Suburban Woodchuck Hunting
©  2005 by Tom Holzel  

Rev Sep 2008

I have been hunting woodchuck over the same 10-acre area in Southern Maine for the past 20 years.  I began with 15ft-lbs .177-cal spring piston air rifles, upgraded to a .22-cal rifle of the same power, and eventually settled on several “magnum-powered” .22-cal rifles at 21 ft-lbs. These were all RWS and Beeman rifles.  In-between, I briefly used a Beeman .25-cal R-1 “Laser,” a tweaked R-1 with somewhat more power and what seemed to me to be a smoother-firing gun. For about a year I also hunted with a .22-cal Theoban Crow Magnum until I foolishly sold it. (What mistake!)        

But the .25-cal R-1 had a shorter range—about 40 yards when sighting-in for a maximum rise (at about 20 yards) of 2-inches. So, mostly because I was concentrating on shooting crows where range is of primary importance, I ignored the R-1’s splendid accuracy (3/4-inches at 40 yards from the sitting position) and went back to using the .22s.  When I switched over to hunting woodchucks, I naturally continued using the same rifles as for crow hunting.  

What did I learn about the efficacy of these 3 calibers in hunting woodchucks? Four main points: 

1) Caliber: Size Matters.

·        I killed less than 50% of the woodchucks shot with .177-cal pellets. And only then with direct head shots, or direct frontal heart-shots (One inch at 50 yards—the size of each of those two kill zones is not reliably within my normal capability).  Thus, even though the .177 had the greatest range for a given rise (say of 2-inches at half-range), my own effective hit circle grows too large to have the extra range mean anything useful to me. At the one inch required for .177 hits, I'm not good enough much beyond 35-40 yards. Hits beyond that range result in an unacceptable wounding ratio for me. "[Ed. note: This was before the advent of the Crow magnum pellet. It might make a significant difference.]

·        I killed ¾ of my targets with the .22-magnum, with “vital” body shots effecting a kill—but often only after the critter had bounded 10-20 yards. This often meant they made it back to the high grass from the mowed lawn they were munching on. (A “vital” body shot is a non-heart shot that nevertheless kills the animal quickly.)

·        I recently resuscitated my .25-cal R-1.  What a pleasant surprise. Five out of five clean kills in two days, all at 35-45-yard range.  And no more broken-field running by the varmint after being hit.  The chucks flipped over and, if they moved any further at all, ran 2-3 yards, crawled another yard or two and then expired.

·         QED:

• Hunt fur bearers (e.g., chucks, rabbits, squirrels) with magnum air rifles of .25-cal;
• Use Beeman Crow Magnum or Kodiak pellets, or the new Predator pellets. 
• hunt crows and other small pest with 5mm magnum  rifle. (Use Crosman Premier pellets to maximize range) 
• Hunt with .177 only when very sure of your shot. (Even a slight miss leads to wounding.)

2)  Accuracy matters. Power without control is useless.  This is why cheap “magnum” air rifles are a such a gamble. Accuracy comes not only from a high-quality barrel with a precision muzzle crown. Accuracy also derives from consistent power output, shot after shot. And from reliability that doesn’t mean making seal or mainspring replacements every season.  And from a telescopic sight that doesn’t inch backwards no matter how hard you try to tie it down.  

One necessary tool every air gun hunter should own (or have access to) is a ballistic chronograph. (The “Chrony” sells at Cabelas for about $80 and is available on the internet for as low as $60.) Test your rifle’s velocity and velocity-consistency every several hundred shots.  That way you can tell if the rifle is losing power or consistency or, (if you’re suddenly missing easy shots) whether it’s your telescopic sight that’s slipping--or only your marksmanship.          

One interesting test is to get your hands on a laboratory scale that can measure pellet weight to 1/100 ^th of a gram.  Then, sort a tin of pellets by exact weight. (Draw a series of circles on a sheet of paper, and label each circle with pellet weight.  Weigh each pellet and place it in the circle that is closest to its weight. Throw out any pellets that fall outside this range.  Thus, if you are sorting one hundred 12-grain pellets, you might have circles labeled as shown, and end up with a pellet weight distribution of:  

Wgt.     Qty.
11.8     10
11.9     21
12.0     44
12.1     19
12.2     6  

Now, taking the pellets from any one circle, measure their velocity with your chronograph to learn how consistent your air rifle’s power output is.  But don’t shoot these graded pellets successively every ten seconds.  Instead, shoot them the way you would in the field—perhaps one pellet every minute. Sort several tins worth of pellets and store the triaged pellets in separate tins, using the spot-on pellets for hunting, and the others for testing, plinking, practice, etc.  (Or, re-sight your scope for the new, different-weight batch.)

3)  Pellet design matters.  Although I am clearly prejudiced (having designed it with Robert Beeman), for my money the Beeman Crow Magnum hollow-head pellet is by far the most effective for hunting fur-bearers. When striking a woodchuck, the pellet makes a loud “plop” sound that signals the unmistakable—this woodchuck has just received a lethal wallop.  And the Crow Magnum is the only pellet I’ve every shot that actual opens up to increase the size of its wound channel. 

On the down side, the Crow Magnum pellet has only an average ballistic coefficient. Other pellets, particularly the Crosman Premier, are more efficient and might be the best choice to achieve maximum effective range for crow hunting, (but not available in .25mm caliber).  But for woodchucks, rabbits and squirrels the Crow Magnum is hard to beat.  [Sep 2008: The new Predator pellet seems very effective and has a better BC than the Crow magnum. Be sure to try it.  And don't forget the heavyweight Kodiaks in all calibers. Their knock-down power is formidable.

4)  Stealth matters.  Woodchucks are such beady-eyed creatures which hug the ground as they bumble across a lawn, that it is always a surprise to me how far they can actually see.  The surprise comes from the realization that chucks which have not been hunted will allow humans to approach within 20 yards or so if done in an oblique, non-threatening manner.  However, diminish a few of their number, and all of a sudden they become very wary. And of course, they don’t actually have to “see” you; they just have to notice suspicious movement.  The chucks in one oft-hunted field have a wariness range of 200 yards.  They will run off into the brush if they spot any human-like movement within that radius. Other chucks seem to raise the alarm at about 80 yards.  Thus, I am always too  complacent when starting the woodchuck season, able to saunter up to my brush hides wearing short pants and a polo shirt. After bagging a few chucks, that tactic doesn’t work any more.  I spot them from a far by glassing, and when I walk up to my chosen spot, find the field has gone empty. Enter serious camo.  

I have experimented extensively with camo.  I have photographed leafy ground cover and hand-painted clothing to match the leaves. When my daughter put that camo on and lay down in the leaves, she disappeared from eyeball view at 20 feet. (A photograph of her shows nothing but a stretch of leaves.)  Nevertheless, that “perfect” camo was not much better at disguising her when crouched down behind a bush.  Why not?  

Animals (including humans) have an acute visual ability to  detect shapes and contours.  No camo pattern, no matter how accurately it matches its background, disguises the shape of the wearer, or an unnaturally smooth contour. This contour is the smooth shape of an arm, a leg or even the entire body. In the presence of shadow-producing sunlight, the human contour is even modeled to reveal it’s solid, 3-dimensional smoothness that no paint job can disguise. And animals are acutely sensitive to particular shapes.  Human hands are a dead giveaway. You must wear gloves. Eyes peering at them are instantly detected as a threat. (Sunglasses help.)  One solution to the eyes problem is to have a flap of netting draped backward over your hat that you can pull forward to cover your face--and still see through.        

My answer has been to wear the ragged camo which looks like leaves stapled onto a mosquito netting suit (Photo at top of page). This type of camouflage is incredibly effective.  Crows that might approach to within 50 yards of me wearing regular camo (in a dense brush surrounding), will get with 25 yards of me before they spot my shape when wearing "leafy" camo. Recently, a deer walked to within 14 yards of me standing motionless (and looking the other way), before we both noticed each other. Instead of bolting, the buck turned neatly sideways and daintily loped off into the woods. 

In spite of full camo, the woodchuck at C spotted me moving at A, a distance of about 75 yards, and flew into the brush. I backed away and walked around the houses (blue line) and approached anew keeping a large backhoe (B) in line with the critter--which had reappeared. I then made the 35 yard shot which knocked the varmint flat. 

Summary: 

• Hunt woodchucks with .25-cal magnum (20+ ft-lbs muzzle energy) air rifles
• using heavier hunting pellets (e.g., Predator, Kodiak or  Crow Magnum pellets,
• wearing 3-dimensional (leafy) camo from head to foot.
• Approach critter by lining up a view-blocking object  

Good hunting!

[BTW--why don't I zero my .25-cal R-1 to 50 yards?  Because the drop rate at that range is too high.  When zeroed to 50 yards, I have to aim 2.5-inches  low at 40 yards, and 4-inches high at a 60 yard target--and these  distances are pretty close to each other when estimating range. Mis-estimate by only a little and you miss the target by a lot! (However, the R-1 still prints 1-inch groups--seated position--even at 50 yards.)]

P.S. Two-liter soda bottles (fill them with water) are the same size as woodchucks and make good targets. Place them at various known distances in a field--standing and lying down--to aid in your distance judgment, and to allow you to shoot at life-sized targets.

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Here is a an nifty pellet holder that I have been using for 10 years (when it was home-made by a shooting buddy):  http://www.airgunexpress.com/phillipspelletholder.htm

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From Hinterland's Who's Who

"To many hunters, particularly in eastern North America, woodchucks are valuable game animals. Some hunters simply waste the carcass of the animal they shoot, but a growing number are learning that fried, roasted, or stewed woodchuck can be tasty. Late summer and early fall are the common woodchuck hunting seasons. Sometimes woodchucks are trapped for their fur, but it is generally of low value. Many are killed on highways. Although not frequently tamed, the animals make affectionate pets."

Click herefor an interesting look at the characteristics of the woodchuck.