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woodchuck shotgun question

mossberg500manmossberg500man Member Posts: 833 ✭✭✭✭
edited July 2015 in General Discussion
Friend of the family asked me to take care of a woodchuck problem shes been having but the problem I'm running into is a .22 isn't a safe option which leads me to a shotgun, i was thinking a .410 3 inch with 4 shot since its her backyard, but ive never shot a woodchuck, will the load im thinking of do the job or should i move to a 12 ga and bigger loads?

Comments

  • babunbabun Member Posts: 11,038 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    If you can get with in 25 to 30 yards to the woodchuck, it would work.
    Can you get any larger shot? #4's are small for a hairy critter.
    Not going to be a clean kill if you ask me.

    I do my chuck shooting at 100 to 450 yards with a 22/250 Rem.
  • mossberg500manmossberg500man Member Posts: 833 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Its not my first choice either, 4 shot seems to be the largest shot size i can find in .410, a12 ga would be use able but id be done for awhile after one shot, its a semi residential area
  • babunbabun Member Posts: 11,038 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Yeap, it jumps from #4 to 3 or 5 pellets of 000 buckshot.[:(]
    I think with the #4's you are going to wound a lot of them.
    While they are a pest, I still don't like that thought.

    I would use a 12 gage with #2 or something like that.
    You can make safer shots if you are higher than the target.
    This way your shot is angled down into the ground and the misses will not travel far.
    Hunting woodchucks from a tree stand????

    [:D]
  • mossberg500manmossberg500man Member Posts: 833 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I was thinking about that but there's no way to elevate myself unfortunately, i don't wish to be intrusive to the lady, shes clueless about the outdoors but very nice, i guess a 12 ga with duckloads it is
  • SCOUT5SCOUT5 Member Posts: 16,181 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    A .410 loaded with #4 lead will be fine as long as you are within the shotguns pattern range. A .410 just doesn't have much shot to begin with, so range is an issue. 25 yards is probably the most you can hope for with the large shot and small payload. Pattern the gun and figure the max range you can reach and still put 5+ shot into the chuck and stay within that, heck, your gun may surprise you .

    Chucks can be hard to get a shot at in a case like this, but they aren't hard to kill. 4's will work fine, I've killed them with 6's. Also remember, the larger shot you fire the more distance they retain energy. Get to large and you may as well use a .22lr.

    If you could get elevated, a .22cb, at 710fps, to the head or chest will kill them. Shot out of a long barreled single shot the slug hitting the chuck will make more noise than the shot.
  • select-fireselect-fire Member Posts: 69,518 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    4's will kill them [xx(]
  • ChrisInTempeChrisInTempe Member Posts: 15,562
    edited November -1
    Never tried these. Wonder if they are sufficiently quieter for the need?

    http://www.GunBroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=494858487

    pix177529344.jpg

    pix323189407.jpg
  • babunbabun Member Posts: 11,038 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Those 12 gage mini shells still throw out a buck shot size pellet at
    1200fps. Not much different than a 22lr. Lethal range on them would be 100 yards or so. [B)]
  • fishkiller41fishkiller41 Member Posts: 50,608
    edited November -1
    .410 bore with #4 shot may surprise you big time.The .410 has the same muzzle velocity as any other SG round,just a smaller payload.With #4 shot and at the range where the pattern is about 2X-3X the size of the W-chuck,will kill it as dead as a 12 Ga.
    Use the most powerful,hi-brass shells U can find and s mentioned,pattern it. Whatever range gives U the right pattern,Hide at that distance.[;)]
  • nordnord Member Posts: 6,106
    edited November -1
    In case you think I'm kidding, I'm not...

    Have you ever considered a blowgun? I have a friend who dispatches pests quietly and efficiently with such. Tubes come in different lengths and darts range to very deadly blades. Woodchucks are standard targets and a bit of practice yields surprising results.

    Just a though for those of us in urban areas where a shotgun blast might not be welcome.
  • buschmasterbuschmaster Member Posts: 14,229 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    a .410 is quieter than a 12 gauge
  • redhawkk480redhawkk480 Member Posts: 2,531 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    live trap the sucker , take it out in the country and either shoot it or release it
  • evileye fleagalevileye fleagal Member Posts: 4,238 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    hose an gas 'em
  • fideaufideau Member Posts: 11,895 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Never shot one with it but I have a Gamo Silent Stalker Whisper that throws a .177 pellet 1300 fps. People use them on groundhogs very successfully. 30-35 yards with a 7.9 gr. pellet. Very accurate and quiet.
  • toad67toad67 Member Posts: 13,008 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Call up Bill Murray and see if he has any plastic explosive left from Caddy shack[;)]
  • mlincolnmlincoln Member Posts: 5,039 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Catch it in one of those Hav-a-hart traps and buy a big tub at Lowes. Fill the tub with water and slowly lower the trap into it. I say slowly because if you tip the trap the doors can swing open. Go do something for 5 or 6 minutes and then bury the woodchuck in the garden.

    If your friend lives anywhere near inside the city limits you can get in more than a bit of trouble for shooting a pest. Trapping and drowning, you're in the clear.
  • toad67toad67 Member Posts: 13,008 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by mlincoln
    Catch it in one of those Hav-a-hart traps and buy a big tub at Lowes. Fill the tub with water and slowly lower the trap into it. I say slowly because if you tip the trap the doors can swing open. Go do something for 5 or 6 minutes and then bury the woodchuck in the garden.

    If your friend lives anywhere near inside the city limits you can get in more than a bit of trouble for shooting a pest. Trapping and drowning, you're in the clear.



    IMO that's pretty cruel[V] Drowning would have to be one of the worst ways to go, even if it is a critter that you don't want.
  • woodshed87woodshed87 Member Posts: 23,478 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Gamo Or Equal
    if they Will Kill A Hog it Will
    Certainly Dispatch A Whistle Pig
  • mlincolnmlincoln Member Posts: 5,039 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by toad67
    quote:Originally posted by mlincoln
    Catch it in one of those Hav-a-hart traps and buy a big tub at Lowes. Fill the tub with water and slowly lower the trap into it. I say slowly because if you tip the trap the doors can swing open. Go do something for 5 or 6 minutes and then bury the woodchuck in the garden.

    If your friend lives anywhere near inside the city limits you can get in more than a bit of trouble for shooting a pest. Trapping and drowning, you're in the clear.



    IMO that's pretty cruel[V] Drowning would have to be one of the worst ways to go, even if it is a critter that you don't want.


    Fair enough. However, I actually looked into this. Releasing the animal far away will about 90% of the time result in it starving to death. Other animals that already live there will drive it out, it won't have a burrow or nest made to sleep in, etc. Death from starvation and exposure is a very ugly way to go. You could shoot it in the trap, but animals in traps bounce around like crazy and move nonstop. Getting a good head or heart shot is quite hard. And I've got a powerful air rifle, but even so it took quite some time for a squirrel to die unless you got a very good head or heart hit. And by the laws of my area, you're not allowed to shoot squirrels or woodchucks period. Even with an air rifle. Poison is an ugly, very long death, and the poison often travels up though the food chain and that's not good.

    So drowning. It's not an instant kill, but it's the closest I've found. Considering that squirrels have done thousands of dollars of damage to my home, drowning it is.
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