Rock chuks

[W_Ellison2011]

Wondering if anyone would be willing to share some info for a couple guys to go do some late spring or summer time rock chuck shooting. Ive got a 6mm br and a 300 wm that i would love to test out at longer ranges in smaller targets. Really wanna see how the 220 gr bergers do on a rock chuck at 1,000 yards or further!

[Axle]

Don't forget - rock chucks do make good tacos.
I'm not kidding.

[MADMAX]

You can have mine

[Bill W]

you'd probably need the base of a cliff as a backstop what with a .300 Mag and 1K yards.

[W_Ellison2011]

you'd probably need the base of a cliff as a backstop what with a .300 Mag and 1K yards.

We would make sure theres a good back stop. We do a lot of shooting for fun, hunting, and competitions. The main goal is to hit super small reactive targets at longer ranges with shifting winds and such. We would be running 6mm br, 6mm brx, 6x47 lapua, 6mm creed, 6.5x47 lapua, maybe a 7mm mag with 195’s, and a 300 wm with 220’s. The idea of shooting rock chucks just makes it a little harder than a stationary steel plate. Plus it means we can further verify dopes and wind calls which come bear and elk season will make hitting a much bigger target a lot easier.

[Bareback]

I can only picture the back packers/hikers/anti-hunters throwing their hands in the air, stomping their feet, making unconfounded, passionate, fabricated stories in opposition.

But sounds like fun. A whistle, a stalk, and a shot. Reports welcomed.

[The scout]

Don't forget - rock chucks do make good tacos.
I'm not kidding.

Not when I’m done with them.

[boneaddict]

DId it back in the 80s and 90s.   It was a whole lot of fun.   Shooting was more like 400 yards with the 25-06 and 220 swift.   Those places are all gone.    Houses all around, the areas developed.   Its cray to think wed have to stop shooting as our barrels were so hot.    Those were the days. 
I switched it up once in awhile and used a bow.  That also was a hoot.  A little hard on aluminum shafts.    I can remember sticking multiple pigs together with one arrow, having another try to get back down his hole with an arrow stuck in him not letting him through the hole.  Admittedly not a fast kill like vapoizing them.   

[Axle]

Don't forget - rock chucks do make good tacos.
I'm not kidding.

Not when I’m done with them.

 

[boneaddict]

Another thing to look at is sage rats.   If you are willing to travel Montana and other places offer areas to shoot that might very well fit your long range desires.   Some huge ranches welcome shooters to come out to rid themselves of these squirrels.    Targets are a bit smaller and a little less dramatic when you smack em, but still very satisfying.   

[CastleRocker]

Sage Rats are a blast!  We used to go to a couple secret spots in central Washington for both Rock Chucks and Sage Rats.  We go to central/southern Oregon now for my wife's spring break.  She likes that way more that hunting! 

[RockChuck]

DId it back in the 80s and 90s.   It was a whole lot of fun.   Shooting was more like 400 yards with the 25-06 and 220 swift.   Those places are all gone.    Houses all around, the areas developed.   Its cray to think wed have to stop shooting as our barrels were so hot.    Those were the days. 
I switched it up once in awhile and used a bow.  That also was a hoot.  A little hard on aluminum shafts.    I can remember sticking multiple pigs together with one arrow, having another try to get back down his hole with an arrow stuck in him not letting him through the hole.  Admittedly not a fast kill like vapoizing them.   

Lol yeah same here 25-06 was where I started and only could find spots to 500 ish.. barrels getting hot and all the spots are gone now.

[W_Ellison2011]

Don't forget - rock chucks do make good tacos.
I'm not kidding.

Not when I’m done with them.

Something tells me hitting one, even at 1,000 yards, with the 220 gr bergers would not leave much to pick through and eat lol!

[Dan-o]

Don't forget - rock chucks do make good tacos.
I'm not kidding.

Not when I’m done with them.

Something tells me hitting one, even at 1,000 yards, with the 220 gr bergers would not leave much to pick through and eat lol!

You couldn't pay me enough to eat a rock chuck taco.....   

[Bill W]

I've eaten east coast woodchuck and wanted to try rockchucks.  The first one I flipped over to field dress had too many creepy crawlies running around on his belly for my "taste".

[konradcountry]

You couldn't pay me enough to eat a rock chuck taco.....   

How about a burrito?

[MeatMissile]

You couldn't pay me enough to eat a rock chuck taco.....   

How about a burrito?

Isn’t that just a rolled up taco?  Bake it in the oven and its an enchilada, deep fry it and its a chimichanga...never know why they all needed their own name.

[wolfbait]

DId it back in the 80s and 90s.   It was a whole lot of fun.   Shooting was more like 400 yards with the 25-06 and 220 swift.   Those places are all gone.    Houses all around, the areas developed.   Its cray to think wed have to stop shooting as our barrels were so hot.    Those were the days. 
I switched it up once in awhile and used a bow.  That also was a hoot.  A little hard on aluminum shafts.    I can remember sticking multiple pigs together with one arrow, having another try to get back down his hole with an arrow stuck in him not letting him through the hole.  Admittedly not a fast kill like vapoizing them.   

https://methowvalleynews.com/2021/03/31/development-near-methow-plans-52-homes/?fbclid=IwAR0Uj7g9qbDAgnVCIKDv68jZ5Ije9sCEAhxGy4P2xDINChWavIrYsAuG6lc

[JDHasty]

A little late in the season, but they are where you find them.  Any place east of the Cascades in Washington. 

There are a lot of smaller ranchettes that offer good shooting with Hornets or similar.  The long range stuff is there but it takes a good idea of what you are looking for to find them.  Anything close to the roadways has been shot down or if it is found it will be a place that you will either not get access to or will end up with a trespassing ticket and/or a shooting along, across or from the public road citation. 


Trust me on that, I have seen more than a few of them handed out. 

A pair of big eyes binocs is your best friend or a Leupold Gold Ring spotter that goes to 12 power and has wide field of view.  That also means you have to be able to see them at 12-15 power from a quarter to half mile out.  Many people can’t even through my spotter with reticle on them.  They blend in at the times when they are out in the morning and evenings. 

They den on rocks, wood piles, old irrigation pipe and under buildings and prefer alfalfa or maybe young corn fields to dine in.  You need both or you are wasting your time looking. 

This is a decent year for chucks, not spectacular, but decent enough that I saw a few hundred last week.  I wasn’t shooting though, I was camping with my kids and just noticed them driving around to activities.  I can see them fairly easily at 500 yards but again I had to stop and put a scope on em for the kids to see them. 

It takes a lot of looking for chucks for most people to get fairly efficient at locating shootable colonies from the roadways.  It also takes a bit of time developing relationships that result in invitations to talk to friends, relatives and acquaintances of ranchers and alfalfa growers who also have chucks in their irrigated crops. 

Finding them where you might be given access is one thing, getting access without references is another.