A ??? Ground Hog

[Johnch]

I have been fighting migraines
Had to go the the pain clinic and get shots 2 days in a row

BUT no migraine yesterday afternoon
No Migraine today .... even better

So today I took my lady to the range so she could sight in a new scope on her 223 varmint rifle
Weekdays before 3 PM the range normally has maybe 1 shooter
So we got there about 11 AM and had the whole range to ourselves

I had foam ear plugs in and muffs on also
While she shot I sat in my truck

She had zeroed the rifle in 2" high at 100 yards
But she wanted to see where it hit with that zero at 300 and 400 yards

We walked down range and stappled up big pieces of cardboard with a single 2" black square to see the drop

We finished stappling the 400 yard target up and had just started back
When she said look
Not 10 feet away , about 2 feet up on the backstop berm was a ground hog hole
With a ground hog standing up looking at us

I had my Glock 17
I took the time to put in the foam ear plugs and put the ear muffs on before I shot it
So I was being careful to not trigger another migraine
The whole time it just stood there


LOL A Dead Ground Hog

120 gr Lee cast bullet powder coated
3.8 gr of 231 , I just opened up a jug I got from Pat's out at Camp Perry 15+ years ago
Federal small pistol primer
Not sure of the case , range pick up

I Wonder
How dose it go ?
Deaf , Dumb or Blind
Or maybe all 3

Had to post this
John

[405grain]

You know that everybody's thinking it so don't jump on me for saying it. Maybe Mr. Groundhog was having a migraine.

[Recycled bullet]

At least it's not a carpenter bee.

[stubshaft]

Some animals are just intent on committing suicide!

[725]

Had a chuck down at the 300 yard line a couple of days ago. They just get used to the noise and commotion. Deer are always crossing the line between the 100 & 300 yard line.

[tunnug]

Curiosity killed the chuck............

[Shawlerbrook]

I have to eliminate 1-3 garden raiding ground hogs every summer.

[trapper9260]

At the distance OP stated and not much movement , they do not spook easy and if they have not been shot at before. When I trap them. You can chase them in the hole and then set the trap and come back in about a hour or less at times they will be caught because they want to see what was out there. The less time I got one was chase it in the hole and went to set the trap and then seen another hole that was not far and was setting that trap and heard the trap go off and look up seen my wood stake move, I finish set the trap I was setting and then went to check the trap and had the ground hog.

[Rapier]

We shot on a Special Operations base's 300 meter range for decades. The rangs were in continual use during the week. Many times I had to stop a weekend competition in mid shoot, to clear white tail deer off the range, they would just walk out amongst the steel targets, with the banging and clanging still going on. Kept a 4 wheeler handy just to run them off.

[Teddy (punchie)]

Personally I would not have shot it unless I having trouble with them.

They make their home along the woods (treeline) they are safe. Go out from there and they are toast, NO HOLE(s) in THE FIELD. They have a place and the hole they make are homes to others so I let them be. In fact I may not be upset to see their number rise. They are big ground squirrels if you will. Besides one of the last things left to hunt, Pheasant Gone, Ruffed Grouse Gone, Rabbits all but gone, Only thing we have are Deer, and Turkeys ....few squirrels here and there.

Sad as I set here and think back 30 to 40 years and see how thinks have changed around the farm. I'm glad I did what I did growing up, My Beagles and Me; too many good memories to even recall. Maybe I'll start writing a few stories to post. Some sad and some with good turn out.

[redhawk0]

In PA when I was a kid growing up we called them Kamikazes. I swear...they'd be up on the side of an embankment and they'd run down the hill just to get under a cars tires.

I was at a shooting range one time similar instance to yours...at 100 yards there was an embankment behind the target hangers. After we got done with some shooting and went to check our targets...I saw 3 deer walking along the top of that embankment.

I'm not sure critters are really that stupid...I think curiosity gets the better of them sometimes.

redhawk

[alfadan]

Kinda sad we don't have any around here

[georgerkahn]

EVERY day at the Jimmy Dean Sausage factory IS a Ground Hog day!

[Johnch]

Personally I would not have shot it unless I having trouble with them.

They make their home along the woods (treeline) they are safe. Go out from there and they are toast, NO HOLE(s) in THE FIELD. They have a place and the hole they make are homes to others so I let them be. In fact I may not be upset to see their number rise. They are big ground squirrels if you will. Besides one of the last things left to hunt, Pheasant Gone, Ruffed Grouse Gone, Rabbits all but gone, Only thing we have are Deer, and Turkeys ....few squirrels here and there.

Sad as I set here and think back 30 to 40 years and see how thinks have changed around the farm. I'm glad I did what I did growing up, My Beagles and Me; too many good memories to even recall. Maybe I'll start writing a few stories to post. Some sad and some with good turn out.

Even ground hogs that have holes in the fence line get shot
As they LOVE soybeans
A female and her young can eat a acer of soybeans
So farmers want me to remove them all

John

[Whole Bunches]

Their meat is dark and delicious. My family ate many when we lived in Indiana.

[Rockingkj]

Several years ago I was dumping the shavings from the horses stalls over a bit of a drop off. Saw something moving at the bottom of the pile. Baby wood chucks how cute and not hurting a thing. Live and let live. THEN the sorry SOB’s moved into my shop. The back part was dirt floor they would have needed a back hoe to have done a better job of digging. Not sorry chucks you’re going to die. Took a fair bit to get ‘‘em using 220 connibear trap which kills ‘‘em right away. Had got several and went days with no results so skiped a while checking. The chucks final revenge was the one caught and killed that ripened in July Nebraska weather. When I opened the door there was no doubt what happened. Took months to lessen the odor and be able to stand being in the shop. The plus was the chucks could not abide the smell either and any survivors relocated to less fragrant surroundings .

[Keyman]

So how did your lady's long distance sighting go?

[Good Cheer]

Women do amazing things from behind a scope.

[Johnch]

So how did your lady's long distance sighting go?

400 yards
The group was 4" low and about 3"

John

[Gobeyond]

Yeah, carpenter bee. You guys sure have a lot of good outdoor experiences. We have outdoors in calif, but not in the suburbs. But in our rural county we do have deer on our range even during hunting season. At home people feed them almost as pets. But when I get hungry I think of the 4 pointer I got. Never even seen a ground hog. A marmot maybe. We have farms overrun by ground squirrels. And I would shoot them in a minute but I don’t know any farmers. And my best buddy is so-o non violent. A hunting license is $100!