Annual Groundhog tally for 2013

Well, 5 of us came together at 1 farm last night and had a ton of fun. 3 guns, 2 22-250's and 1 25-06, and the shots were long. First 3 were at 332 yards, think we got 2 out of the 3 but only counted 1 after doing a round-up at the end of the evening. (body reclamation / bomb damage assessment wrap-up)
Longest hit was just below a 471yd dirt path at the edge of the top field. We had 3 in one hole at 221 yards. There were 2 others out at 353 and 365. I mean it was a perfect evening wind and heat/humidy-wise, and the targets were plentiful. I tried to keep a map of all the shots but the grass was so tall and by the time we decided to stop shooting, well - we were losing the light pretty fast. We had 12 confirmed but I know this isn't the complete story. Anyway, we hammered 'em.
 
Originally Posted By: Dogbone"Shoots well enough". Savage would not be happy about that statement with their out of the box accuracy.

I'm not saying it doesn't shoot good with the right loads its just not the shooter that my .20 Practical and 243 Ackley are. The 223 is set up for night hunting so the 3-9x50 scope is a little weak for longer shots. I've killed chucks out to 350 yards with it but they're getting pretty small in the crosshair by then.
 
Originally Posted By: sbrandenWell, 5 of us came together at 1 farm last night and had a ton of fun. 3 guns, 2 22-250's and 1 25-06, and the shots were long. First 3 were at 332 yards, think we got 2 out of the 3 but only counted 1 after doing a round-up at the end of the evening. (body reclamation / bomb damage assessment wrap-up)
Longest hit was just below a 471yd dirt path at the edge of the top field. We had 3 in one hole at 221 yards. There were 2 others out at 353 and 365. I mean it was a perfect evening wind and heat/humidy-wise, and the targets were plentiful. I tried to keep a map of all the shots but the grass was so tall and by the time we decided to stop shooting, well - we were losing the light pretty fast. We had 12 confirmed but I know this isn't the complete story. Anyway, we hammered 'em.

That's the part that sucks about tall grass. You know you nailed them but can't find them.
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Three years ago I got 19 in one night (2.5 hours) out of 23 shots. That makes for a [beeep] of a good time for sure.
 
Right... tall grass and then there are those holes like elevator shafts too that reclaim some. I forgot we shot one at my place before we even headed down to this farm - perfect example. Think the thing must have been head-shot because it bled out like crazy. Appeared to be perfectly unplugged on impact, not even a tail twitch. 201 yards. But then sure enough, it pulled itself together enough to get back to the hole. Hate that! Part of the game though I guess. They're programmed STRONG to eat-n-retreat.
 
Originally Posted By: sbrandenRight... tall grass and then there are those holes like elevator shafts too that reclaim some. I forgot we shot one at my place before we even headed down to this farm - perfect example. Think the thing must have been head-shot because it bled out like crazy. Appeared to be perfectly unplugged on impact, not even a tail twitch. 201 yards. But then sure enough, it pulled itself together enough to get back to the hole. Hate that! Part of the game though I guess. They're programmed STRONG to eat-n-retreat.

Where bouts in Maryland do you hunt sbranden? I hunt around Clear Spring.

Maybe we could hook up and do some poodle poppin!!
 
Your Washington Co., I'm just across the line (South Mountain) in Frederick Co - Middletown MD actually. Biggest problem I have is that a lot of the farmers I hunt for, are fine with me because I've been around for forever - but they are shy about me bringing others in. Would be happy to hook up and shoot with you sometime though. Always open to cold calling on new property owners. He he.

Shoot me a pm - I'd like to ask you about any increase you may be seeing there in coyote population. I am more than a little worried about this now and it would have to be worse the further west we drive on Rt 70.
 
Turned another nine into buzzard food with the 20 Practical tonight. Yardages were between 10 and 315. Missed one that moved just as I was touching off the shot, dirty b@ast@rd!
 
Originally Posted By: wdchuckhuntrTurned another nine into buzzard food with the 20 Practical tonight. Yardages were between 10 and 315. Missed one that moved just as I was touching off the shot, dirty b@ast@rd!

Dang wdchuckhuntr, your really putting the hurtin on em!!!
 
Originally Posted By: sbrandenYour Washington Co., I'm just across the line (South Mountain) in Frederick Co - Middletown MD actually. Biggest problem I have is that a lot of the farmers I hunt for, are fine with me because I've been around for forever - but they are shy about me bringing others in. Would be happy to hook up and shoot with you sometime though. Always open to cold calling on new property owners. He he.

Shoot me a pm - I'd like to ask you about any increase you may be seeing there in coyote population. I am more than a little worried about this now and it would have to be worse the further west we drive on Rt 70.


My wife is a Frederick County Animal Control Officer......most of the yote issues reported in Fredco is in the Brunswick/Knoxxvile area. The watershed has actually produced some nice yotes.
 
Originally Posted By: 1up5downOriginally Posted By: wdchuckhuntrTurned another nine into buzzard food with the 20 Practical tonight. Yardages were between 10 and 315. Missed one that moved just as I was touching off the shot, dirty b@ast@rd!

Dang wdchuckhuntr, your really putting the hurtin on em!!!

I do alright primarily because I have the time and a lot of farms to hunt. I'm still quite a long way from my best year of 319 chucks.
 
Shot this little guy this morning at work.. He thought he was hiding behind a fence post. When he poked out from behind it I whacked him in the heart with my 17hmr off hand from 60 yards.. #15 on the year .

 
Had great day 5 shot 5 kill and broke my long shot kill at 195. Shot was 80yd 79yd 171yd 189yd and 195yd. The 80yd shot was head shot all i could see was nose and eyes so i shot between the two and like a tree he fell back iv shot at him 5 different time and miss miss miss but today i said goodbye the right with a 223 in the face. [img:center]
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The wife and kids are out of town til tomorrow night so I wasn't going to waste today. Headed out around 10:00 this morning to the "honey hole". The last time I was there the hay was getting just tall enough that you could barely see the little fellas.

Got to the farm and saw the hay was still standing. Talked to the owner and he said he was planning on cutting it Monday. He told me to come back next Friday and he would have a fresh batch of the little diggers ready.

Well since this farm was a no go I figured I would go to another farm about a mile up the road I have permission to hunt.
Got there and noticed the Alfalfa had been cut and also the hay. The field I was going to hunt was a mixture of hay,beans,and alfalfa.About 250 acres in size.This would be the first time hunting it so I was not sure what to expect.

Headed out across the field heading to a small knoll.No more than sat down in my chair when I spotted one about 150 yards to my left. Got set up and dispatched him. Pretty good start to the day.

Anyways to make a long story short,I ended up getting fifteen pasture poodles today. Shots were from 120yds to 345yds. Got three of them between 330yds.-345yds. Tried my luck at one at 614yds. but wasn't meant to be.My buddy John joined me around 4:00 and he connected on two with one more probable making our total seventeen for the day.

Once again I walked right by the computer and did not grab my camera.
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Heading back out to the same field tomorrow morning and I will have my camera with me!!

I think I may have just found another "honey hole"
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Originally Posted By: 1up5down

Anyways to make a long story short,I ended up getting fifteen pasture poodles today. Shots were from 120yds to 345yds. Got three of them between 330yds.-345yds. Tried my luck at one at 614yds. but wasn't meant to be.My buddy John joined me around 4:00 and he connected on two with one more probable making our total seventeen for the day.



Like I said earlier Dave, don't you go and get discouraged with your low kill count for the day as it could happen to any of us. Sure, it happens to you more than most and I believe Ray Charles (or was it Stevie Wonder?) has outshot you before but don't it let it get you down. Why, I remember one day that I only got 15 of them myself but I only got to shoot for 45 minutes before a thunderstorm caught me by surprise and I had to cancel the rest of the day.

So cheer up now, you hear? It can only get better for you! And don't you worry about anything at all because no matter how much you suck at shooting those furry creatures I will still be here to cheer you up!
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Oh, and I hope that you are still not upset over all of those prairie dogs making obscene gestures at you a couple of months ago. You can't really blame them for getting mad when they gave you so many opportunities to shoot them and you passed them all up one after another. Better luck next year?
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Originally Posted By: 1up5downAnyways to make a long story short,I ended up getting fifteen pasture poodles today. Shots were from 120yds to 345yds. Got three of them between 330yds.-345yds. Tried my luck at one at 614yds. but wasn't meant to be.My buddy John joined me around 4:00 and he connected on two with one more probable making our total seventeen for the day.

And you're telling me that I'm the one putting the hurtin' on them... Nice work yesterday. Too bad you couldn't connect with the one at 614. Those longer shots are the ones I really enjoy even though the misses increase, but I've (we've) also got to be productive and cut down on the population.
 
Originally Posted By: wdchuckhuntrOriginally Posted By: 1up5downAnyways to make a long story short,I ended up getting fifteen pasture poodles today. Shots were from 120yds to 345yds. Got three of them between 330yds.-345yds. Tried my luck at one at 614yds. but wasn't meant to be.My buddy John joined me around 4:00 and he connected on two with one more probable making our total seventeen for the day.

And you're telling me that I'm the one putting the hurtin' on them... Nice work yesterday. Too bad you couldn't connect with the one at 614. Those longer shots are the ones I really enjoy even though the misses increase, but I've (we've) also got to be productive and cut down on the population.

Thanks! Yesterday was an all time record for me. I hope it was not a fluke!! LOL

When I was shooting at the one at 614,I was using my Harris 13"-27" bipod. Not the right size bipod for shooting prone. Tried it anyways. I have a Harris 9-13 on order now. Might just have to break out the custom Remington 6mm on those super long shots!!

My goal this year is 200 hogs. Yesterday definitely helped.
 
I added up my kills iv shot 30 chucks this year thats more then all the other years put together. I had more spot this year and one spot that was just hot hot. But i may need to find more spots. I may have took the population to far down at the hot spot.
 
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