Shooting Groundhogs With Shotgun

[jet3534]

What type of shot shell would be best for shooting groundhogs at about 40 yards using a Trap gun?

[was_peacemaker]

What type of shot shell would be best for shooting groundhogs at about 40 yards using a Trap gun?

What gauge are you talking? At 40 yards the groundhog is going to have a lot of time to move after the gun report so with a shotgun it seems you would be pushing it. With a 12 gauge I would try a load that is known for distance! Something that duck and goose hunters use. Think about it they are shooting way up in the air to knock down a moving target with thick feathers.

This is a high velocity 3 inch shell shooting #2 shot at 1500 FPS. I figure on groundhogs in might do the trick if your pushing 40 yards. http://www.ableammo.com/catalog/esta...e-p-73196.html

What kind of shotgun are you using? Gauge? Barrel length? Also what kind of choke do you have on it?

[jet3534]

What gauge are you talking? At 40 yards the groundhog is going to have a lot of time to move after the gun report so with a shotgun it seems you would be pushing it. With a 12 gauge I would try a load that is known for distance! Something that duck and goose hunters use. Think about it they are shooting way up in the air to knock down a moving target with thick feathers.

This is a high velocity 3 inch shell shooting #2 shot at 1500 FPS. I figure on groundhogs in might do the trick if your pushing 40 yards. http://www.ableammo.com/catalog/esta...e-p-73196.html

What kind of shotgun are you using? Gauge? Barrel length? Also what kind of choke do you have on it?

I have two shotguns - a Saiga-12 (not sure what the choke is) and a Beretta Silver Pigeon (which I believe has 28 inch barrels which have screw in chokes - I have an Improved choke in one barrel, modified in the other. I probably have a Full choke for this gun somewhere around the house.

[was_peacemaker]

I have two shotguns - a Saiga-12 (not sure what the choke is) and a Beretta Silver Pigeon (which I believe has 28 inch barrels which have screw in chokes - I have an Improved choke in one barrel, modified in the other. I probably have a Full choke for this gun somewhere around the house.

If you can use the Beretta Silver Pigeon with a full choke for that kind of job. Less spread but better distance. With some 3 inch # 2 shot shells. I am pretty sure that Beretta will fire 3 inch shells.

[alismith]

A rifled, slug barrel shooting sabot rounds and using a 3-power scope.

[mrkalashnikov]

I never hunted woodchucks w/ a shotgun. I prefered to use my Inland .30 GI Carbine loaded with soft-point rounds. It did a pretty good job on them and didn't make a mess to boot.

[abpt1]

What type of shot shell would be best for shooting groundhogs at about 40 yards using a Trap gun?

Number 4 or 3in nitro steel BB
I like .22lr

[Aggressive Perfector]

I always used my Savage .243 w/ soft points for groundhogs... I'm curious as to why you'd even bother with a shotgun.

[jet3534]

I always used my Savage .243 w/ soft points for groundhogs... I'm curious as to why you'd even bother with a shotgun.

Kind of hard to explain without a drawing, but one of my neighbors has dragged a Camper into the woods right on my property line that is about 250 yards from my house. I normally shoot groundhogs from a window with a .22 mag. Now the camper is in a direct alignment with the shot I would be taking. I have a way I can walk up on a hog getting between them and their hole which would result in a shot at a moving target (they would be running for the hole) so this is why I am thinking of using a shotgun.