ing combinations I have ever shot. I 
know this is rank heresy, and no man 
descended from a monkey would dare 
' claim such a thing, but there were a 
lot of old-time Republicans among my 
ancestors and I’m going to take a 
chance and tell some of the scandals 
that happen in the family. Remember, 
however, that they happened with full 
_metal-cased bullets. 
COUPLE of us like to shoot wood- 
chucks. It gives us an all sum- 
mer’s sport, much of it can be secured 
without even getting out of an auto- 
mobile, and it provides an almost end- 
less number of chances to test out dif- 
ferent loads. A woodchuck will stand 
more killing than any animal I know 
of in proportion to its size. It has a 
tough hide—so tough that you cannot 
cut a ’chuck’s throat or disembowel or 
dissect the animal with the average 
pocket knife. A thoroughly pulped 
’chuck feels like a hunk of liver in a 
canvas sack. The average late sum- 
mer animal probably weighs five to ten 
pounds. Old celebrities may go over 
fifteen, but I would like to see and 
shoot some of these thirty and forty- 
pound ’chucks we read of. In this 
shooting, which occurred in the last 
two weeks, two riflemen used the same 
National Match, telescopically sighted 
Springfield and 150 grain service loads: 
Every shot was from a rest or prone. 
Each was carefully spotted, both with 
the scope on the rifle and by the other 
shooter who had both Carl Zeiss bin- 
oculars and a rifle telescope. Dry dust 
instantly marked the location of each 
shot. We aimed high purposely on side 
shots to hit the spine or brain. 
’Chuck No. 1. Range 100 yards: 
Animal was walking down a hill. 
First bullet went over. Second appar- 
ently hit the heart. Animal never even 
kicked. Bullet made a pencil hole in 
both sides. It was a small woodchuck 
of this year’s crop. 
’Chuck No. 2: 
A good side shot at 
125 yards. First bul- 
let struck exactly 
where aimed and cut 
a streak of fur off 
the spine at the base 
of the neck. Animal 
turned around a cou- 
ple of times with a 
partly paralyzed and 
a very stiff neck and 
then crawled into its 
hole. Second shot 
was fired at about 
two inches of the top 
of its head peeping 
out of the hole. A 
very close high miss. 
Observer reported it 
was impossible to shoot any closer and 
not score. In about five minutes ’chuck 
came out and began to eat clover ap- 
parently undisturbed. Third shot fired 
at the animal was a broadside shot. 
Crosshairs held low down on body over 
heart. ’Chuck collapsed at the shot, 
fell over on his back and lay upside 
down with his legs spread out. When 
observer walked up to pick him up, 
’chuck got up and crawled into hole. 
No exterior bleeding. 
Shot No. 3: 
Head sticking out of hole. A close, 
high miss at 175 yards, Perfect line 
shot. 
Shot No. 4: 
‘Chuck running down hill at 200 
yards. One bullet apparently struck 
head, neck, or between _ shoulders. 
’Chuck knocked flat and lay partly par- 
alyzed in mouth of hole. Crawled in 
too far to reach when shooter got to 
hole fifteen minutes later. Heard 
*chuck gasping in hole and got hold of 
it once with a stick. 
Shot No. 4: 
First hit at 175 yards was at ’chuck 
running for hole. Bullet struck hind 
quarters, threw near hind leg straight 
out and apparently nearly tore it off, 
other hind leg paralyzed. Another hit 
in head or shoulders from above flat- 
tened ’chuck in mouth of hole. ’Chuck 
crawled in safely. No sound from hole. 
Observer reported this ’chuck dead on 
the spot, other ’chuck (No. 3) com- 
pletely disabled. Yet fifteen minutes 
later both ’chucks got in holes before 
shooters could ford a stream. 
Shot No. 5: 
Each rifleman made one high, close 
miss on same ’chuck inside of half an 
hour. Range 175 yards. Perfect line 
shots. 
Shot No. 6: 
Large ’chuck feeding in clover field 
at 100 yards. Twenty-two calibre match 
rifle used with solid bullet. First two 

= REI, 
If a cat has nine lives, how many has a chuck? Ask any rifle crank! 
shots fired at brain were too high and 
missed. Third shot fired at lower part 
of neck. A perfect hit. Animal jumped 
about four feet, turned two complete 
flip flops and fell over in grass. Got 
up and crawled slowly to hole and lay 
down apparenty dead outside of hole. 
Observer walked up to get it when 
’chuck hissed at him at ten feet. While 
shooter was running up to kill the 
’chuck it crawled in hole too far to 
shoot. Farmer interfered at this stage 
and ’chuck had to be left to its fate. 
Spots of blood all over a space thirty 
feet long and ten feet wide. Bullet 
apparently cut jugular vein. A sure 
kill in most cases if observer had car- 
ried rifle. 
NE dead ’chuck in seven hits, six 
with 150 grain bullets, each hav- 
ing 2,400 foot pounds or over a ton of 
energy, is not a record to brag about. 
It need not be taken as indicative of 
average results, but it does show what 
happens sometimes. 
Oh yes, I know how the service bul- 
let tumbles and tears a large ragged 
hole. I have shot ’chucks in half with 
it, but very often it doesn’t tumble and 
in these cases it is less effective in 
many cases than the .22 long rifle bul- 
let which has only 60 to 80 foot pounds 
energy at 100 yards. The one ’chuck 
shot with the .22 showed far more ex- 
terior bleeding than was produced by 
the six hits from the Springfield, and 
the ’chuck surely paid more attention 
to what happened to him. 
A few hits such as recorded. above 
cannot be accepted as a true indication 
of what the average results will be on 
thousands of shots, but past shooting 
has indicated that the non-expanding 
.30 calibre spitzer metal-cased bullet 
at 2,700 f.s. or less is a mighty poor 
killer on woodchucks. Hollow point 
and expanding bullets, which will ac- 
tually expand after passing through 
one tough hide and six inches of flesh, 
will tear holes two 
inches to six inches 
in diameter in a 
’chuck and will usu- 
ally, but not always, 
stop him outside the 
hole. I recall once of 
putting a 170 grain 
match bullet through 
the ribs of a ’chuck 
at..125 yards. He 
dropped but tried to 
crawl in when I 
walked up. A second 
shot from above 
struck the middle of 
the skull just back 
of the ears. It did 
not stop the animal 
(Cont. on page 697) 
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