22 LR for pretty much anything you could hunt with it. The 17 HMR has served me well out to 150 yrds on groundhogs and crows but I use mine for shooting pests around the farms I hunt. I use my 22-250 for coyotes and general varmint hunting.
