.22lr for groundhogs

Do you like the .22 lr for groundhogs?

  • Total voters
    10
Chuck

Chuck

CGN Regular
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Location
Deep River
I'm curious to know how many of you like using the .22 lr for groundhogs and similar game. I was out on the weekend and the .22-250 stayed at home and instead I took my Remington 541-T and started knocking off hogs with Winchester Power Points. I knocked off five hogs over two hours. Shots ranged from 40 to about 90 yards and it was a damn lot of fun I have to say. Is anyone else into the long rifle round for varminting?

Chuck
 
By groundhogs, you mean those big woodchuck things? I've never shot or even seen one. But .22LR is all I use for ground squirrels (prairie gophers). Hollowpoints thru the chest result in instant kills from typical 22 ranges and a body on the ground. A solid will kill them but they're alive just long enough to drop down the hole. They just go through them too easily. A hollowpoint really thumps them. I would imagine a 22 HP would do the same on groundhogs / woodchucks as well.

Now you've got me all excited. I'm going to have to go gopher shooting real soon.

Grouse Man
 
I have been using .22lr for dirt pigs for 4 years now. I live in farm country about 30 min north of Belleville Ont. In that time my buddy and I have taken over 300 hogs. (Yes, we keep a count because the farmer likes to know)
The ranges usually are 20-80 yds and we try to get as close as possible before shooting. We try for one shot kills and only count the ones we see expired.
Ground hogs can be extrmely tough. Many times a hog is hit soundly but by the time we get to the hole, it has dragged itself back underground. We feel better if we know for sure its a quick kill.
It is a great way to sharpen your hunting skills as the older ones can get quite cagey and you have to out think them. (That's hard for some of us :D)
I use Rem Yellow Jackets because they are accurate in my rifle and hit hard.

Enjoy and good luck

tbhupe
 
A ground hog is also called a woodchuck. It is a rodent and a member of the marmot family. They can weigh up to 10 lbs for a full grown male in late summer.
Think of a cat with brown fur and short legs. Despite the fact that they are burrowing animals, they can climb rail fences and trees. (this adds a new dynamic when you are looking for them)

Try this site for more info and pictures
http://www.hoghaven.com/
 
tbhupe said:
A ground hog is also called a woodchuck. It is a rodent and a member of the marmot family. They can weigh up to 10 lbs for a full grown male in late summer.
Think of a cat with brown fur and short legs. Despite the fact that they are burrowing animals, they can climb rail fences and trees. (this adds a new dynamic when you are looking for them)

Try this site for more info and pictures
http://www.hoghaven.com/
Click to expand...
Sounds like something the Liberals would adopt.
 
Would a 470 NE be enough of a bullet for you, Bigredd?

I want to invite a buddy of mine to hunt groundhogs with the 470.
He plays baseball and he claims a 75 mph velocity for the 470.

out to 70 yards it should do right, don't you think?

either this or I'll shove it down in a groudhole and purge them all out.
Maybe I strike oil too :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
This has been a slow year for me in my area. The only ones I saw were on the road. The wolves and coyotes have had a field day this year. I think I have found a new place where they seemed to survive however. Next year I will concentrate on my neighbour's apple orchard. The trees should present a new challenge, CQB I think.
 
My Dad use to go out after groundhogs with a 22lr. The burrows they made would do nasty things to hay wagons and caused a lot of grief to cattle that stepped in them.

He said you had to hit them in the head for a kill. I think he cleared a field one summer.

Strange thing, since another farmer has been cultivating with fertilizers and and pesticides, I don't see as many groundhogs.
 
Cultivating alone can drive them out, or at least into the fence rows. Hay fields don't normally get cultivated every year like a grain field so are more prone to ground hogs. A good hollow point will drop them if hit anywhere in the upper torso or head out to about 75 yds. Rem Yellow Jackets have a huge hole in the hollow point and are really devastating. I used to shoot them out of my dads model 64 cooey with awsome results. Haven't tried them in my 351K Mossy yet.
 
I'm not 100% confident using .22LR to shoot groundhogs. They're tough little animals, I find it difficult to get consistent 1-shot-kills on the little buggers when I use .22LR.
 
I think that the secret to shooting them with a .22 is shot placement ,head shots or heart/lung shots. If you can't make them then either don't take the shot or move to a better position so you can.
 
eltorro, as daft as it sounds, that wouldn't be a bad thing. I've shot ground hogs with a 220 grain .30-06 Silvertip. As well as bird shot out of a shotgun. Hunting ground hogs is excellent shooting/stalking practice as long as you're doing it out of the silly .275 calibre area. Small target. Mind you, what baseball has to do with it escapes me.
A .22lr will drop a ground hog with no fuss as long as the bullet is placed properly. Same as any other animal. A heart/lung shot works just fine with a .22HP high velocity.
"...Is a ground hog a cross between a gopher and a piglet..." No. Think in terms of the biggest gopher you've ever seen and add 5 pounds. Ground hogs are to Eastern summer hunting that gophers are to Western summer hunting. Just bigger.
 
I once used a .308 to shoot a groundhog. That was quite a laugh and a half, all we could find was his legs and a bunch of entrails. .22 is good.
 
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