Annual Groundhog tally for 2013

Well after finishing up at our local range yesterday getting my Savage LRPV 204 and Sabre Defence 204 sighted in at 300 yards,figured I would hit the fields and do a little ground hog sniping.

Got to the first field around 1:00pm and headed off to the knoll I like to shoot from. Was there about 30 minutes when I spotted one in another pasture field. He was slowly making his way to the other side. Got the Leica RF out and pinged him at 523 yards. Tried to get a shot but could not due to the tree line I would be shooting through. Too many branches in the way. Well,needless to say he got a free pass. Sat there another 20 minutes but nothing else showed. Did see some active holes so that's a good sign.

Packed up and headed to another farm a couple miles down the road. Talked to the farmer who said he has been seeing a lot of little piggies in the fields so I was pumped to get set up. Got on the top of one of the fields and started glassing. Wasn't long before I spotted one catching some rays outside his hole. Got the RF out and ranged him at 218 yards. Aimed just below his head and sent a 32gr. vmax headed his way.Saw the impact and watched him do the death roll. First one down for the season!!

Hit him in the nasal cavity.Pretty much took his face off.

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After that my wife called and wanted to meet for some dinner so had to call it a day.

Dave
 
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I planned to hunt yesterday, and that I did! Blueridgeboy met me at the house at 12:30 and we headed East....
First farm, where I shot the piggies on Friday, had poodles out! BRB dusted one with his 204 in the field by the river, and I managed to miss one from a shaky sitting position from 260 yds...bad start for me!
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BRB and his poodle
We didn't take a lot of pictures yesterday, as we were trying to get as much ground covered as possible, but in two ride throughs, we got a total of four on that first farm yesterday. That's nine on that place in two days!
Next was my first visit on the new permission on my old favorite farm! There were pigs out...but none close. The place is wide open, and the wind was 10-15 mph. We made some tough shots, and had a lot of lousy misses! I did make one at an even 400 yds. though, on the third shot:
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total for the afternoon was eight in the truck, and two that made it down their holes, blood evidence, but still not counted for score. This brings me to 14, and BRB to 5 for this year.
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F1
 
Nice F1. I went coyote calling yesterday. Had a red fox run up to me while I was getting suited up at the Jeep. Lucky for him season is out, so I deterred him from raiding the chicken coop. After about 3 miles of walking, nothing else. I switched to the heavy 243 and glassed some fields while scouting holes. After about 30 minutes I saw one dart for a hole just over the rise. I setup on it, but had to stay close to clear the rise. She kept playing whack-a-mole with me peeking out of the hole. After a few whistles, I finally got to see the whole head and got setup as high as possible on my knees to clear the rise from my shooting sticks. Put the 87gr. V-max right through her ear and knocked her about 2 feet out of the hole. Shot was 50yds. This had been a tough one for me to get the past few years. It is on the cresting edge of a hill that has limited shot angles due to nearby roads and houses. The den area was riddled with holes from years of digging. This was a good one to take early.
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Corey,
All you need is a directive from the landowner(I would suggest it be written) to shoot foxes, then you don't have to worry about pesky seasons
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I went coyote calling by myself last night. No coyotes seen, but did call in a bobcat! Can't get around the seasons on them, though.......no regulation to support it!
F1
 
If it gets too troublesome, I may do that. Right now it's the neighbors coop getting raided and I'm hoping for a fresh litter to hunt next year when they prime up. Not many reds on this farm since Wiley showed up. The farm I'm on is a beef operation, so foxes aren't a big problem for them like the coyotes and chucks.
 
Originally Posted By: wvyotehunter68
I've seen 5 ground hogs in the past 5 years here in WV.. you use to see them all the time.

I saw none in Connecticut last year- not even on the sides of the parkways. The yotes have inhaled them.


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Originally Posted By: CatShooterOriginally Posted By: wvyotehunter68
I've seen 5 ground hogs in the past 5 years here in WV.. you use to see them all the time.

I saw none in Connecticut last year- not even on the sides of the parkways. The yotes have inhaled them.


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I think they need make it were you can't hunt them for a couple years In some places
 
Originally Posted By: wvyotehunter68Originally Posted By: CatShooterOriginally Posted By: wvyotehunter68
I've seen 5 ground hogs in the past 5 years here in WV.. you use to see them all the time.

I saw none in Connecticut last year- not even on the sides of the parkways. The yotes have inhaled them.


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I think they need make it were you can't hunt them for a couple years In some places

How about they make it so coyotes can't eat them for about 60 years
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wvyotehunter68,where do you live in WV? I killed well over 100 groundhogs last year. All in Jefferson/Berkley county.

Dave
 
Originally Posted By: 1up5downwvyotehunter68,where do you live in WV? I killed well over 100 groundhogs last year. All in Jefferson/Berkley county.

Dave
Yes I do that's amazing u must have some good spots I must say. I didn't think there that many
 
Originally Posted By: wvyotehunter68Originally Posted By: 1up5downwvyotehunter68,where do you live in WV? I killed well over 100 groundhogs last year. All in Jefferson/Berkley county.

Dave
Yes I do that's amazing u must have some good spots I must say. I didn't think there that many

Yep,there are plenty.Just have to look.My goal is 200 ground hogs this year.
 
Originally Posted By: bigsky_songdogsI wouldn't give up our colony variants, but having to work for shots on ground hog sounds like fun stuff.

Having hunted here all my life and hunting over a prairie dog town once in NM, I thought the dog town was fun for a while and full of opportunities, but I like the spot and stalk of the groundhogs here better. It was nice to be able to experience it though and I enjoyed it in a small dose, but can't see me doing it all day for a couple days in a row. It seems like a great way to split up a day of coyote calling. I wouldn't mind doing it again some day with some rimfires or handguns to change things up. The whole time I was shooting, I was wanting my 17HMR and my scoped 22 pistols for the 200yds and in shots.

Those colony varmints sure can destroy some ground too. The one I visited looked like a moonscape full of little craters with an occasional yucca plant here and there. Of course that was in a dry area too. I want to go after rock chucks someday. All the distance of the open plains with spot and stalk abilities like our woodchucks. After seeing Tim and Ben from NOS post pictures of it, it seems like the way to go.
 
Originally Posted By: ARCOREYOriginally Posted By: bigsky_songdogsI wouldn't give up our colony variants, but having to work for shots on ground hog sounds like fun stuff.

I like the spot and stalk of the groundhogs here better.
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I think I'd like that better also, I did a little hunting for Marmots when I lived in AK and its similar in that you have to seek out single targets etc, unfortunately I could never close the deal in the rock terrain. I like a challenge. I do like high volume shooting at gophers and PDs, but challenging it isn't.
 
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