Jun 18, 2017 4 min read

Some hobbies come and go. I played baseball and softball for a bit and then a bit of age and adult responsibility ended that. I spent a few years shooting a handgun in an organized league. More recently, I shot sporting clays with serious competitors like Bill King and Gerry Mullins. All of these passed as I got older and moved on to a new hobby. But there is one pastime that was a passion when I was young, and many years later it still gets my attention along with my time.

I must admit that, in my doddering years, I’m not as good at it as I used to be but I still enjoy sitting in a field alone, or with a friend, watching for and shooting at groundhogs. I tend to think the reason I have the passion to shoot at these unloved beasts that dig holes in the wrong places and eat gardens is it’s a rifle sport.

I am not a shotgun person, although I love to carry a side-by-side 20 gauge through a grouse thicket. To me, a rifle can be a joy just to hold and own. A shotgun, for me, is a tool, a necessity or something to be used. There is however, an attraction to an accurate rifle that can be a joy to shoot at nothing more than paper trying to get a tight group at 100 yards or farther. I am always seeking that perfect group.

It is safe to say the majority of serious groundhog hunters reload their own ammo. First, reloading doesn’t save money but does allow more shooting. And in almost all instances, because the reload is tailored to that gun, it is more accurate than the factory load. Again, little is etched in stone, but the reloader will be the person who understands what happens when the trigger is pulled. He has knowledge of interior ballistics, which creates not only accurate ammo but safe ammo. He memorizes exterior ballistics so he will know how much the bullet drops at 400 plus yards when shooting across that groundhog field.

Much to the partner of such a hunter’s chagrin, it is the varmint shooter who keeps the company that makes ammo components in business. He can’t resist testing new bullets and a different powder in his rifle. It is a never-ending quest for a better cartridge, a more accurate rifle and on and on.

Jack O’Connor once wrote the eastern varmint hunter was in all probability the best shot in the United States. He might have been right. While varmint hunting might require the best of rifles, it doesn’t end there. A good rifle with a junk scope is like owning a Corvette and handicapping it with re-cap tires. The scope sight must have adequate power for the target at a long range is small. It must be clear for it’s hard to hit a fuzzy image at say 500 yards. The scope must hold zero, and if the shooter is going to run sights, which is using the click adjustments to a point where he can aim dead on 0, the adjustments must be reliable and few scopes are.

Every varmint hunter has his idea about what constitutes a good magnification in a scope for long-range shooting. I don’t like a groundhog scope over 20 power. In a field that looks alike from end to end, it is very hard to find the target in a higher power scope. On the other hand, I don’t want a scope less than 12 power. My favorite power in a hog scope would be 15 or 16.

Another question facing the varmint hunter is: heavy rifle or just a rifle of average weight? I have seen super accurate rifles that weigh no more than the old 700 Remington. But when I am not walking, I prefer some weight in my long rifle. The heavy rifle just lays better and isn’t affected by shooting opposition. The heavy rifle also cuts down on recoil, and remember this is not deer season when heavy clothing cushions the kick and more shots are fired.

George Block writes a weekly outdoor column for the Observer-Reporter.