Longest handgun varmint kill question.

Just wondering what the longest distance confirmed kill on a Woodchuck , Rock Chuck , etc. using a handgun was. If anyone would like to join in the conversation the gun type and caliber would be nice to know also.

WE OUGHT TO BE HEARING FROM DOC AND ERNIE ON THIS ONE.

My longest PA groundhog kill is 325 yards with a stock Contender in 223 Rem. Scope is a 4x12 Bushnell Scope chief IV. Laying prone on a small field bag. That should get the bell rolling for the guys that really go long.

When the Varmint Hunters Assn. was running I had 2 members here hunting groundhogs with me. Last hour of last day of hunt I did one at 503 yds. (lasered) with my .250 Sav. AI and 85 gr. BT. Used a Burris 3-12X BPlex. Held the top of the bottom crosshair on it. Shot was of my ever present backpack filled with very firm pillows. Just not a lot of places in WV to get shots like that. Have done a lot since in the low 400 yd. range.

Dont know if you consider a squirrel a varmint but I took this one at about 75yards with my Taurus .22lr, my longest handgun kill.

Yeah I think Ernie will leave us all in the dust on this one...
I remember when... Actually all I know was it was over 31 years ago because that's when I came to Alaska, but when I still lived in Oregon I remember walking in one one a rockchuck from a bit over a paced 400yds. It took several rounds to walk it in. That was with a factory XP-100 in 221 Fireball :-) I don't remember what the scope was but I believe it was a fixed 6x, & I had home made sandbags (old socks filled with sand). Mostly luck & his suicidal tendency to cooperate by hanging out for multiple attempts.
Never liked that gun. 10" barrel & mid grip just felt funky

Rock Chuck at 486 yds with a Bullberry 6.5/284 with a 3X12 Burris on top. I had missed him a few minutes earlier but my spotter called the shot for me & I got him with the second shot. Where I live I could have done longer shots many times when I had some of the bigger single shots but I always tried to get a bit closer. I usually hunt alone & it's hard to call the shots.
I'm sure when Dr Rogers gets here next month he'll probably beat his old record. Any distance is possible out here.
A few years ago I was spotting for Bob Baker of Freedom Arms as he tested his, not yet on the market single shot. If I remember correctly the shot was 606 yds on the first shot & I think it was a 6.5 caliber of some sort, can't remember.

Dick

Prairie dog .223 Contender 3-12 Burris 683 yards if I remember right think it took 12 shots.

I can't compete with the big dogs, but I took a prairie dog at a lasered 110 yards with Ruger Charger in 22 LR using stingers. My longest with a 12" Encore in 223 with a 40 grain V-Max was an estimated 140 using a Bushnell 2-6 scope.

I've never been a dedicated varmint hunter or a long-range guy.

But...when I was young, I was hell with a slingshot and took many coons, squirrels, and rabbits with marbles at long-for-slingshot distances. And it got me in trouble more than once, since I lived inside city limits.

When wrist-rockets were invented and hit the market, I was a borderline sniper with them. We use to have paintball wars with our wrist-rockets. Half the battle was getting them to fly, without exploding in your hand. Talk about fun...

I have been blessed to have a number of opportunities at distance.
With an iron sighted 44 S&W revolver around 125 yards on a small prairie dog. Took less than 2 cylinders. Only time I had intentionally tried to kill a pd with a iron sighted revolver.
It was fun though.
With specialty pistols, I have killed more than a handful of pd's beyond 1000 yards, while Erik took two down over a grand on one short outing.
Over 1400 yards three or four. Beyond a mile, I have only hit one.
I killed several beyond 300 yards with a 22 lr clone Charger.
Lately, I have been doggin under 500 yards most of the time.
Still have 2K+ pding on my mind though....

At Ernie's shoot in wyoming, I made the longest shot of my life. 1,176 yards on a steel prairie dog with a specialty pistol. For a live prairie dog, I used a 20 Vartarg and got one at just over 350 yards with a specialty pistol that belonged to one of the guys at that same shoot. I had a riot at Ernie's shoot, and believe it is something everyone should do at least once. I now have my own XP100 in a .284 and absolutely love it.

IT IS RUMORED THAT A TEXAN FROM UP AMARILLO WAY SHOT A PD FROM AMARILLO CLEAR OVER IN NEW MEXICO, WITH "ONE OF THEM FUNNY PISTOLS". I HAVE TRIED TO VERIFY THE INCIDENT BUT THE LIST OF SUPPOSED SHARPSHOOTERS THAT DID THIS IS TOO LONG. I DID NOT REALIZE THAT THERE WERE THAT MANY SUPER GOOD LONG RANGE PISTOL SHOOTERS IN TEXAS, WHAT AN AMAZING STATE (OF MIND).

That made me smile.
Thank you!

ERNIE:

BEING TEXAN AND NOT AN EXAGGERATER IS TUFF WORK, FORTUNEATELY I AM NOT A FISHERMAN SO DO NOT HAVE A LOT OF PRACTICE LYING, AND I AM NOT A GOLFER EITHER SO DO NOT HAVE A LOT OF PRACTICE CHEATING.

You won't have to go far to find proof of my steel prairie dog shot. Ernie was my spotter!!

I'll never forget the time spent at that shoot. I learned a lot about technique, scopes, and even different shooting positions. Can't thank you enough for your help Ernie.

Since you are a Colorado guy, he wasn't referring to you.
There were many folks watching the steel prairie dog shooting that was around 1172-give or take 5 yards depending where you were shooting from and the 1590 yard gong shooting last year.
We will miss you this year.
I should have just over 30 shooters this year-Largest group ever

Yeah I know he wasn't referring to me. Sure had a riot up there. I'll never forget that gong either. But the prairie dog was my first long shot, so that one really sticks with me. Hopefully make it back again next year.

No way I can compete with some of you guys. My farthest varmint kill is a coyote at about 40 yards with a 460.

It doesn't matter, how short or long your shots are or how many you have killed...The main question is, are you having fun???

Amen ernie!
A coyote, fox @ 125ish may be my longest. Dont think ive killed a handgun groundhog that far.
One should never feel ashamed or embarrassed to just put it out there lol.

501 yds on a groundhog in WV. Got me in the 500yd club of Varmint Hunter. Used a 6.5x284 XP100, Brux Barrel, 3x12 Burris Pistol scope with BP reticle. Shot was made off of my backpack with WV Hitman as my witness.

Lots of farmers here in South Carolina consider whitetail deer to

be 'varmints'. My longest shot was ELEVEN yards on a PD shoot

near Clayton NM in 2018.. This amazing feat was with a

friend's 40 GLOCK

As if you have to ask.