Andrew Posted April 11, 2010 Report Share Posted April 11, 2010 I was surfing though some old photo files and found this pic of my son from 5 years back. The animal is an antelope ground squirrel that populates the border area of Baja California and the U.S. These rodents make our western prairiedogs look huge. The distance was only 130 yards but it was a challenging shot that took 15 minutes to wait out for the critter to come to a spot in the stubble that allowed the kill. The rifle was a 17HMR and the shooting platform was the top of a camera tripod over at that green van. It was a heck of a shot!~Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oly Posted April 11, 2010 Report Share Posted April 11, 2010 Wow!! That is tiny! 10-15cm long and ~120gms (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antelope_squirrel)...that is tiny! Good shot!! Put's another interesting spin on our sport, thanks for sharing - we may get another sub-forum on here soon; smallest target at 100yrds!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyH Posted April 11, 2010 Report Share Posted April 11, 2010 Hi Andrew, good picture, nice story. For me, crossing the Atlantic is about getting bigger varmints to shoot! Here at home we shoot rabbits mostly, but in Ontario I've hunted groundhogs a couple of times - terrific sport! Here's a pic (if I can get it posted here) of my son on our trip in July 2009 holding a decent one shot from by the car in the background, circled in red - around 265 yards IIRC. Rifle is my buddy's old Sako varminter in 22-250, handload with Nosler 50gr BT. Can't wait to get out there again. Regards, TonyH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onehole Posted April 11, 2010 Report Share Posted April 11, 2010 Yeah I agree,accuracy is key well done that man!!!Hey Tony I like the look of that fat hog mate bet thay make a nice pop on connecting!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyH Posted April 11, 2010 Report Share Posted April 11, 2010 Yeah I agree,accuracy is key well done that man!!!Hey Tony I like the look of that fat hog mate bet thay make a nice pop on connecting!!!! More like a Whump! Dave - they're very solid, meaty critters, and a body hit on any but a small one doesn't exit if using decent varmint bullets in .22" or 6mm. The biggest I ever had (Oliver too) must have weighed around 11-12 pounds and I've heard they can get to 16-17 pounds. Best varminting I've ever had, would happily spend a month or two every year there. Or permanently... Regards, TonyH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted April 11, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2010 Chucks are great shooting. I have seen them go 20# and upwards and take more killing than a lot of rimfires could deliver. Nice shot that boy of your made. This is my sone a couple of years later with his CZ Hornet and a prairiedog that made the mistake of coming out one winter afternoon. Don't exactly remember the range but it had to be pushing 175M judging from where the photo was taken. The dogs get fluffy coats like that in the winter but the ones I was shooting an hour ago have lean, spring coats in place. They are the color of the dirt and are very hard to see. I got six dogs but not too far: the farthest was 125 yards tho he only showed his head and neck.~Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
varmartin Posted April 12, 2010 Report Share Posted April 12, 2010 Good shooting you guys..and I quite agree its not always about how far it was...making a hit on those small varmints is just as rewarding especially with some of the smaller calibers .....good stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyH Posted April 12, 2010 Report Share Posted April 12, 2010 Chucks are great shooting. I have seen them go 20# and upwards and take more killing than a lot of rimfires could deliver. Nice shot that boy of your made. This is my sone a couple of years later with his CZ Hornet and a prairiedog that made the mistake of coming out one winter afternoon. Don't exactly remember the range but it had to be pushing 175M judging from where the photo was taken... Andrew, 175m using a Hornet is darn good shooting too, especially on small targets. You've seen chucks/hogs at 20 lbs? Wow, I never heard of 'em that size. I've never actually weighed one out of the modest hundred or so I've shot in two trips, but like I say, I estimate my biggest was 11-12 lbs. The photo is also from last July and I think it's the biggest either of us got - Oliver shot this one at definitely (laser measured) 260 yards plus with the 22-250 which had only a Kassnar 3-9x scope fitted, good shooting IMO. I was across the field for the photograph (this is a crop from the centre frame), but you can see the size of that 'hog - i'd be interested in your estimate of its weight. Been trying to finish a feature about our trip that I hope Varmint Hunter will publish - they used a piece by me some years ago about my first groundhog hunt. Did you get into town at the weekend? The RCBS scales had probably gone, at that price... Regards, TonyH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alled12 Posted April 12, 2010 Report Share Posted April 12, 2010 Always fancied a go at this. I was given a ground hog hunting video ages ago and it looks like quite a bit of fun. Shame we dont get that sort of sized creature over here in the same quantities as you get them over there. Does anyone still eat them or are they just left for the coyotes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigun Posted May 19, 2010 Report Share Posted May 19, 2010 nice shooting all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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