small game hunting question?

Question

i have a .177 caliber breakbarrel rifle by crosman. today i saw this woodchuck in my backyard that ive been trying to kill for a few weeks now. i had the chance to shoot him and i shot him (shot it in the back) my rifle is 1000 fps and im wondering if it could be deadly to the woodchuck cause he kind of twitched and limped in his hole. i didnt see blood anywhere near the hole....... this breakbarrel is just temporary and just used for target practice but i shot him with it cause i wanted to know if it can kill a woodchuck....

Answer 1

yes it can, get good ammo, take off the scope because the cheap break barrels never line up the same and the scope is almost always off, and practice practice practice on a target until you can nail it exactly where you want at the range you're shooting. I'd recommend a hollowpoint or the hunting pellets with a bb embedded in it. you probably didn't kill it and it went down and died horribly. but to prevent this in the future practice on your marksmanship.

Answer 2

You would have to do more to a Groundhog/Woodchuck to bring him humanely down then shoot it with a pellet rifle. You didn't see blood because in all likelihood you only hit fat and wounded him. You showed a lack of common sense by doing this stunt..Animals deserve a clean effective shot without suffering like I am sure this woodchuck is suffering......You are old enough to know better. "I just wanted to see if..." is not justification.

A perfect example of what NOT to do........

Answer 3

While it's possible to kill a woodchuck with a pellet gun, I doubt you did. Woodchucks are tough. I've seen them take several shots with a .22 rifle before giving up.

Answer 4

Be a man and stick you arm down that hole and see if you can find him!


Look, as has been said, you have a responsibility to kill and not wound animals. It's a sacred law among hunters and it's a good one. Most of us know this first hand from experience. You never, ever forget the one you know you hit, probably even found a blood trail for and then lost it in the wood, no matter how hard you and your friends looked. Just don't harm animals, kill them quickly.

Answer 5

You could have killed him . But I recommend atleast a 22 rifle or more for shooting them . I shot on in my garden with a 20 guage shotgun number 6 shot he reacted the same way . I smelled him a few days later.

I prefer a centerfire rifle for them.

Answer 6

Use something bigger. That break-barrel won't take woodchucks humanely. A .410 shotgun will work better if you can't shoot a .22 where you live.

Best.

H

Answer 7

indeed, dont give the rest of us hunters a bad rep.
> its a privledge to hunt, its bad enough that a good percentage of the population does not agree with this practise already
>technically if there isnt an open season for woodchucks they could charge you. so keep it to urself your not helping anyone

Answer 8

You are not using the proper humane caliber to hunt this animal, which will cause it to be crippled or eventually die a slow lingering and cruel, inhumane death.* The least caliber you should be using is 22L.R. or 22 Magnum, 22 Hornet, 218 Bee, 222, 22-250.* Please use the appropriate caliber before attempting to hunt Woodchuck's.***

Answer 9

if you get a pointed pellet and get a head shot he will die. the terminal ballistics of a .177 are insufficient for taking game with a shot to center body mass.

Answer 10

if you hit him dead on the centerline of his back sonce u obviously didn't paralyze him he prolly bled out from a ruptured thoracic aorta, if u didn't he's still alive. i have the same exact pellet rifle u do and that power level is only lethal with cranial shots.