Old Man I hail from just north of you in Carbon County and wished I had a 17HMR in HS and college, much cheaper to use than my .223 and just as effective. You need to get a set of the shooting sticks that extend to like 60+ inches that way you can shoot standing up!
I never found the 17 HMR to be as effective as just about any centerfire. A 22 Hornet will anchor a groundhog out to 200 yds, my old 22/250 out past 400yds, and that with body shots. But the 17 HMR seems
shaky using body shots past 125 yds.
The shooting sticks are a great idea, and I do use a set of Stoney Point sticks with my flintlock during deer season, they just never worked out too well on woodchucks for me. When I was a firearm instructor I often gave the example of "If your crosshairs are moving on a target that's 200+ yards you at best will only wound, at worse miss all together". I'm sort of rock steady or gain better advantage. Groundhogs have a habit of being predictable enough to almost be able to set your watch by them as to when they come out, so if not today, I'll be waiting for it tomorrow.
And by the way, I'm a little jealous you guys up in Carbon County get to hammar your hogs with centerfires. Always a pleasure.
