Annual Groundhog tally for 2011

Had a pretty good day!!
Hearing how nice the weather was going to be this weekend, I couldn't wait to hit the fields.

Got to the farm at about 6:30am and by the time I got the gear unloaded, I could not see more than 20 feet due to the fog.Realizing I wasn't going to see anything in that stuff I decided to take a short snooze in the truck while the fog lifted. Being up since 8:00am on Thursday morning I needed it!

Got to my first stand about 7:40 and the sun had burned most of the fog away. Sat there for about 45 minutes and saw one feeding close to a large rock/tree break. Got the rangefinder and pinged him at 218 yards. Got set up, put the cross hair on his head and squeezed. Sounded like a brick hit him and new he was down.Continued to glass for a while and saw nothing so I decided to retrieve my kill and move to a new location.

Got set up and started glassing but no activity for about 30 minutes. Finally spotted one and ranged him at 193 yards. Got set up and had to make an adjustment to the bipod, looked through the scope but he went back down his hole. Figured he would be right back out due to the sunshine, but nothing. Guess the little fella had other ideas.

A few minutes later I spotted another one to the right of him and farther away. Ranged him at 247 yards. Got set up, he was standing on his hind legs so I put the crosshair on top of his and squeezed. MISS!! Right over top of him. He went down his hole but not really scared so I thought he would return.

Waited a couple minutes and the one that went down his hole before I could get a shot returned. I figured I would try the 32gr. vmax on him. Took aim and sent one his way. Saw the hit and he was down.
Wasn't five minutes later and another one was out feeding. Ranged him at 165 yards. Could not get him to stand up so I dispatched him with a shoulder shot.

After another 50 minutes or so, the one I missed came back up for a look see. Got set up right away and let one rip. Saw the impact on his shoulder. Rolled him right down his hole. Could not see him but knew he was done by all the blood and body pieces outside his hole.

Decided to head back to the truck since I was tired and hungry.
Stopped to glass a rock break and saw one standing half way out of his hole. Did not range him but I guess he was about 140 yards away. Took aim and heard the thump. Retreived him from down in his hole.

Not a bad day, six shots and five dead ghogs.

Here are some pics. Enjoy!
Pic of where first hog was shot. Small dark spot in front of large group of trees.
huntingpictures018.jpg

Some pics of the deceased

huntingpictures020.jpg


huntingpictures023.jpg


huntingpictures027.jpg


Pic of my set up
huntingpictures026.jpg


Good huntin

Dave
 
great photos guys!....I have been real busy this summer but I did manage to get out more then a few times and anded up shooting around 300 or so ..most with my new 1894 44mag with hard cast bullets! here are a few!
0730011417a.jpg

0730011413b.jpg

0730011412.jpg

0730011409a.jpg

0730011409.jpg

0730011210a.jpg
 
here is one of my honey holes and a few more lol!
0723011341.jpg

0723011031a.jpg

0723011031.jpg

the fixings for more hard cast bullets!
0720011307a.jpg

0720011342.jpg

a group from the 1895 45-70 with Ranch dog bullets...also great for ground hogs lol
0719012148a.jpg
0702011432a.jpg
0702011433a.jpg
0618011422a.jpg
 
Hey! Good to see a post! I thought this place was drying up. Nice to read a little bit and see some action pics. Thanks!

Seeing it motivated me to go out today. It was slow, slow, slow despite great weather. Some of the beans have finally been cut. Towards the end of my hunt I finally saw a groundhog at an easy 119 yards. Unfortunately I missed it twice despite him holding still for me. I guess my 243 got bumped or something and isn't shooting straight so looks like I need some range time.
 
I have always said i wish the ground hogs I shoot were all feral hogs lol I guess you always want what you don't have!

I think it would be great to put some bacone in the freezer
when i pull the switch...even better if there were as many feral pigs as ground hogs here I would be able to fill the freezer of everyone I know and still have tons of meat for people that could use it!

Wahoowad, i don't hit every hog ethier! ...better to find out the shortfalls of gear on a g-hog then a trophy of a life time!
 
Originally Posted By: JonathanWahoowad, i don't hit every hog ethier! ...better to find out the shortfalls of gear on a g-hog then a trophy of a life time!

Yeah, just frustrating, I last shot this rifle 2 months ago and connected at 330 yards. No bumps or changes since then.
 
Has been picking up here in NW OH; killed one tonight and one on Saturday.

Two good weeks left then it typically turns too cold. Beans are coming off here this week; usually earlier but we planted late due to a very wet spring.
 
any time man!...coyotes have hurt them bad and then three years of flood like springs has dug into there #'s a little...4 years ago I hit 11 farms from sun up to sun down and ended with my best day by a long shot(pardun the pun)
311 g-hogs!!! I took 400 rounds and I ran out of bullets not hogs!!!

it is a rare day we hit more then 30-40 each now and a day with 60 would be a great one, but thay are on the rebound as there is a $130 bounty on the yotes!!! no wonder the farmers want me to leave the yotes alone for them in the winter ..it's there new winter crop!
 
Originally Posted By: Jonathanany time man!...coyotes have hurt them bad and then three years of flood like springs has dug into there #'s a little...4 years ago I hit 11 farms from sun up to sun down and ended with my best day by a long shot(pardun the pun)
311 g-hogs!!! I took 400 rounds and I ran out of bullets not hogs!!!

it is a rare day we hit more then 30-40 each now and a day with 60 would be a great one, but thay are on the rebound as there is a $130 bounty on the yotes!!! no wonder the farmers want me to leave the yotes alone for them in the winter ..it's there new winter crop!

w00t.gif
311 Hogs?!?! Man I'm lucky if I kill 60 a year! 25 years ago I probably could have gotten over 200 a year, but with all the land development going on, farm land is at a premium now.

Looks like I need to take a vacation up north next year!
wink.gif


Dave
 
Dave, it is amazing how easy it is to spoil a guy...we had 8 years of the high number hogs..got to say me and my hunting bud got a lot of training on all those g-pigs!
I rmember a friend of mine comenting on my 1/4" 5 shot 100 yard group on day(if only I had a bench rest to shoot live animals at ..and to bad thay wer not all at 100 yards) not two min later another friend of mine show up at the range and proceeds to tell the loud mouth all about this coyote that I shot on the run at just over 500 yards the day before and how happy the farmer was as he just finished telling us both to shot them on site!...too funny!
I still think it was a lucky shot lol!!

I know for sure that i am a much better shooter and understand wind mirrage,weather,temp and so many other factors that go into pulling crap like that off lol
 
Originally Posted By: JonathanDave, it is amazing how easy it is to spoil a guy...we had 8 years of the high number hogs..got to say me and my hunting bud got a lot of training on all those g-pigs!
I rmember a friend of mine comenting on my 1/4" 5 shot 100 yard group on day(if only I had a bench rest to shoot live animals at ..and to bad thay wer not all at 100 yards) not two min later another friend of mine show up at the range and proceeds to tell the loud mouth all about this coyote that I shot on the run at just over 500 yards the day before and how happy the farmer was as he just finished telling us both to shot them on site!...too funny!
I still think it was a lucky shot lol!!

I know for sure that i am a much better shooter and understand wind mirrage,weather,temp and so many other factors that go into pulling crap like that off lol



There might have been a little luck involved with that shot, but i bet there was a lot more skill than you think!!

Dave
 
I took Buckeyespecial's advice and snuck out today around 2pm. I definitely need to re-zero my scope as I have been messing with hand loads and had no idea where this thing was shooting, though I thought I did. The first hog was nice enough to let me take four, yes FOUR shots at him at about 250 yards. The first two were not even close, the third fell short as I tried to use the retical to correct, finally connecting on the fourth shot. For the second hog of the day I had to go commando, with a 150 yard crawl, but she hung around and watched as I tried my bipod on various heights (very tall grass) only to finally get slung and roll up into a sitting position for a 50 yard shot. Lastly, I'm just out walking this freshly plowed and planted field with my binoculars when I look twenty feet to my right and see this guy looking back at me. Where is my rifle? In the truck! So, back I go and set up standing on the tailgate with the bipod on the cap. My ultimate moment of DUH for the day! I still think my scope is set 1" high at 100, so my brain goes all dyslexic and convinces me to "hold 1" high" instead, of course, 1" low since he is about 100 yards. Instead, I ultimately discover the scope is on at 100 so I end up giving this ground hog a new part in his hair dew.

1018111709.jpg


Shave and a hair cut, two bits.

1018111709a.jpg


I realize my hold error as soon as I send the bullet down range, wait a while to see if he'll come up again, no. So, I walk back out to the hole thinking maybe I got lucky and think I did as I can see his backside about 2 feet down. I reach in and grab the tail only to hear him squeal. Now some of yall will be upset, as this is not sporting at all, but I'm charged with eradication, so I dispatch him with a Texas Heart Shot. Turns out the hole was only 2.5 feet deep and was being re dug after the field was plowed.
We may get another warm day before it is all over, but this well may be it for the year.
 
any time man!...coyotes have hurt them bad and then three years of flood like springs has dug into there #'s a little...4 years ago I hit 11 farms from sun up to sun down and ended with my best day by a long shot(pardun the pun)
311 g-hogs!!! I took 400 rounds and I ran out of bullets not hogs!!!

Jonathan:

Given a 14 hour day from sunrise at 7AM until sunset at 9 PM, and 2 hours off to drive to 11 farms, that leaves 12 hours to shoot 311 animals which is 25.9 groundhogs per hour, or one every 2.3 minutes, including misses [if there were any], or cleaning the rifle [if it was cleaned], for 12 hours of shooting.

That 2.3 minutes per killed animal also includes the time to walk those 11 farms and to find the next target, in a province not known for high groundhog numbers,

Certainly, a rare feat.....
 
Last edited:
Back
Top