Those were the days. A New England boy like Buddy Savage could lug his gun into a neighbor's field and pocket 50 cents for every pesky groundhog he carried back to the farm house.

"Back then, that was a lot of money. It cost 12 cents to go to a movie," said Savage. "And you could go back to the same place every year and there would be another groundhog there. ... Cows would step in their holes and break their legs -- farmers wanted them out."

Now the owner of Braverman Arms, a landmark Wilkinsburg gun shop for 40 years, Savage says groundhog hunting is "what I've done more of than anything else -- I used to live it." Despite the passage of time, he said, the best technology for popping the persistent varmint hasn't changed.

Originally a minor woodland burrower, the woodchuck adapted quickly to the field-clearing habits of American settlers to become a prolific (read: troublesome) farmland nuisance. Females bear a litter of three or four each year with a high survival rate, and while foxes and coyotes will take the young, there's little predation of adults.

"That's why there's so many," said Game Commission biologist Tom Hardisky. "Their adaptability parallels that of coyotes. Adults can defend themselves so it's not quite as easy for predators to kill them, and their home range is small -- less than a quarter mile -- so you could have many in one big field."

Groundhog impact on habitat is substantial.

"They mow down alfalfa, clover, soybeans and corn when it's young, and really impact commercial and backyard gardens," said Hardisky. "And their burrowing is hard on farm animals, machinery and erosion of the field. All of that together, that's why there's an open season on groundhogs in Pennsylvania."

Farmers who may be leery of allowing strangers onto their properties to hunt deer may be more willing to welcome hunters who ask for permission to clear their fields of varmints. Such relationships built in the summer can open gates in the fall.

For groundhog guns, there are three ways to go: flatter trajectory varmint and bench rifles, sporting arms primarily used for deer, and rim fire.

"A lot of farm shooting is done in the prone or kneeling position," said Savage, "so shoulders don't absorb the heavier recoil [of larger bore rifles] without some discomfort. I like the smaller calibers."

Most of Savage's varmint hunting, he said, was with a .22-250 .

"It's most ideal for groundhogs," he said. "Light recoil, extended range [over other centerfire .22s ] and extremely accurate with consistent hits on woodchuck out to 250 or 300 yards."

Sighting his .22-250 dead on at 100 yards, Savage said Sierra MatchKing 53-grain Hollow Point bench rest bullets would drop 8 inches at 300 yards -- a suitable descent for groundhogs.

"There are other bullets out there for varmints, but I liked [the .22-250] for dual use," he said. "I shot bench rest with exactly the same bullet."

Some varmint hunters use centerfires smaller than .22 caliber, but Savage says the lighter rounds don't have sufficient stopping power at more than 100 yards.

"Plus, there's the wind," he said. "Lighter bullets are less reliable. It's simple physics. Next in order of preference is the .243. It will hold the wind a little better."

Savage advises reloaders who pack custom loads for long groundhog shots to avoid full-length sizing.

"Minimize the sizing on brass and you're going to have more consistent internal volume, which always affects pressures," he said. "The more consistent you can make pressure, the more consistent your velocity will be and the gun will shoot more accurately."

Summer groundhog hunting can give autumn deer hunters extra quality time with their sporting arms in hunting conditions. The heavier bullets used for deer, however, have steeper trajectory arcs that complicate those long varmint shots. Deer rifles are suitable for groundhogs, said Savage, but only if the hunter limits shots to typical deer-hunting ranges.

"The most important thing in a successful deer hunt is the ability to put time into zeroing in the gun," he said. "There's no reason to change the sighting [for groundhogs]. Pick shots you might take for deer. If you're shooting 1 inch high at 100 yards, you're covering yourself at long ranges."

Staking out a groundhog hole with a .22 rim-fire can be productive, said Savage.

Or, young hunters can learn valuable hunting skills by walking field edges with a .22. Slow, silent, intermittent steps and an occasional short, sharp whistle might pique the curiosity of a whistle pig, but only for a couple of seconds. Be fast, be accurate and take head shots only -- a groundhog will carry a .22 slug into its den before dying.

And for safety's sake, it's never OK to take any shot on the horizon without seeing what's behind the target.