Went after squirrel but got an 11 pounder...

[only1harry]

I was walking to the feeder in the back of the house with a bag of black oiled sunflower seeds yesterday because squirrel season opened, and I see a Groundhog about 20 yards to my right running for my tool shed which is to the side of the house.  I have been trying to get this adult G-hog for over 2 months now or since I got the last 2 at the end of June.  He lives at the neighbors, but about once a week he comes to my property to eat my grass.  He uses a burrow he dug under my house foundation and the one under my tool shed as secondary burrows to hide in while he is here and while get gets caught out in the open and can't make the 40+ yard run to where he came from.  But he always retreats to the neighbor's or towards the property line behind some thick vegetation where I lose him.  He could be on my property too near the neighbor's (I have 20 burrows on my property). but because of the poison ivy in that area I don't go there any longer to check for active burrows.

So now I drop the sunflower bag because I have him where I want him.  He is trapped under my tool shed until he feels safe to come out.  I run back to the house and grab the Disco .22 and load a JSB 18.1gr.  I crack my office door open downstairs 8-9" inches and I have a clean shooting lane to both holes on this side of the tool shed.  I retreat 12ft back from the door and rest on a 5 foot tall Stack-on cardboard box from a safe I recently purchased (my 3d one - too too many guns). I had no time to make a better rest and that was the best one at the time.  Total distance to the tool shed about 24 yards.  About 10 minutes later and a cigarette to bring down my adrenaline level, the G-hog finally sticks its head out of the burrow.  I put the 1st mildot down between its eye and ear (because it's zeroed at 35yds) and squeeze.  The G-hog drops. 3-4 seconds later he pushes himself out of the burrow entrance, goes on his back and starts kicking with the hind legs.  10 secs later it's over. 

I had the Disco's power adjuster set at the lowest setting/all the way back for a MV of 785fps (25fpe) and higher shot count.  I took a few pics and weighed myself and then with the G-hog.  Difference: 10.8 pounds so we 'll call it 11   It was an average sized 1.5yr old adult G-hog for this time of year.  There was no passthrough with this one either.  I only got a passthrough once with the Disco in the last 30 or so G-hogs I have taken with it.  After 250+ G-hogs I still get that adrenaline rush   Enjoy the pics.  I pointed out where the impact was because I had a hard time finding it at first.  It's almost dead center between eye and ear.

[Motorhead]

Nice !!!

[BenjiHunter]

Great shooting, Harry!!
That is a fat one!

[squirrel_hunter]

 disco scores again...nice shooting.

[Air4All]

Another "doggie" down. lol WTG.

[shadow]

Outstanding brother and great shooting and pics, what a fatty hehe. I've done some G-hog hunting here but seems like all the old G-hog haunts are dormant but have already found some new dens.

The season weather wise is winding down and hope to bag at least one this year myself. Ed

[Gertrude]

Nice shot Harry,
We don't have those guys down here. Wow 11 lbs !
 That's one fatty of a ground "squirrel" 

[dk1677]

Congrats Harry! Nice shot! (I got another nutter today but was waiting to see if more came around)

[Mod90]

Thats one fat rodent. Nicely done Harry.

[Stilllooking]

Nice shoot'n !!

I like the way you describe getting set up for the ambush.
My kind of excitement.
Well told.

[only1harry]

Thanks everyone!  I love going after them, and like the challenge of a good head shot because it's the only way to make sure they don't go back down the hole wounded and have my yard smell for 2 weeks with this heat. 

I spotted a younger one today as I was walking to my car.  It ran to the burrow under my foundation, so he has to go.

Ron, 11 pounds is not much   The biggest one I have shot was 15.6 pounds before I started taking pics.  Here is a 15.2 pound one from about 4 years ago. His head was massive and it was about 8-9" high just laying there dead. Fat all around.  It was about 3-4 years old and about raccoon-sized.
See the difference between the one above and this one?

[Spoons]

Nice one man! I got my first one ever today. Check it out!

[screwwork]

Nice shooting Harry
That is a big squirrel for sure

[GumpIsrael]

Nice shot man, 11 pounds geez, i'm glad I only have to deal with tree rats and pidgeons.

[only1harry]

Thanks guys.  The one I posted a couple of posts up (reply #10) from a few years ago is over 15 pounds so 11 lbs is not that big to me

[longislandhunter]

Excellent shooting Harry and super pics as usual.  I love your G-hog posts    Very nicely done my friend..

Jeff

[ssbn617]

Nice shot. Many more to you.

[Kowboi]

Nice shot! I didn't realize they could get up to 15 lbs. and 250 so far? Dang that's a lot of groundhogs. Are they good for anything besides shooting?

[tracker1955]

Good one Harry, it's hard to shoot when you're watching the reticle wiggle with each heart beat, but the adrenaline makes it fun. Now get another one.

[GD Giles]

nice shooting and story. Now it's hard for me to justify getting a $100 Caldwell field pod when I could just tote around a cardboard box.