Hey Mark....Dinner

[cattleskinner]

Not really, I can't bring myself to eating the things, but Rugerman says they are good. This one wasn't taken with a cast boolit, but "swaged" counts...right? Used a .22 Velocitor at about 55 paces. Anyone else having any luck?

~Amos

[nighthunter]

They are very good to eat. Several friends and I used to save the hind legs from all but the toughest and oldest groundhogs we shot and we shot a LOT of them. There is a yellow gland about the size of a small acorn in the hind legs that you have to remove before cooking. When we had enough hind legs saved up for a good sized feast we cooked them up at camp. We boiled them in salted water till they turned white. Then cooled them and removed all the fat. We dipped them in egg batter and rolled them in spiced cracker crumbs and fried them till they were golden brown. They are very good and I'm sure there are a lot of good recipes for them.

Nighthunter

[jhalcott]

I got 3 yesterday and missed one? I shot the first with a 17HMR rifle and he managed to slide back down his hole. I could see him but didn't try to pull him out. 2nd one ,also with the HMR, got lost in tall grass. He left NO evidence of any hit! So I call him a miss. The other 2 got zapped with the .223 and 55 grain bullets. I really wonder about the HMR's effectiveness on ground hogs. A buddy shot a hog at ~75 yards and we thought he hit it but could not find any evidence of a hit.

[cattleskinner]

A co-worker allowed me to use his 17hmr about a month ago, and I observed the same things when it came to its ability to drop animals. I had to shoot a coon a couple times to drop one, and other instances I hit a couple of groundhogs (I heard it hit them), but all made it back to their holes. Call me a old fashioned, but I'll stick with .22 caliber when it comes to rimfires. When it comes to groundhog sized game I'm not impressed with the .17 caliber's on game performance. They are very accurate little rounds though and fun to shoot.

~Amos

[leadman]

I am of the same opinion concerning the 17HMR or M2. The big jacks here in Az. usually can digest 2 or 3 17s before they slow down. Have better results with the old CCI Stinger or the 50gr Federal 22 mag.

The Hornet would probably be ideal with cast for those groundhogs.

[DanWalker]

My bud shot 2 jacks with a 17hmr a few years ago. The first took 4 hits, then I finished it with my 223. The second one was shot to see if the first was a fluke. He hit it right behind the shoulder at 25 yards, and it just sat there for almost a minute before just stretching out like it was going to sleep, and then just died.
He shoots a 204 ruger now.

[GLynn41]

they are good to eat-- but I used a 25.06 and 22-250 both of which were decidedly hard on them - I took a few with my handguns though and they were eatable- cast bullets baby

[clodhopper]

I'm 3 for 3 with the 17M2 from my upstairs bedroom deck about 35 yards out in the back yard. Pretty settled here, 17 cuts down on chance of ricocet.
Solid prone position with sling helps put that little bullet where it counts.
Last one could have made it to the hole if he had been just a couple steps closer.

[jhalcott]

a fellow club member told me he shot a small buck with a borrowed 17HMR. It was a 25yards or so shot that went thru the heart. The deer took only a few steps before falling. He said he could not find the bullet hole till he gutted and skinned the animal. He said the heart was mush!

[rugerman1]

Amos,
I hope you kept that critter in the freezer for me! :mrgreen:

[cattleskinner]

Sorry Mark, that one was buzzard bait, along with the one I got today at my parent's place. Got this one stalking a fencerow at about 30 foot or a bit less. Ruger MKII, Millet reddot and Federal "Walmart" bulk shells. I didn't have a regular camera, only my cell phone, hence the fuzzy picture.



~Amos :bigsmyl2:

[singleshotbuff]

Mark has been here to my groundhog farm, earlier in the year. Of course, the wheat was tall and we didn't see one damn hog in a whole morning of hunting.

The guy who farms my place finally harvested the wheat a coupla weeks ago and then bailed the straw. The hogs are easy to see now.

I've killed 11 groundhogs in the last week, 10 with a 308 and 1 with a 380 pocket pistol (he was 5 feet from me). Never ate one though.

FWIW, in the 308 I'm using a Hornady 110gr Vmax bullet at a tick over 3k f.p.s. The exit wounds are fantastic in the autopsey photos. Pretty gruesome.

SSB

[singleshotbuff]

Here are 2 of the photos.

[greg gremlin]

SSB: Good shooting!! I use a 223 and 50 gr speer tnt's. I hunt farmlands in Idaho next to lava fields. The tnt's explode and the chucks don't suffer. Less chance of ricochets. Had a blackfoot indian hunt same area ask for the chuck for eating. Neck shot, no exit wound glad he wanted it. Have to try those 110 's in my 30-06 next time chuck hunting. thanks, greg