Bogley

[DAA]

I played hooky from work and got out on Thursday for the first chuck hunt of the year.

A friend, Steve, whom I met on a varmint hunting board, who is also a writer for one of the shooting magazines I subscribe to, has been talking for quite awhile about getting together for a day of chuck hunting. He's never been chuck hunting, and wanted to experience it and get material and pictures for a feature article or two he plans to write. He lives in Las Vegas, but was going to be in town for a few days, so we were finally able to get together for a hunt.

I picked him up at his Grandparents house in Ogden about 4 in the morning on Thursday. We then drove about four hours to some good 'chuck habitat in south central Idaho. Although we have talked on the phone and in email a good bit, this was our first meeting in person. The long drive gave us plenty of time to get better aquainted. We have a lot of common interests, aside from both of us being custom rifle freaks and avid varmint hunters. So the long ride up was really just a very nice BS session that I think we both enjoyed a lot.

The chuck hunting was pretty good! Weather was darn near perfect. Bright and sunny, with just a few high clouds, windy enough to make for some challenging shooting but not so bad as to be a real problem. Got just a bit too hot during the middle of the day, putting all the chucks down for siestas. But the morning and late afternoon saw plenty of action.

I was pretty rusty with my shooting, missing more than I usually do. Steve is a truly superb rifle shot. He's the Nevada state Silhouette champion and has placed well in the Nationals for both centerfire and rimfire. But the awkward positions and constantly changing distances and wind etc. took him a bit to get used to. Which is all a long winded excuse for all the missing we both did! :haha: Seriously though, neither one of us was exactly setting the world on fire, missing plenty of shots. Still though, by the end of the day, we had killed about 35 chucks between us, and managed a few spectacular shots between all the misses. My longest shot of the day was 420 yards, but Steve hammered quite a few at between 450 and 500 yards once he got dialed in.

My best shot of the day was not my longest one though. I was mostly using my trusty old .22-250 Ackley Improved. But also had along my new 6/284 which had not been blooded yet. It's a sporter, not a heavy varmint rig like the other rifles we were using. I missed my very first shot with it. But my second shot with it was sweet. We had a chuck up on top of a small ridge at just under 300 yards away. He was peeking out from behind some rocks and would only show his face. I told Steve I was going to put a bullet right up his nose. And that's exactly what I did :mrgreen: .

Steve was taking a lot of pictures, so I didn't take many. But here's a few:

We saw a few snakes. This one was sitting right next to the road and gave me quite a thrill when I jumped out of the truck right next to him :haha: .



This is my new 6/284, pic taken right after the 300 yard nose hit :mrgreen: .



This is looking up at where Mr. Nose Hit was at. That little stick on top of the hill is Steve. He couldn't believe I called that shot and had to go up there and see the evidence for himself.



And this is the rifle Steve was using. Very sweet rig! It's a .243 Ackley Improved, built on a RPA action in a Master Class stock by Alex Sitman. Nice!!





Hope y'all are having a nice weekend!

- DAA

[marc olivares]

uh... what's a "chuck"? :ne_nau:

[DAA]

marc olivares wrote: uh... what's a "chuck"? :ne_nau:

Good question! I actually wondered if I maybe shouldn't have clarified what a chuck is when I was typing up the TR. It's a marmot. Marmota flaveventris. Most folks call them rock chucks, or 'chuck for short. Extremely destructive pests in farm fields. Looks like crop circles where they feed in a soy bean field.

If you don't mind extremely graphic pictures, you can click here to see about half of one. Don't click that link if you don't want to see blood and guts though!

- DAA

[fourtycal]

Great trip report! :popcorn:

You'll have to let us know when the article gets published. :2thumbs:

Google brought up loads of info on the marmot,

http://hoglezoo.org/animals/view.php?id=105

http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Marmota_flaviventris.html

[shagster]

Nice work DAA. Great TR.. :2thumbs:

[MY T PIMP]

AWESOME TRIP, wish I was you. Nice rifle setup. I happen to think the 243 is one of the best rifles made. I have two of them a savage lever action which I have killed 2 BULL ELK WITH!!, and a Browning BLR that has become my rabbit plumb buster. I am thinking of heading to South Pass Wyoming for some rock chucks I have been pretty successful there in the past. Great job! :2thumbs:

[REDFOX]

You took those 243's from your ladies. I thought that a 243 was a womens deer rifle. :

[MY T PIMP]

REDFOX wrote: You took those 243's from your ladies. I thought that a 243 was a womens deer rifle. : Yeah, this comes from a man who doesn't know which side of the plate his son will be hitting from. :bootyshake:

[Gutpiler_Utahn]

A chuck is also referred to as a woodchuck, whistle pig, and ground hog. Picture that furry little critter from both Caddy Shack and Groundhog Day.

[Brian in SLC]

Gutpiler_Utahn wrote: A chuck is also referred to as a woodchuck, whistle pig, and ground hog. Picture that furry little critter from both Caddy Shack and Groundhog Day.

Nah, not the same as a rockchuck aka marmot.

Groundhogs aren't golphers aren't rock chucks. They're all different critters.

Carl, I said golpher not golfer.

Columbian ground squirrel, black tailed prarie dog...

-Brian in SLC

[Gutpiler_Utahn]

Now, I never said a rockchuck and woodchuck were one and the same. They are cousins, though, and just having moved here from MO where they were EVERYWHERE, if you said chuck, you're referring to the woodchuck. Never did get out for some chuck hunting, though. :ne_nau: