Summer of 1966...Woodchucks

[Pygmy]

Just a break from all of the pandemic stuff we are all experiencing...

I was  16 years old in the summer of '66, and was listening to The Beatles, The Lovin' Spoonfull, and many other classic groups on my transistor radio...

My  sole  income was working on various local farms during the summer for some spending cash...

Along with this, there was the opportunity for woodchuck hunting in my spare time, between milking cows,  haying, etc.....

There were LOTS of woodchucks around then..They were in every hayfield and pasture...This was BEFORE coyotes in this area..

I owned two rifles at the time, both of which my Dad had bought me...One was a Win M69A .22 rimfire with a Weaver C4 scope, and the other was a Rem M722 in .222 Rem. with open sights...

I hunted mostly early mornings and late evenings, before and after working..  My score for the summer was 76 woodchucks....I only shot about 10 of them with the .222, because the cartridges cost $3.15  per 20 rounds at the local hardware..I could buy  .22 LR  hollow points for 85 cents for a box of 50....

I got pretty good with that .22... Sighted in dead on at 25 yards, I was 1.5  inches high at 50, dead on at 75, and 3" low at 100....I paced off every shot, so I could judge range pretty well...Within 100 yards, if I had a good rest, a chuck was in peril, and I killed a few out to 120 yards or so...Of course, this required a considerable amount of belly crawling at times to get within range, but at my age, it was no big deal...

I wonder what 16 year old kids are doing with their summers these days...….

 

[cas]

My woodchuck rifles have mostly collected dust since the mid 80's.  The farm fields we hunted are all now over grown, no longer farming,  or have houses on them.

[Fletch]

Man I don't think I have shot a chuck since I was like a young teen back in the 70s. Used a 22 mag of my Gramps. That gun was left to me and one of my most prized possessions. That was back when farmers let you access their property and appreciated you removing these pests.

[Robhuntandfish]

Last time I shot chucks was many years ago.  Put up a house in Holland patent and the lot was loaded with em.  Like you said Dan got prone and shot em. Used my Dad's old .22 that he shot woodchuck with. He saved up and bought one when he was 14. And actually it helped feed the family too. He was the oldest brother home in a large family and him and the next older boys did a lot of hunting and fishing to feed the family. Oldest brother was off in WW2.  Which is where he went too later.  

I still have that .22 hanging up.  I don't hunt with it anymore.  

 

Edited April 17, 2020 by Robhuntandfish

[moog5050]

1 hour ago, Pygmy said:

Just a break from all of the pandemic stuff we are all experiencing...

I was  16 years old in the summer of '66, and was listening to The Beatles, The Lovin' Spoonfull, and many other classic groups on my transistor radio...

My  sole  income was working on various local farms during the summer for some spending cash...

Along with this, there was the opportunity for woodchuck hunting in my spare time, between milking cows,  haying, etc.....

There were LOTS of woodchucks around then..They were in every hayfield and pasture...This was BEFORE coyotes in this area..

I owned two rifles at the time, both of which my Dad had bought me...One was a Win M69A .22 rimfire with a Weaver C4 scope, and the other was a Rem M722 in .222 Rem. with open sights...

I hunted mostly early mornings and late evenings, before and after working..  My score for the summer was 76 woodchucks....I only shot about 10 of them with the .222, because the cartridges cost $3.15  per 20 rounds at the local hardware..I could buy  .22 LR  hollow points for 85 cents for a box of 50....

I got pretty good with that .22... Sighted in dead on at 25 yards, I was 1.5  inches high at 50, dead on at 75, and 3" low at 100....I paced off every shot, so I could judge range pretty well...Within 100 yards, if I had a good rest, a chuck was in peril, and I killed a few out to 120 yards or so...Of course, this required a considerable amount of belly crawling at times to get within range, but at my age, it was no big deal...

I wonder what 16 year old kids are doing with their summers these days...….

 

Shooting 22LR at 100 requires some skilled Kentucky windage even in modest wind.   Sounds like a great time. 

[Deleted Account]

Great topic and story! Those 722's still are great guns. I'm not much of a bolt action .22 guy, but I wouldn't turn my nose up at one of those for a good price.

[BizCT]

Good Stuff!

As a young kid, my dad would take me to some farms upstate and we would shoot woodchucks long range 300-400 yards with a Weatherby .224 Mag. It was great practice learning to shoot. When I got to be about 12 years old I would drive his Nissan Pathfinder around the farm to learn how to drive. We even stopped at McDonald's on. the way home.

 

[airedale]

You are a talking my language Dan, I lived dream and slept Woodchucks for many years starting much in the same fashion as yourself. Started out with a Savage single shot 22 that my Dad got me and shot my first chuck with it and remember the whole stalk as if it was yesterday. My Dad had a 222 Sako I killed quite a few with and he  also purchased a Winchester 61 pump in the new at the time 22 mag chambering and I killed a bunch with that until I could afford my own Mossberg "Chuckster" bolt action 22 mag scoped with a Weaver V22. Finally earned enough money to hit the big time purchasing a used Remington 700 ADL in 22-250. It was off to the races from then on, I believe I purchased and loaded for just about every Varmint caliber available in those time. I also blasted away at them with all of my big game rifles and handguns for practice in the field.

The main cartridges I used in addition to the 22 LR and Maggie

22 Hornet

222 Rem

223 Rem

222 Rem mag

22-250 Rem

220 Swift

243 Win

6 mm Rem

25-06

17 HMR

And I would like to nail at least one with my Savage 99A in 250-3000

I would still be at it today if the Chucks were in decent numbers as I still have all those Varmint rifles, I still get them out a shoot them and they still drive tacks.

Good memories.

Al

 

Edited April 17, 2020 by airedale

[wildcat junkie]

I killed 5 out if one den over the course of a week or so last summer.

 

CZ 452 American with a Weaver Classic 6 - 24 X 42 A.O.

[Lawdwaz]

Like dove hunting, woodchuck hunting is a BLAST when you have the right field at the right time. 

Fun Fact (?) I've never shot a single critter prone.  I have shot a load though........

[fasteddie]

When I was 14 I started shooting woodchucks for local farmers . I had my dad's 22 cal mossberg bolt action . My uncle had borrowed it and cracked the stock and lost the peep sight . I taped an upen sight from a pellet rifle on it and did a lot of "guess" aiming . When I turned 16 , I bought a used Marlin 22 lever action and shot a lot more woodchucks . The farmers loved me . Last year I gave that 22 Marlin to my youngest son . 

I retired from Xerox in 1998 . I used that Marlin 22 to shoot woodchucks and then bought a NEF 223 so I could reach out farther . The most woodchucks I killed in a summer was 112 . Did that in Walworth for about 4 years and ran out of woodchucks . 

The top picture is a chuck with 3 legs . He probably chewed his way out of the farmer's trap .

[Einsamer Krieger]

I started shooting woodchucks when I was 7 years old, starting hunting them, never killed one until the end of summer during my seventh year.  All I had was a Winchester 62, 22 cal, sure put a bunch of woodchucks down.  In 1958, my eighth year, Dad told me to bring the woodchucks home for meat, from then on, it was meat, and we enjoyed every meal.  It was very good with mash potatoes and veggies.  It was about the same time, I learned from Papa that only headshots were only acceptable shots, that way no meat was wasted.

Shot my last chuck in 1994, out back of the house with a Marlin 22 cal.  To this day, I only take headshots, no matter what the game.  My Papa teachings stayed with me all the way through and still now.  For me, a headshot is The only way to go.

Edited April 17, 2020 by Los Lobos
revise

[Pygmy]

9 minutes ago, Lawdwaz said:

Like dove hunting, woodchuck hunting is a BLAST when you have the right field at the right time. 

Fun Fact (?) I've never shot a single critter prone.  I have shot a load though........

Never shot a critter prone ?    I have shot  13 caribou  IRRC, and I think every time I was lying on my belly...

I have shot 2 pronghorns, both prone, and the biggest of my 2 mule deer prone....

I shot about six whitetails with that XP-100 that I sold you...Five were either prone or resting over a hay bale, and the other was resting against a tree ( at about 25 yards)…. Shot quite a few whitetails from prone....I used to spend a lot of time in PA watching fields from a place where if I saw a deer, I could flop down off my stool and shoot prone with the bipod.

I guess I just do things better lying down....

[BizCT]

25 minutes ago, Lawdwaz said:

Like dove hunting, woodchuck hunting is a BLAST when you have the right field at the right time. 

Fun Fact (?) I've never shot a single critter prone.  I have shot a load though........

no "chuck sticks" in your arsenal? we always used these little tripods that were like 10-12" off the ground. Just enough to get clearance when laying down for long shots

[BizCT]

8 minutes ago, Pygmy said:

Never shot a critter prone ?    I have shot  13 caribou  IRRC, and I think every time I was lying on my belly...

I have shot 2 pronghorns, both prone, and the biggest of my 2 mule deer prone....

I shot about six whitetails with that XP-100 that I sold you...Five were either prone or resting over a hay bale, and the other was resting against a tree ( at about 25 yards)…. Shot quite a few whitetails from prone....I used to spend a lot of time in PA watching fields from a place where if I saw a deer, I could flop down off my stool and shoot prone with the bipod.

I guess I just do things better lying down....

I watched my dad shoot a pronhorn proned and get scoped. it was an odd angle and he was prone and inched up too close. bandage on the nose for the pic lol.

Edited April 17, 2020 by Biz-R-OWorld

[Pygmy]

2 minutes ago, Biz-R-OWorld said:

I watched my dad shoot a pronhorn and get scoped. it was an odd angle and he was prone and inched up too close. bandage on the nose for the pic lol.

That's another reason I don't shoot Weatherby Mags....<<GRIN>>...

[BizCT]

That's another reason I don't shoot Weatherby Mags....>...

It was a .243 (not a wby Mag caliber)


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[Pygmy]

1 minute ago, Biz-R-OWorld said:

It was a .243 (not a wby Mag caliber)


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Ok....My bad ...Hehehe...……...

[BizCT]

Just now, Pygmy said:

Ok....My bad ...Hehehe...……...

but a weatherby, of course, in .243 win

[airedale]

For me hunting both Woodchucks and Squirrels down through the years has been my best teacher for making precision shot placements on game with a rifle in the field or woods at all ranges, conditions and positions.

Al

Edited April 18, 2020 by airedale

[coonhunter]

Man, it was a lot simpler time when I was a kid. My buddies and I literally shot thousands of .22 rounds at targets, bottles, cans, balloons, whatever. These were all with open sights as I had never even looked through a scope. I remember buying boxes of shells for .50 at the gas station, and hell, we were only 11 or 12 years old.

I probably shot my first 50-100 woodchucks with open sights. Most of them with the Glenfield I still have. Some of them were with my dad and some were with my buddies. As my dad started going more, and taking me in the truck to new fields, he apparently got the bug to shoot more because he brought out a soft case to show me. It contained a Mossberg Chuckster in .22 mag with the first scope I ever looked through.

It opened a whole new world of shooting for me. That gun is my only possession that I consider irreplaceable. I shot a ton of woodchucks in farmers fields with that rifle in my teen years. My favorite memory with that gun is my father shooting at a woodchuck with a .222 and missing it. It ran to his hole and stood up, and before my father could tell me it was too far, I shot it before he could shoot again. He counted 147 paces. I don't know the exact yardage, but I do know my father couldn't believe it, and talked about that shot the rest of his life.

Good subject Pygmy. It's nice to go back and think about my beginnings of a hunter and think about my dad a little.

[Lawdwaz]

Yes, great thread Dan........I don't have many pics from woodchuck hunts but did find this one, maybe 10 years ago??  Hunting woodchucks in the summer is a great part of life.  I had some great years back in the late 80's but the fields and times have changed. 

(NOT prone)

Edited April 18, 2020 by Lawdwaz

[wolc123]

3 hours ago, Los Lobos said:

I started shooting woodchucks when I was 7 years old, starting hunting them, never killed one until the end of summer during my seventh year.  All I had was a Winchester 62, 22 cal, sure put a bunch of woodchucks down.  In 1958, my eighth year, Dad told me to bring the woodchucks home for meat, from then on, it was meat, and we enjoyed every meal.  It was very good with mash potatoes and veggies.  It was about the same time, I learned from Papa that only headshots were only acceptable shots, that way no meat was wasted.

Shot my last chuck in 1994, out back of the house with a Marlin 22 cal.  To this day, I only take headshots, no matter what the game.  My Papa teachings stayed with me all the way through and still now.  For me, a headshot is The only way to go.

My great great grandad built a couple of large post and beam barns on our farm in 1880 and 1883.    Woodchucks loved making their dens under them.   Those old barns got in pretty rough shape through the centuries, and I hope to get the last one completely dismantled this summer.  That will probably mean the end of my "woodchuck hunting", which mostly consists of 40 to 60 yards shots from my bedroom window, averaging 4 or 5 a year.    

I used a Ruger M77.22/250 for about 20 years, always aiming for center of mass on the chucks.   At that range, it would usually not leave a mark on the chucks, but I imagine it turned their insides to jelly, because none of them even twitched after taking the bullets.   To me, that rifle seemed like a little "overkill", so I traded it for another deer rifle (3) years ago.  I do miss that gun a little, because it never failed me a single time.  My hearing would probably be a little better today if I never had it though.         

I started using my Ruger 10/22 for chucks at that point.   The first one, that I shot on center of mass, made it half way back to the barn before expiring.    Since then, it has been all head shots, and none has gone more than a foot.  That is definitely the place to shoot them with a .22 rimfire.    Although we don't have many close neighbors, They do appreciate the less noise of the .22 rimfire (as do I ).   

An neighbor of mine claimed to have killed hundreds of chucks, with the crank-handle of his old Case tractor, while he was out spreading manure.   He said that the secret was to get between them and their hole.  I decided to try that one time.  I got up in the hay loft of the back barn with my .410 single shot squirrel gun.   A chuck was about 50 yards away.   I tapped the side of the barn and then stuck the muzzle out thru a space between the siding boards, aiming down at his den.  I gave him the load of # 6's from about 12 feet directly overhead and it flattened him right out.  That was the only one that I have killed with a gun that was not .22 caliber.  I still have one old crank-start tractor, so maybe I will try an get a chuck out in the fields with that, after the barn action ends this summer.         

 

[Will_C]

Another guy who shot hundreds of woodchucks from 1980s-until about 10 years ago. Used a number of .22s, my father's .25-06,  Remington 788 in .222, my Browning .243,  a .22-250 barrel on my Encore, and a few with some other rifles.

Seems like between changes in farming and having more coyotes around, I don't find woodchucks in fields. The last dozen I have shot have been with a. 22 around houses and buildings ( my property and people who have asked me to.) Sure miss it.

[crappyice]

Sad fact...I never shot a woodchuck! I didn’t start hunting until the late 90’s and even then mostly just public lands with little fields to house the critters. Now even fields infested seem leery of allowing access.
Anyone ever successfully connect with a bow?!?


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