Had a great time tonight groundhog hunting!! Put 21 rounds through my Rem 700 .243 and killed 10 groundhogs. I know,not the best ratio,but it was breezy and I was shooting mostly past 400 yards.I made the longest shot of my life as well,an honest 606 yards.My 800 yd rangefinder would not range a groundhog(or the flat field he was in) at that range so after I made the shot I parked my jeep where I shot from and walked to the hog and ranged back to my jeep.I shot at a few at even longer ranges but did not connect,came fairly close though. I use 70 grain ballistic tips at 3400 FPS out of a 22 inch standard contour barrel with a 3.5-10 power scope. So just curious,whats the longest shot all of you have made? I am sure a lot of you probably have made longer,lets hear about it!!

I got a ground hog in 1 shot with a 17 HRM at 130 yds paced. And just to stay humble missed, yes missed one at 20 feet.
300 win mag versus Marmot at 430 yds is my Longest.

Roklok, You a way better aim then I'll ever be. After two hundred yards I can't even hit the state I'm standing in.

mc223,I was always curious,how does the 17 HMR work on groundhogs? I never really talked to anyone who used one on groundhogs. Does it stop them consistently?

I use a 243 for the long shots on woodchucks, too. Mine is purpose built for varmint hunting- 24 inch heavy barrel, Nikon 6-20 scope.
My longest kill with it is 648- measured with a Leica 1200 rangefinder (only laser RF I've found that will range that far).
Here in the populated east, it's hard to find a place you can shoot that far any more.
I print out the ballistic chart from PointBlank to get drop and wind drift- and that's a big help.
I use the Hornady 87 V Max, at 3150 fps. There are lots of faster bullets I could load, but the 87 does better in the wind, once you get past 400- and getting the wind drift right is the hardest part, I find.

Jack wrote:

I use a 243 for the long shots on woodchucks, too. Mine is purpose built for varmint hunting- 24 inch heavy barrel, Nikon 6-20 scope. My longest kill with it is 648- measured with a Leica 1200 rangefinder (only laser RF I've found that will range that far). Here in the populated east, it's hard to find a place you can shoot that far any more. I print out the ballistic chart from PointBlank to get drop and wind drift- and that's a big help. I use the Hornady 87 V Max, at 3150 fps. There are lots of faster bullets I could load, but the 87 does better in the wind, once you get past 400- and getting the wind drift right is the hardest part, I find.

WOW Jack, that is awesome. And here I am thinking I am doing well to shoot 1/2 MOA at 200 metres!

Bloody good shooting. Well done mate.

Cheers, Vince

roklok wrote:

mc223,I was always curious,how does the 17 HMR work on groundhogs? I never really talked to anyone who used one on groundhogs. Does it stop them consistently?

Stops them cool depending on shot placement. Body shots at distance sometimes require a followup. Head shots are a one time deal.

Got a new record distance shot just today.

!00yds 24in barreled Bushy 69g Seirra Moly Match King VS. a Deer Fly.
It landed on my target sheet and got turned insideout. Great sport them flies.

I think i'll try a dragonfly on the wing later today with a 357 mag revolver.

We also have a huge semidomesticated herd of white tails tha frequent the grassy areas near the place where I work. I get out the wrist rocket and Some glass marbles and make the deer dance at about 60yds

Vince, thank you.
Notice I didn't say I got him on the first shot

Jack,have to agree with your comment on wind drift.Bullet drop is fairly consistent and once you have the range figured that is the easy part of a long shot.Breezes are what I find maddening to figure,they can change from one shot to the next and it doesnt take much variation to miss a small critter.My .243 does dual purpose,groundhogs in summer,deer and turkeys in fall. It does very well on groundhogs out to 400 or so yards.I am becoming interested in a longer range varmint rig though especially with a higher power adjustable objective scope with multiple aiming points.How far will your Leica range a groundhog in a flat field?

Longest shot

A couple of years ago I was out shooting prairie dogs with my son and a friend from Chicago. It was a cool day by SD. standards and the wind was blowing. I find shooting in to the wind gives me more shooting time, as the sound seems to dissipate or not carry as far in to the town. This necessitates moving from time to time. At the end of the day, we were shooting pretty much northwest directly in to the wind.

The weather was changing so I decided to start cleaning up around the truck. I was finishing up when my son came up behind and asked if we were leaving. I said no and we just sat there for a while talking and watching. I noticed a prairie dog on the opposite side of the bowl from where we were. Slightly up hill but not more than 20 feet above but it was a long way off. The range finder is packed up.

My 25-06 got the nod. I give the binoculars to my son and direct him to find the PD and “walk me in”. Resting my rifle on my day bag I hold the 3-9 power scope on the dog then raise it up until the cross hairs are about a body length above the head. Then I decide to hold even higher ( why I don’t know ) squeeze the trigger and splat. Unbelievable I hit the little bugger. My son is yelling hit him again he’s still moving. Knowing full well I could never pull that shot off again I stated with the grace of an expert shot, "don’t worry buddy he’s gone it’s just nerves twitching".

The range finder says over 500 yards walking it off says under 535 yards. Either way it was a long shot. Beautiful as it was, I was lucky, first because I hit it and second because someone witnessed the shot. As I recall the plex reticule was set so the thick portion of the cross was about a body length above the PD head.

longwalker

Mil dot scope on my .221 carbine I walked in a 551 yd. on a pd on the only calm day I've ever seen on the eastern plains of CO. Fifth shot took him out....center mass. Longest single shot 507 yds. coyote with a 6mm at dusk on the prairie.

437 paces, (dont have range finder) w/ 25/06 Savage BVSS, took 2 shots though But he did not survive the second shot
Most of my shots are taken useing the "WAG" system of range estimation.

WAG shooting the way we all learned.

Glad to hear others like to do the same thing.

longwalker

Range finders are cool, but alittle to expensive for me. and they take the fun out of long range shooting fun...