Eric,
My new groundhog hunting toy ( Ruger ) hasn't seen any action yet, on groundhogs at least. It did, however, drop that coyote earlier in the month.
I have seen the Fiocchi 40 grainers and have wondered about that one myself. But, since the Super X 40s work so well, I haven't thought much about trying anything new.
As to my groundhog hunting and video, I've only been hunting twice, each time took a different friend. I did the filming and they did the shooting. They got one each and I got the shots on video.
I generally give buddies the first crack at shooting and I do the video work, then we trade out. I have tried twice to get on one with the new Ruger 22 mag., but those darn pigs are wild. On this particular farm, it seems that when they go in the hole, they stay there for quite a while. Then to, hunting with rimfires is a lot different than doing it from 300 yards away. I hope to go back this coming week. I have dedicated this summer to rimfires only, so it's taking time and careful stalking, but is a lot of fun.
We aren't seeing many groundhogs this year, and things are slow right now. I don' think we have the numbers that you do out your way. We used to have a good population, but not anymore, probably due to the coyote.
Here are the photos of Jim and Travis. Both took the groundhogs with two different .17 HMRs.
Jim took his groundhog with a Savage 93 heavy barrel and Hornady 17 gr. V-Max at a
distance of 117 yards. It was hit in the neck / chest area and dropped like a rock. We
thought he had taken another one that had got into the hole, but upon careful examination
of video, determined that it was a miss.
Travis used my CZ 452 American with CCI 20 gr. Game Points, head shot at 45 yards.
This one took quite a bit of stalking and patience in the hot sun, but he got him.