Annual Groundhog tally for 2012
- Thread starter Flyrod1
- Start date
wayneghhunter
New member
Went with a buddy yesterday hay field with a bunch of house's around it he went and bought a pellet rifle. We saw 9 groundhogs took one with the pellet rifle and two with the 17hmr, these hogs were real skidish if they saw you would run and not come back out. He said nobody had been hunting them
the hay field we saw the most in was right beside a country road maybe they have been getting alot of drive-by shootings.
Whoo if I'm off next weekend you want to try to get a hunt planed.
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jim wallace
New member
Went yesterday morning we got a late start . Left the house at 8 ish picked up my trailer and table got to new fields about 8:30 ish . Glassed for 45 minutes saw nothing . i then suggested we pack up and move else where . We drive maybe 5 minutes to another 500-600 acre farm i glassed the bean field in the very back nothing we move out to a hay field my friend kills 1 on the porch of and old house then i glassed this tiny grass strip that hogs have been killed off of in years before Wayne you killed 1 off of this hole . 5 minute later he pops out David shoots that 1 100 yards max . We pack up here and go to some land besides my house it had gotten warm by then we found some shade that was most important located another hole and just watched 30 - 40 minutes later David sees it sunning on a rock besides the hole he kills another . He load up he headed to Richmond for a wedding yesterday afternon i go home and take a nap in the AC .
CatShooter
New member
Originally Posted By: Dogbone
"What better way to go tha[n] with your mouth full of food."
I can think of at least two.
The first is while shooting a ground hog with a mouth full of food
The second is...
.
"What better way to go tha[n] with your mouth full of food."
I can think of at least two.
The first is while shooting a ground hog with a mouth full of food
The second is...
.
jim wallace
New member
That second is my first if i'm thinking the same way.As we get older id say Groundhog what?
Corey,
Of all the things I miss in life, I miss my mind the most.........I think!
That's one of the reasons I've never been a dial twister! The other reason is that I've yet to own a 'scope that I trust the adjustments to return to absolute zero!! Especially the VX3 Leupolds.... next varmint scope will probably be a Nightforce, then I'll be able to trust the clicks!
I went hunting several days last week, and racked up a few more piggies:
Shot these Wednesday afternoon. The second one from the left is missing a lot of hair! The skin looked healthy, though.
I'm starting to develop a theory about some of this hair loss/ dermatitis. Except for the obvious scarring from fighting, or obvious mange, there seems to be a pattern emerging. The groundhogs I'm killing in "Roundup ready" beanfields, that have been sprayed at least once are producing almost all the hairless groundhogs! I started noticing that in the Culpeper area a couple years ago, and it seems to be holding true for areas East of Fredericksburg, too.
Almost all the groundhogs killed in pasture land, with no beanfields nearby, have decent coats of fur. My theory could be totally wrong, but there seems to be a corelation here.
These are from Thursday evening.
On Friday, we had a torrential storm in the afternoon, and BRB made the dash to meet me in F'burg about 6 PM. He brought his new Savage 17 HMR for a farm where we usually use the pellet rifles for safety and to keep the noise down. Groundhogs were coming out like nightcrawlers! But our luck wasn't as expected! Between the pellet rifle and the HMR, we put holes in six groundhogs that we did not recover!
We had eleven different groundhogs hit, but could only count five. Four we put in the truck, and one we could see dead in the field at just over 400 yds...BRB made another nice shot on that one!
Here are three of the five.
Then there was Saturday... BRB came back over from a little after 11 AM until 2:00PM. Most of the piggies were going inside to beat the heat, but he managed one with the HMR, and got a piece of another one at over 400 with the 22-250 that made it down the hole!
I went back out after 6 PM and shot #49-51:
this one with the 204 under 175 yds.
This one popped up behind me in a drainage ditch while I was preparing to shoot another one at just over 300! I guess it thought it was safe in the weeds and just watched me get the pellet rifle out of the truck and put his lights out!
I then returned to my original target:
This one was at 303 yds with the swift.
I love shooting them in mid-bean!
Keep after 'em, boys and girls! That rain made the beans jump around here....I swear the beans looked taller Saturday evening, than they did Saturday morning! Or, maybe it's just my imagination!
F1
Of all the things I miss in life, I miss my mind the most.........I think!
That's one of the reasons I've never been a dial twister! The other reason is that I've yet to own a 'scope that I trust the adjustments to return to absolute zero!! Especially the VX3 Leupolds.... next varmint scope will probably be a Nightforce, then I'll be able to trust the clicks!
I went hunting several days last week, and racked up a few more piggies:
Shot these Wednesday afternoon. The second one from the left is missing a lot of hair! The skin looked healthy, though.
I'm starting to develop a theory about some of this hair loss/ dermatitis. Except for the obvious scarring from fighting, or obvious mange, there seems to be a pattern emerging. The groundhogs I'm killing in "Roundup ready" beanfields, that have been sprayed at least once are producing almost all the hairless groundhogs! I started noticing that in the Culpeper area a couple years ago, and it seems to be holding true for areas East of Fredericksburg, too.
Almost all the groundhogs killed in pasture land, with no beanfields nearby, have decent coats of fur. My theory could be totally wrong, but there seems to be a corelation here.
These are from Thursday evening.
On Friday, we had a torrential storm in the afternoon, and BRB made the dash to meet me in F'burg about 6 PM. He brought his new Savage 17 HMR for a farm where we usually use the pellet rifles for safety and to keep the noise down. Groundhogs were coming out like nightcrawlers! But our luck wasn't as expected! Between the pellet rifle and the HMR, we put holes in six groundhogs that we did not recover!
Then there was Saturday... BRB came back over from a little after 11 AM until 2:00PM. Most of the piggies were going inside to beat the heat, but he managed one with the HMR, and got a piece of another one at over 400 with the 22-250 that made it down the hole!
I went back out after 6 PM and shot #49-51:
This one popped up behind me in a drainage ditch while I was preparing to shoot another one at just over 300! I guess it thought it was safe in the weeds and just watched me get the pellet rifle out of the truck and put his lights out!
I then returned to my original target:
This one was at 303 yds with the swift.
I love shooting them in mid-bean!
Keep after 'em, boys and girls! That rain made the beans jump around here....I swear the beans looked taller Saturday evening, than they did Saturday morning! Or, maybe it's just my imagination!
F1
jim wallace
New member
Fly , now that you bring the light to the table . I'm thinking back yes these hogs with a lot of hair lost that we have shot are from Round UP ready beans and Saturday the 3 killed were pasture hogs and all had a nice coat of hair infact David as soon as he shot it said that groundhog looked wet in the scope I was full of fur with a heavy Black guard hairs but dry as could be . Ive often wondered about these Round Up safe beans if it had side affects on the animals when they sprayed.
Guys, I'm not a conspiracy theorist, or otherwise lefty nutcase, quite the opposite really, but I've often wondered what genetically altering a plant to be resistant to glyphosate could do to the food value of the yielded grain. Not to mention the actual contact with the glyphosate, and the ingestion thereof!
You hear all kinds of crazy accusations directed toward Monsanto, etc.....kinda makes you wonder sometimes..........
F1
F1
wayneghhunter
New member
Beans are starting at the one farm I talked about a couple weeks ago, they are between 1 to 4 inches and their still planting another field. Farmers are still cutting Barley in a couple fields I ran out there this evening took one at 150 yards also missed one at 260 yards. He was standing up and just as the trigger started breaking he started down missed right over the top
. That is twice this has happened this year.
wahoowad
Member
There is a small Gentleman's farm near me that I reserve for when I only have a couple hours and want a trip close to home. Today was a good opportunity to visit it for the first time this year.
It only has 2 fields worth shooting, the back field is very rolling and not easy to spot them without exposing yourself. I decided to climb up on a barn roof to gain a better view. It was a big help but awkward to shoot off of with the sloping roof.
It did give me a decent shot at this one at 155 yards! I put a 35 grain V-max in the neck from my Browning 22 Hornet.
Then I spotted this one in the other direction, he was being sneaky as he could tell something (me) was out there but he couldn't spot me up on the roof
I jacked a V-max into him too right in the side of his noggin.
Both had real nice coats and don't come from fields that get sprayed
As I was leaving I noticed some cows had grouped up around one of the groundhogs. They were just standing there, quiet, solemn. Maybe they thought it was a dead baby cow? It was a pretty big one!
It only has 2 fields worth shooting, the back field is very rolling and not easy to spot them without exposing yourself. I decided to climb up on a barn roof to gain a better view. It was a big help but awkward to shoot off of with the sloping roof.
It did give me a decent shot at this one at 155 yards! I put a 35 grain V-max in the neck from my Browning 22 Hornet.
Then I spotted this one in the other direction, he was being sneaky as he could tell something (me) was out there but he couldn't spot me up on the roof
Both had real nice coats and don't come from fields that get sprayed
As I was leaving I noticed some cows had grouped up around one of the groundhogs. They were just standing there, quiet, solemn. Maybe they thought it was a dead baby cow? It was a pretty big one!
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Dogbone
New member
Returned late yesterday afternoon from a wedding in FLorida. Cell phone message from the golf course when we landed - a nine will be closed tomorrow, come on in. Turns out it's the one nine with the longest yardage holes and is separated from the other two nines by a stream and thick woods. I bring the 223 for exercise. Grab a cart and start cruising. Here's a few shots of the golf course.
First opportunity is a big one a 355 yds. I miss. He presents again at 180. I miss.
Second opportunity is @ 10 yds. Opened his gut like a zipper and he still tries to make it back to his hole. Check it out. The flip side is too graphic.
The next one is about 12 yds and opened a hole in its side.
On the way back to check on the first one, another is out along the woodline. 50 yds. A through and through.
Set up and wait on the first one @ 225. Miss twice. He runs across the fairway, into a ditch. I drive over, check out it's hole. No blood. No evidence of a bullet hit. What is going on??? I follow his retreat and figure he runs under the cart path bridge. As I walk across the bridge he runs six feet behind me and into the woods. Never see him again for the rest of the day. Next time he's mine!
On the way back to the cart I spot one off to the side of the downhill fairway. 180 yds. I go prone for the shot and pull the trigger. Smack! Drops with no movement at all. Yeah! My longest so far this year and with the 223. Entrance wound. No exit.
The fifth one shows up on the parallel fairway @ 206. Go prone. Pull the trigger. Another miss. A minute later it shows up on the other side of a pine tree in front of a bunker, left of the first shot. 220 yds. Pull the trigger. Miss again. I'm ticked!!!
One more time. It goes back to where we started. 206 again. Take my time. Pull the trigger. Finally!!! Hog down. Another personal best for the day. Wow!!! Entrance wound. No exit again.
![url]](http://[url=http://i451.photobucket.com/albums/qq237/dbohman/IMGP0013-001.jpg t=_blank]http://i451.photobucket.com/albums/qq237/dbohman/IMGP0013-001.jpg[/url])
![url]](http://[url=http://i451.photobucket.com/albums/qq237/dbohman/IMGP0015-001.jpg t=_blank]http://i451.photobucket.com/albums/qq237/dbohman/IMGP0015-001.jpg[/url])
I realize that all the misses were my lack of experience shooting long distance with a breeze blowing. Never figured the wind could blow the bullet that much. Now I know better. Don't know how to dope the wind, but will wait for the breeze to stop the next time I get into a similar situation.
Number six is grazing on the side of a hill at 50 yds. I use the windshield of the cart to rest the gun. Pull the trigger. DRT.
![url]](http://[url=http://i451.photobucket.com/albums/qq237/dbohman/IMGP0016-001.jpg t=_blank]http://i451.photobucket.com/albums/qq237/dbohman/IMGP0016-001.jpg[/url])
![url]](http://[url=http://i451.photobucket.com/albums/qq237/dbohman/IMGP0017-002.jpg t=_blank]http://i451.photobucket.com/albums/qq237/dbohman/IMGP0017-002.jpg[/url])
Number seven is back where I shot number one, but as I approach it runs under a pine tree. I back the cart up just far enough to see, but with a rise between us. Need to take a pee. As I sit back in the cart I find the hog is back out and moving below my line of sight. I pull forward just enough to get a bead on it and as I get the crosshairs squared up it stands up and I put it down. 50 yds. Exit wound. Can't find an entrance.
![url]](http://[url=http://i451.photobucket.com/albums/qq237/dbohman/IMGP0022.jpg t=_blank]http://i451.photobucket.com/albums/qq237/dbohman/IMGP0022.jpg[/url])
![url]](http://[url=http://i451.photobucket.com/albums/qq237/dbohman/IMGP0023-001.jpg t=_blank]http://i451.photobucket.com/albums/qq237/dbohman/IMGP0023-001.jpg[/url])
Needed to get home to cut the grass and go to a wake. Out of bullets anyway. Mixed feelings about my shooting. Disappointed with the misses. Need to figure out the wind. Happy with my longest shots so far!!!
First opportunity is a big one a 355 yds. I miss. He presents again at 180. I miss.
Second opportunity is @ 10 yds. Opened his gut like a zipper and he still tries to make it back to his hole. Check it out. The flip side is too graphic.
The next one is about 12 yds and opened a hole in its side.
On the way back to check on the first one, another is out along the woodline. 50 yds. A through and through.
Set up and wait on the first one @ 225. Miss twice. He runs across the fairway, into a ditch. I drive over, check out it's hole. No blood. No evidence of a bullet hit. What is going on??? I follow his retreat and figure he runs under the cart path bridge. As I walk across the bridge he runs six feet behind me and into the woods. Never see him again for the rest of the day. Next time he's mine!
On the way back to the cart I spot one off to the side of the downhill fairway. 180 yds. I go prone for the shot and pull the trigger. Smack! Drops with no movement at all. Yeah! My longest so far this year and with the 223. Entrance wound. No exit.
The fifth one shows up on the parallel fairway @ 206. Go prone. Pull the trigger. Another miss. A minute later it shows up on the other side of a pine tree in front of a bunker, left of the first shot. 220 yds. Pull the trigger. Miss again. I'm ticked!!!
I realize that all the misses were my lack of experience shooting long distance with a breeze blowing. Never figured the wind could blow the bullet that much. Now I know better. Don't know how to dope the wind, but will wait for the breeze to stop the next time I get into a similar situation.
Number six is grazing on the side of a hill at 50 yds. I use the windshield of the cart to rest the gun. Pull the trigger. DRT.
Number seven is back where I shot number one, but as I approach it runs under a pine tree. I back the cart up just far enough to see, but with a rise between us. Need to take a pee. As I sit back in the cart I find the hog is back out and moving below my line of sight. I pull forward just enough to get a bead on it and as I get the crosshairs squared up it stands up and I put it down. 50 yds. Exit wound. Can't find an entrance.
Needed to get home to cut the grass and go to a wake. Out of bullets anyway. Mixed feelings about my shooting. Disappointed with the misses. Need to figure out the wind. Happy with my longest shots so far!!!
The Virginian
New member
Wow, what a day Dogbone! Nice shooting and thanks for posting and sharing.
Eric
Eric
wayneghhunter
New member
Went out after work pull up to field where I missed yesterday groundhog in the beanfield by the time I get everything set up it goes back in hole. I wait a hour and it's back out. It stands up and I miss
runs back in hole I ranged it when it came out and came up with 256 yards from the truck so I walk out and range back to truck 265 yards. I change my dope another .25 moa. Wait another hour and it comes back out it stands up put crosshairs between the front legs take the shot, hit it in the bottom teeth came out under right eye. I should have hit it when my dope was set for 250 yards that makes 10 so far. With all the beans coming up hope to start getting alot more action. Wahoo I'm shooting the 22 250.
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jim wallace
New member
Went out for little over an hour this evening 5 minutes from the house saw 2 killed 1 187 yards. I'll just kkep plucking
I am new to the site so....HEy. I got out his eve for a quick walk around. Got to love fresh cut Alfalfa. Got one at 80 and one at 201. Im up to 23 now this season here in southern PA. Model 788 22250 with 45 gr winchester hp. Went back to the cheapies. Anyway, Safe hunting y'all
Dogbone
New member
Keep up the good work and don't forget the pictures next time.
My 204, 223 and 22-250 just love the Winchester USA White Box Hollow Point ammo. That stuff just works for me.
Case in point. I went to the range several weeks ago with the 223 to check my 200 yd zero and try some more ammo brands in various bullet weights. My very first shot was dead center with the Winchester in 45 gr. I tried four more brands and bullet weights and could not come close to the X ring. Decided to take one more shot with the Winchester stuff and yep, dead center again. Case closed.
My 204, 223 and 22-250 just love the Winchester USA White Box Hollow Point ammo. That stuff just works for me.
Case in point. I went to the range several weeks ago with the 223 to check my 200 yd zero and try some more ammo brands in various bullet weights. My very first shot was dead center with the Winchester in 45 gr. I tried four more brands and bullet weights and could not come close to the X ring. Decided to take one more shot with the Winchester stuff and yep, dead center again. Case closed.