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Post by sixshot on May 14, 2022 20:59:32 GMT -5
I officially opened my Rock Chuck season for the year today. I usually like to wait until about the 15th so they have their pups weaned but figured the 14th was close enough. I've seen several pups & my trigger finger was itching really bad the last few days so I took off about 5pm. It was really windy so I didn't expect to see very many but there was a lot of them out feeding, I was surprised! I had the 223 Contender for the long shots but in a rush I took the wrong ammo, it's zeroed with 50 Nosler BT's & I had a box of 40 gr VMax's. My other gun was my 32-20 Buckeye with a 1X4 scope on top & I was carrying my Walther carry gun in case anything charged. I pulled into a farmers field & the place lit up in a hurry, lots of Chucks, lots of pups & quite a few Fermin looking graybeards, all of them running for the Lava reefs. The first one was 48 yds peeking back over a Lava rock, I waited until he raised up just a bit more & sent a 116 gr cast HP Skud missle right under his chin,nasty! He was a very large male barley muncher & you can see compared to my Buckeye he's been around a long time. All the others were holed up in a large Lava reef at mostly 120 yds. This is where the 223 Contender comes in handy but the ammo was off a bit, I missed 2 for sure & got 4 for sure but couldn't retrieve any except for one that lost his head in the fight. They fall down in the crevices & you can't reach them, it's very dangerous climbing around those jagged rocks, especially alone, if you fall down in one of those big cracks you would never get out. I'm certain I saw 15 but it was getting late & the TC was off, I needed my other ammo, I'll punish them real hard Monday.        Dick |
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Post by jfs on May 14, 2022 21:29:21 GMT -5
Don`t stop now....... 
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Post by hunter966 on May 14, 2022 21:44:46 GMT -5
Dang, I didn’t realize they were that big. Around here we have p. dogs and they’re nowhere near that size.
Nice shootin!
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Post by leftysixgun on May 15, 2022 7:53:44 GMT -5
I guess your chucks would be comparable to our groundhogs/whistle pigs here.
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Post by sheriff on May 15, 2022 8:14:27 GMT -5
WTG, Dick!
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Post by contender on May 15, 2022 8:27:12 GMT -5
Dern,, didn't they get the notice to relocate? Obviously not!
Good hunting Dick!
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Post by 2 Dogs on May 15, 2022 9:30:53 GMT -5
Ole Sixshot needs a strong tail wind and shoots downhill so his powder puff reloads can make it to them gray beard no neck gnarly chucks….
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Post by bigbrowndog on May 15, 2022 17:32:10 GMT -5
45man and I were talking about how we don’t have anything like that around here in Texas to go after, jackrabbits are as close as we can get and they’re scarce around here.
Dick, why the tall rings on the 223?? No reason or a specific reason??
Trapr
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rufus
.30 Stingray
Posts: 454
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Post by rufus on May 15, 2022 20:31:11 GMT -5
That looks like a fun way to spend a day!
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Post by cyberscout19 on May 15, 2022 21:19:11 GMT -5
My favorite time of the year when Sixshot goes out rockchuck and ground squirrel hunting . Thanks for taking us with you .
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Post by sixshot on May 15, 2022 22:04:06 GMT -5
Well I went to the range today to check my gun & it was shooting high with both loads. My normal load of the 50 gr Speer TNT, which I really like in a 14" TC 223 barrel was shooting about 3 1/2" high at 100 yds, too high for a varmint rig, at least for me. Using BLC2 powder I run this bullet about 3100 fps & I like to zero it dead on at 200 yds, I like to zero every scoped gun dead on at 200 yds actually. Then I shoot them at 100 yds & I shoot them at 300 yds & I tape the results to my stock so I know where to hold but I always zero at 200. The 40 gr Nosler BT's were 5" high at 100 yds, no wonder I was having a hard time hitting them yesterday, I wondered why they were giving me the one finger salute every time. Today as soon as I pulled off of the main road a Chuck ran towards me, he had a den hole right next to the road! I yanked out my 9mm Walther carry gun & backed up & rolled down the passenger side window & put my Jeep in park. It took about 10 seconds for him to get curious & I could see his nose, then an eye ball, then his head. The last 3 times I've pointed my Walther carry gun at a Rock Chuck he's went to that big barley field in the sky & this one was no different, I punched him right in the ear hole at about 20 yds & I saw blood from the 128 gr cast HP on the dirt past him, he never knew what hit him.  I took photo's & drove on down where I was yesterday & I could tell someone had been there, the Chucks were goosy & there weren't as many as the day before. I got set up & got 5 for six shots all at between 127 yds & 133 yds but again could only recover 1 because it's so dangerous climbing around & even the dirt is dangerous because it's slick with gravel on top, just not worth trying to recover them. Trapr, you mentioned the high scope rings, they were on the barrel when I bought it so I just left them, makes it easy to cock the hammer but not my first choice, & this frame really needs a trigger job, hope my son owes me a favor, it's bad! Saw a lot of Chucks running out of the fields as I was leaving, I need to go earlier & stay later, this is just getting started.    ![]() i.imgur.com/EufPbyoh.jpg[/imgDick |
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Post by contender on May 16, 2022 7:19:10 GMT -5
Looking good for sure. Shooting high can cause issues on them critters. It educates them a bit and makes them nervous. But,, now that you are dialed in,, they are in trouble! I've taken over a dozen chucks in the last few weeks myself. But I cheated,, I used traps!  But I got paid to do it. However at one job,, I had trapped a female,, and a day later I shot 3 of the 4 kits that were weaned,, but still close to home there. The 4th one,, managed an escape. Until a trap ended his reign of digging. I also shot a nice big boar at another spot. In my area,, those 4 were close enough that my Ruger MKII Hunter was all I needed. Keep getting them,, that barley is suffering! PS; Gonna try & dig out some brass today if work will allow me the time. |
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Post by 45MAN on May 16, 2022 7:19:45 GMT -5
I TOO WAS SURPRISED AT THE SIZE OF THESE CRITTERS. GREAT WAY TO SPEND A NICE DAY.
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Post by bula on May 16, 2022 9:09:38 GMT -5
Soon, one of those celebrity Vet, Wildlife Biologist, zoo-ie people will be doing a show on the unexplained dwindling numbers of certain small mammal species in southern Idaho..just sayin'. You will be able to buy a T-shirt to symbolically adopt a varmint.
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Post by sixshot on May 16, 2022 11:39:08 GMT -5
Rey, I've shot Chucks as big as 15 lbs before. When they are on a good field, either barely or Alfalfa they can do an amazing amount of damage. Many times I've sneaked up on a field with more than 40 Chucks in it, they can take out the whole field in a few days.
Dick
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But I got paid to do it. However at one job,, I had trapped a female,, and a day later I shot 3 of the 4 kits that were weaned,, but still close to home there. The 4th one,, managed an escape. Until a trap ended his reign of digging. I also shot a nice big boar at another spot. In my area,, those 4 were close enough that my Ruger MKII Hunter was all I needed.