The first Rock Chuck of the year. Jan 26th 2019

[idahoron]

I went out to shoot my CZ455 varmint. After I got done I decided to spin by the farm to see if an early rock chuck was out. There is a old cement slab that I figured would get warm faster than the rock piles. So I headed over there. I saw his head sticking out from under the cement. I ranged it at 83 yards. I looked at my wind meter and it said 3 mph. I gave him a mil like of windage and held for the neck. First one of the year.

[brass410]

aint that just a thing of beauty first one of the year to we wont see them for at least another 3months congrats. if its a young one they're supposed to to be pretty good table fare don't know if I could eat one or not.

[tazman]

It looks to be what we call a ground hog around here. The big ones are tough and greasy. The young ones are pretty good, but it has been a very long time since I have eaten one.

[CastingFool]

We call them woodchucks or ground hogs around here. We don't see them out this time of the year, mostly cuz there is a foot of snow on the ground. Earliest one I have seen was on March last year. Got it a day or two later.

[TNsailorman]

Yeah, way early for groundhogs in East Tennessee also. Usually mid April to early march here, depending of the weather. Early springs they will come out earlier. I have seen them in February here but not too often. james

[DW475]

Hopefully that's a sign of some great sod poodle shooting this spring! Nice shot.

[dale2242]

I can`t wait for the weather to warm enough in Eastern Oregon for the sage rats to pop up.
I called the ranchers that let us shoot in their hay fields and asked them to let us know when they start seeing them.
There aren`t many rock chucks there but, I did manage to get a young one that slipped out in the edge of the field to eat last year.

[tazman]

50 years ago there were lots of them around here. Then they seemed to die out for a while. Now, they seem to be making a comeback.

[idahoron]

I shot 250 last year with my air rifle.

[tazman]

Wow. That's a lot of groundhogs.
I didn't see as many as the ones you show in the picture all last year.

[idahoron]

Extermination is the goal. This is just one of the fields that I was hunting. You can see that the chucks have wiped out much of this field.



In this picture you can see my blind, this is a Hay field.




The damage is unbelievable. That farmer lost 10,000 just on beans alone two summers ago. Last year was my first year shooting for him. He wanted me to only use an air rifle last year. Now that he knows me better and I know the farms better they allow me to use my judgment on the areas I should or should not use my 17HMR.
My air rifle is a great gun there in most places due to the location of houses and cattle.

[Plate plinker]

Hope that farmer gifts you some ammunition money he is lucky to have you.

[3GRacing]

Didn't somebody name a reloading press after them critters?

[idahoron]

Hope that farmer gifts you some ammunition money he is lucky to have you.

My pellets are like 12 dollars for 500 rounds.
They said that them selves. They are happy that I am cutting their loss and I am happy to have a hunting place 400 yards away from my house.

[Plate plinker]

Idahoron you must realize your a hired gun now. Add that to your resume or professional hunter.

Now really what air gun are you using, also caliber and type of pellet if you please. Thank you.

[idahoron]

Idahoron you must realize your a hired gun now.

That's funny.
When I first got back into air gunning I did the same thing everyone else does. I went to the local store and bought one that said 1000 FPS, or 1400 fps. After some very discouraging shooting with box store guns I decided to look at good guns.
I bought an Air Arms TX200 under lever.



The Air Arms is the most winning rifle in air gun competitions. They truly a precision air rifle. The one thing they are not is blistering fast. I have over 5000 rounds through the gun in one year. and it is just as accurate as the first tin of pellets.
This is a 5 shot group at 50 yards with H&N FTT 5.54 head size .22 cal.



I have huge troubles with Skunks, Rock Chucks, Squirrels, and collard doves. My dogs used to kill 15 or more skunks a year in my yard. The Rock Chucks dig into my garden and under my sheds. Then my dogs dig them out and cause even more damage. The Squirrels have chewed through my phone lines, and the collared doves have ran off the morning doves.
I started killing them at my house and I was not keeping up. I asked a neighbor if I could shoot them there. He said yes and soon his trouble was reduced. He started to tell his neighbors that a guy with a Air Rifle is making a dent in his rock chucks.
Soon I had several neighbor farms asking for me to come shoot. They had guys with .22's, 17's and even centerfire guns over the years but none of them stayed most of the summer to reduce numbers. They would go out once and a while. The farmers were hearing bullets zinging over their heads, and banging all afternoons.
At first some of them doubted that an Air Rifle had the power to kill the chucks and skunks. But soon after I started to show them pictures they were happy to see their crops growing instead of turning to dust.







I took several friends and my son shooting there. They were amazed by the numbers of rock chucks. Some of them that had shot air rifles were amazed by the gun.







My Air Arms TX200 is a .22 cal. I am amazed by the gun to be honest. It is not super hold sensitive. and is really accurate.






This is a video of a day of shooting with my friend. We were shooting rock chucks.

https://youtu.be/AmqomvFfzns

These videos is shooting some fox squirrels.

https://youtu.be/ALLzf180tJ8

https://youtu.be/ALLzf180tJ8

https://youtu.be/tdr9ioehXcU

[Randy Bohannon]

Good stuff Ron, our local game warden has given unwritten permission to kill every Eurasian Collard Dove we see any time of the year. They are wary birds are as bad as pigeons. I have always had a air rifle since I was 10, still have a Crossman 22. cal Co2 but have better air rifles now they are highly effective and great accuracy once you find what they like. Terminator 22 cal pellets will blow through 3/8" OSB @ 20 yds. with superb accuracy/ I could not get the rifle to shoot any of the conventional 'good stuff' to shoot worth a ****.
I presume you are using the 'artillery ' hold on the rifle to get those groups ?

[idahoron]

I presume you are using the 'artillery ' hold on the rifle to get those groups ?

Yes I have been using the artillery hold on the bench. Here lately I have been using nothing but shooting sticks. I shoot on the bench with them and in the field. I have three sets that I made. One for hunting while kneeling or sitting in the blind. One for sitting on the ground. And a really small set for bench. The sticks have leather that the gun sits on. The leather allows the rifle to do its thing.

This one is the bench set.





This is the set for when I am sitting on the ground.



This is the long set and shot set together.

[Randy Bohannon]

Thanks for that Ron.

[EMC45]

Great shooting and neat rig!