GTA
All Springer/NP/PCP Air Gun Discussion General => Hunting Gate => Topic started by: bowdoc64 on April 11, 2018, 01:28:53 AM
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So I got my first groundhog of the season... Weighed this one. 9 lbs.
I have been torn between using the 16.66 grain ultra shock and the18.53 grain hunter extremes.. Last minute something said use the extremes for more penetration.. My maximus is shooting them around 800 fps making 26 ft/lb.
The groundhog popped out between 25 to 30 yards. First shot was a head shot broad side.. It hit between the ear and the eye but a little low. Instantly it did the head shot roll flip kick thing and then stopped. I thought it was over then it started towards the hole under the shed. I love the bnm breech. I had already worked the bolt so the next shot was ready. I sent it and it went thru the front leg and into the ribs high in one arm pit and out the other no pass thru. I recovered part of that pellet but I think I cut it in half when I was skinning it. The Goundhog still did not stop so I quickly sent a third pellet. I saw this one clip a small evergreen tree and then it ricochet off the concrete by the shed and hit the back leg breaking it.
This finally ended it the ordeal
I'm going to try to open the skull tomorrow and see what happened. Just removing some of the flesh from the entrance hole and I can see the pellet blew a nice hole and when I inserted a toothpick in the hole it looks like it almost pass thru the skull.
Tomorrow I'm going to try to open up the skull to see what happened. I'm shocked the first pellet did not end it faster i want to see why.
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The pellet i cut and the ricochet
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Hole opened
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Toothpick
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Them Ghogs are definitely some tough critters to kill indeed. Great job on finally getting the job done on that one, it sure is nice to have more than one shot when you're shooting at a ground hog cause they're very unpredictable . . . . even when you get a great shot to the head like you did !!!
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Nice shot Drew!
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good shot...and great forensic study !! ;)
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Them Ghogs are definitely some tough critters to kill indeed. Great job on finally getting the job done on that one, it sure is nice to have more than one shot when you're shooting at a ground hog cause they're very unpredictable . . . . even when you get a great shot to the head like you did !!!
Thanks Wayne.
Yeah the need of a quick second shot is something I learned very quickly last year hunting squirrels. A second shot is sometime needed. That's why I upgraded this year. Going to cut the skull today to try to find the pellet and see what it did damage wise.
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Excellent job on the quick follow up shots finishing that g-hog. As the others have said they are definitely a tough critter to put down for good. Over the years I've been amazed many times just how tough g-hogs are. Anyway, good shooting, great investigative efforts and skills and thanks for sharing the hunt. Well done.
Jeff
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Nice shooting and great pictures of the autopsy! ;)
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good shot...and great forensic study !! ;)
Thank you. I'm going to do some more forensic today. Lol
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Excellent job on the quick follow up shots finishing that g-hog. As the others have said they are definitely a tough critter to put down for good. Over the years I've been amazed many times just how tough g-hogs are. Anyway, good shooting, great investigative efforts and skills and thanks for sharing the hunt. Well done.
Jeff
Thank you. Yes I learned last year they are tough. I hit one last year in the same spot with the same pellet when the gun was stock and he is still running. I think the extra foot/ pounds and the follow up shot were the key this year.
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Drew, excellent shooting on one very large ghog! They sure are tough critters!
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As a long time ghog hunter with rimfire, I can see what happened with your first shot. It was to low and to far forward. To get a clean kill go for just below the ear from the side or a straight between the eyes if face to face. Either one will put down the toughest hog in the grass.
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Awesome shot. Those groundhogs are some tough critters. I had a farm where I shot around 20 of them over three summers but they are all gone now. :(
I shot them with several different guns in .177 and .22 and the only ones I lost were the first couple that I body shot. After that I went to side of head like yours and they all dropped in place.
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Yep G-hogs are very tough. Good shooting. You got him at the end and that's what counts.
The POI is a bit low and did not hit the brain, or just nicked it, which is why he started heading for the burrow before he expired. But the trauma and internal bleeding did him in. It was a lethal shot, but one that takes a little longer to take him out. For this reason I always try to shoot high into their skull between eye & ear and always have excellent results. They don't move much at all from where they drop, and "rolling over" is not normal after a good brain shot. Head shot yes, but not "brain" shot.
When you see a G-hog roll over get ready for a 2nd shot. 99% of the 300 G-hogs I have taken never rolled over. The rolling means the brain was not taken out. Rolling over is a defense mechanism for a G-hog. I did have 1 that I took a follow up shot after rolling over because the burrow was only 2 feet away, but the other one did not need it because he was rolling and dragging itself away from the burrow so I did not take another shot. It just ended up ~8 feet away from the spot he got shot. It looked like it might get away at first, but then slowed down and expired due to excessive bleeding. Both times the shot was low on the skull, very similar to your POI.
The only other time I had one roll over a few times it ran down the burrow after it rolled over enough and it realized there was no predator around attacking him. He died later in the burrow and started stinking. Another G-hog pushed him out to the surface a few days later, and I was able to see that my shot was in the chest/vitals instead of the head because I had a loose adjustable windage screw on the RWS adj. scope mount. The 21.1gr Kodiak had gone through his chest but it didn't phase him much at the time. That was in 2007 and the last G-hog "I lost", even though I recovered it later with the help of his buddy, who I thanked with some lead shortly after :)
Harry
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Good shooting and pics Drew ;). Ed
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Yep G-hogs are very tough. Good shooting. You got him at the end and that's what counts.
The POI is a bit low and did not hit the brain, or just nicked it, which is why he started heading for the burrow before he expired. But the trauma and internal bleeding did him in. It was a lethal shot, but one that takes a little longer to take him out. For this reason I always try to shoot high into their skull between eye & ear and always have excellent results. They don't move much at all from where they drop, and "rolling over" is not normal after a good brain shot. Head shot yes, but not "brain" shot.
When you see a G-hog roll over get ready for a 2nd shot. 99% of the 300 G-hogs I have taken never rolled over. The rolling means the brain was not taken out. Rolling over is a defense mechanism for a G-hog. I did have 1 that I took a follow up shot after rolling over because the burrow was only 2 feet away, but the other one did not need it because he was rolling and dragging itself away from the burrow so I did not take another shot. It just ended up ~8 feet away from the spot he got shot. It looked like it might get away at first, but then slowed down and expired due to excessive bleeding. Both times the shot was low on the skull, very similar to your POI.
The only other time I had one roll over a few times it ran down the burrow after it rolled over enough and it realized there was no predator around attacking him. He died later in the burrow and started stinking. Another G-hog pushed him out to the surface a few days later, and I was able to see that my shot was in the chest/vitals instead of the head because I had a loose adjustable windage screw on the RWS adj. scope mount. The 21.1gr Kodiak had gone through his chest but it didn't phase him much at the time. That was in 2007 and the last G-hog "I lost", even though I recovered it later with the help of his buddy, who I thanked with some lead shortly after :)
Harry
Pellet did miss the brain. It ended up behind the opposite eye. Pellet expanded just like Hn advertise and my testing also showed. At some point the pellet tumbled. I am going to have to aim further back towards the ear next time. Arrow is were the pellet stopped
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Pellet path
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Expanded HN pellet
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Very Good Shooting with your Maximus, Drew ! Congratulations on your 1st Ground Hog of the season ! Best Wishes - Tom
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Very Good Shooting with your Maximus, Drew ! Congratulations on your 1st Ground Hog of the season ! Best Wishes - Tom
Thanks Tommy
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Pellet expanded to .285 from the original .217
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First time eating fried Groundhog and it was very good. Would make a good pie or stew
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First time eating fried Groundhog and it was very good. Would make a good pie or stew
i bet it was good !!
last time i ate it was when i was an eagle scout on a jamboree out west.
we went by greyhound bus and camped for a week. we made our own bow and arrows, traps and spears.
being from south louisiana, i could cook good on an open fire. i cooked in the ground like we did hogs back home. about 20 scouts tried it and the ghog lasted about as fast as chocolate cookies would have.
for the remainder of that jamboree, i bet i cooked about 3-4 more plus other critters.
i was glad there was scouts from that part of the U.S. because they identified plant leaves i could use for heat blocking & smothering.
was not one palmeto anywhere.
same as ghogs here in south Bama
we had alot of fun back then > 45 years ago. 8)
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First time eating fried Groundhog and it was very good. Would make a good pie or stew
i bet it was good !!
last time i ate it was when i was an eagle scout on a jamboree out west.
we went by greyhound bus and camped for a week. we made our own bow and arrows, traps and spears.
being from south louisiana, i could cook good on an open fire. i cooked in the ground like we did hogs back home. about 20 scouts tried it and the ghog lasted about as fast as chocolate cookies would have.
for the remainder of that jamboree, i bet i cooked about 3-4 more plus other critters.
i was glad there was scouts from that part of the U.S. because they identified plant leaves i could use for heat blocking & smothering.
was not one palmeto anywhere.
same as ghogs here in south Bama
we had alot of fun back then > 45 years ago. 8)
Awesome
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Congrats ! Glad to hear you discovered how taste they are as well. You're definitely
not undergunned. I took one with a head shot at 20 yards with a .177 springer doing 12 ft/lbs. Shot was a tad low as well but pellet deflected into the brain.
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Congrats ! Glad to hear you discovered how taste they are as well. You're definitely
not undergunned. I took one with a head shot at 20 yards with a .177 D34 doing 12 ft/lbs. Shot was a tad low as well but pellet deflected into the brain.
Lol ! Bad fingers, double post. Mods, you're welcome to delete my flub thanks.
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Very nice whistle pig harvest... I have been scouting and starting to see them myself here in MD
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Congrats ! Glad to hear you discovered how taste they are as well. You're definitely
not undergunned. I took one with a head shot at 20 yards with a .177 springer doing 12 ft/lbs. Shot was a tad low as well but pellet deflected into the brain.
Awsome. I was not lucky mine deflected behind the eye..
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Very nice whistle pig harvest... I have been scouting and starting to see them myself here in MD
They were spotty here but last week they started being out hot and heavy
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Excellent shooting!!! Congrats on a good kill!
As a long time ghog hunter with rimfire, I can see what happened with your first shot. It was to low and to far forward. To get a clean kill go for just below the ear from the side or a straight between the eyes if face to face. Either one will put down the toughest hog in the grass.
Just below the ear definitely works- This past saturday I bagged a 10 lbs male. 45 yards, .25 cal. It just curled up- DRT. If I had known about a "between the eyes" shot, I would have been able to take a shot on him sooner... I didn't take the shot because I figured (like most animals), right between the eyes would be one of the hardest spots on the skull... So I waited for a broad-side shot. Thanks for this tip!!
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Excellent shooting!!! Congrats on a good kill!
As a long time ghog hunter with rimfire, I can see what happened with your first shot. It was to low and to far forward. To get a clean kill go for just below the ear from the side or a straight between the eyes if face to face. Either one will put down the toughest hog in the grass.
Just below the ear definitely works- This past saturday I bagged a 10 lbs male. 45 yards, .25 cal. It just curled up- DRT. If I had known about a "between the eyes" shot, I would have been able to take a shot on him sooner... I didn't take the shot because I figured (like most animals), right between the eyes would be one of the hardest spots on the skull... So I waited for a broad-side shot. Thanks for this tip!!
After cutting the skull open I would say streight on between the eyes or top of the skull looks to be the thickest. Side shot broad side it's all about the same thickness and the brain is more back towards the ear then the eye
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+2 on below the ear.
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+2 on below the ear.
Yes that's my new aim spot... Plain HN hunters are up this week. They expand to .400 on the water test and sometimes the head separates.. I hope to get a shot in the morning. I been seeing two but either has come in closer then 50 yards
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Water test hn hunter... Nasty can't wait to hit a ghog
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+2 on below the ear.
Yes that's my new aim spot... Plain HN hunters are up this week. They expand to .400 on the water test and sometimes the head separates.. I hope to get a shot in the morning. I been seeing two but either has come in closer then 50 yards
Shoot 50 yards would be nice lol. If I go out the back door all regular they spook at 100 yards.