Got Another "Shed Dweller"

[longislandhunter]

Woke up a little while ago, looked out into the newly landscaped back yard and what do I see ??  A g-hog eatin his fill in the newly planted flower beds 

Well, we have a cure for that   

Ran downstairs, grabbed the .22 Disco, loaded an FTS and headed back upstairs.  I snuck out onto the rear deck and took a peek but the little bugger saw me first and high tailed it out of the flowers and under the closest shed.  I strategically placed a chair on the deck in a spot that gave me good visibility and I got comfortable. 

Only took 10 minutes for the little bugger to come out looking for more breakfast..... crosshairs on his eye, FTS sent on it's way and a second later heard the "POP" of the pellet slamming home.  The small g-hog collapsed onto the ground and didn't move.  I loaded another FTS and made my way to the side of the shed to retrieve him.  When I got there there was a pool of blood and a blood trail leaded under the shed.  The little guy had used his last bit of energy to drag himself under the shed.  I looked under the shed hoping to find him laying there but his burrow is very close to the end of the shed so no doubt he may it down the hole.  I feel bad I lost him (he would've been great eatin) but from the hit I know he's a gonner and at least he won't be eating anymore of my wifes flowers and plants. 

Jeff

[dk1677]

Nice shooting Jeff!

[only1harry]

Those little G-hogs are tougher than the big ones I think Jeff.  Their brain is smaller and harder to find. 
I am sorry you could not retrieve this one, but at least you got him good and he won't suffer long.  I just hope your yard won't stink 

We need to invent a G-hog retrieval tool, hehehe. 

[jonnnyboy]

Good shooting, Jeff!  I think all the groundhogs in Tennessee must have moved to your house!

Just a question, though.  Have you ever thought of an immediate follow-up shot?  I sometimes do that when I'm hunting and know it will take a moment or two to get to the downed animal.  It's amazing what a squirrel can take and still continue to crawl away.  I'm like you; I hate to lose one, especially if I am hunting for meat!  I like to take advantage of that short moment when the first impact has them knocked down and before the nerves set them to moving. 

Keep on shooting and telling us about it, I love the hunt stories.
joe

[longislandhunter]

Joe, that quick follow up shot is a good idea and most of the time I do take a quick follow up shot even if the g-hog isn't moving, but due to his small size and the way he went down so quickly and just laid there I thought he was DOA for sure.  Live and learn I guess.... 

I just got done checking the sights on my .22 Condor and .20 cal RWS 48..... both of are dead on so I'm takin em both to the new farm I've been hunting.  Gonna see if I can cull a few more from the farmers fields   

Hopefully I'll have some pics to post later....

Jeff

[jonnnyboy]

Whew!!!  Wish I could go with you; stuck here at work and waiting on lunch.  Please take pictures and write us up another hunt story.  be careful.

joe

[shadow]

There popping up all around you buddy hehe. good shooting and you know he's feeding the bugs now. Ed

[only1harry]

Yep, that happened to be in late March '08.  I think it has happened to everyone that 's hunted Groundhogs. 
It was the 1st G-hog of the year and I was shooting the 350 .22 on open sights.  The G-hog went down. I oberved it for a few secs and was sure it was dead.  I go downstairs and out to get him and I see him 20+yds away crawling into the thick brush leaving a long blood trail.  2-3 days later the landscaper that I hired for spring cleanup knocks on the door, saying "hey do you know you have a dead G-hog at the edge of your lawn?!!  It was 50deg. out and too cool to smell anything, no flies, or anything like that. 
That was the last time one (almost) got away from me.  I 've been lucky since, but I think my shots have also been way more accurate than before.  I know Jeff will get a lot of them in the days and weeks to come.  Looking forward to every one of them!

[ShadowShot]

Remember two and one Harry.
Two to the chest and one to the head through the mouth.

Sorry you lost him buddy. I lost my only GH for the year that way. He was close to the hole and I put the pellet through the eye in an angle to catch the brain pan. Good solid pop, Followed by a back flip dive into the hole. Put sticks over all the holes. Nothing ever came back out  for several so he was a loner. I stopped checking. Better luck next time bug guy.

[only1harry]

I never shoot them in the chest Paul, not like I used to.  I wouldn't even do it with a powder burner unless I had minimum a 30-30 and even then..  When I used to shoot the Groundhogs in the chest with my .22LR rimfire, I would lose about 1 out of 4 and that was unacceptable to me.  I finally figured out that only head shots would do.

The last 45-50 Groundhogs I shot with an air rifle were all head shots, 1 shot, 1 kill.  Luckily I have not lost a single one since August '07 when I lost 1 with the 350 .22.  The yard stunk for 3-4 weeks pretty badly and the wife was PO'd so I don't want to go through that again.  I have been lucky so far that I usually shoot them resting on the window sill or a tree or the side of the house when i 'm outside stalking them or trying to get closer when I use the 36 .177.  So the shots are always very accurate and where they need to be.  In '08 I took 13 G-hogs with the 14fpe Diana 36 .177cal. without losing a single one.  It's the fact that I have a rest or something solid to lean on ensuring the shot is as accurate as it can be. 
The point is, I have not shot any G-hogs off-hand like Jeff does many times at the farm.  I think that is the only reason my recovery ratio has been 100% the last 3+ seasons.  If I hunted them in the field I KNOW I would lose a lgood amount and never recover them.  I not so good at off-hand shooting in general

I got close to losing one last year (or '08) when I had one crawl under the shed, but it was not a real burrow hole.  It just managed to get under the shed and died as soon as it got under there, before it could reach the real burrow.  I was able to pull him out with a long stick.   That gave me a big scare and posted that I think I lost one (who can believe it, hehe).  I then realized he was still under there dead & posted pics as I was taking him out from under the shed.  The shot was a solid head shot, so you just never know with these critters.  They are unbelievable strong.

[ShadowShot]

I hear ya Harry. I was referring to an old cop, saying. 

[Squackerreaper]

I wish I had that many groung hogs round here, only seen two so far this year..

[only1harry]

That's the 1st thing I thought about Paul.  There were a couple of guys in my dept. that used to say that when we went out drinking, but it was not a common saying.  I always thought it was more of a hitman saying, so I never really used it.

[preez]

Jeff, brace yourself for the smell. I'm living it right now. Got one with a headshot last Wednesday, he ran under the shed and expired. Boy does it stink now! I went around the shed with a shovel and pushed some dirt around to close off any burrows and it kind of worked, but I can still smell that SOB. It was a big one too, so it will take some time to go away.

[longislandhunter]

I haven't noticed any odor yet but I know it's coming 

I'll try your advice and shovel some dirt into the burrow as best as I can, that's a good idea.

Jeff

[1shotwonder]

Nice shooting Jeff... If you get any kind of heat, you're gonna have a stinker on your hands

[only1harry]

hehehe, I did the same thing a few years ago and closed up the 2 holes I had under the shed  with dirt because the smell was so bad.  Well about a month later 2 new holes were on either side of the shed from a new visitor!  Then about a year after that, my wife puts a big rock on one of the holes facing the house, and 2 days later a new one, even bigger was present about 10" from the old one, plus the old holes eventually opened up.  So now I have 5 holes under my shed.  I 'll never try to close a hole again.  They 'll just dig a new one, further undermining the structure's integrity.  

Dirt is probably ok if the critter survives.  It will just push the dirt out and re-open the old ones.  But if a new one moves in, it might dig brand new ones, like in my case.

[airiscool]

Nice shooting Jeff. Too bad another missed the freezer !

I agree with the body shots, even with a rimfire !!!

I stopped using my 22 mag because about the same as Harry's 1 in four, I'd watch through the scope and see a solid body hit, the shock wave travel over the Chuck, dust fly off, hear the thwack, then watch the Chuck run into it's burrow.

Switched to using a .223 with V-max ballistic tips and not one runner since. Any hit is deadly. And, even beyond 100 yards, head shots are so devistaing that most have one or both eyes popped out of the sockets by the hydro shock of that little ballistic tip blowing up inside there skull before blowing a big exit wound.
 
Any type of body hit slams them to the ground and they are DRT !!!

Wish my Trail could get those Predators up over 3000fps !!!

Paul.

[Atchman2]

I probably wouldn't have shot again either.  Remember last winter when I hit that possum, went in the house to get the camera and it was standing back up!  I'm firmly in the shot them again camp now.  

If that 48 ever needs a southern vacation send it here.  It will like Tennessee  

[only1harry]

Paul, did you ever see a video on Youtube where a large G-hog was shot with a 30-06 and got away?  It was almost cut in half.  There were 2 guys.  One was the cameraman and one was the shooter.  He zoomed in well and you see the G-hog go up and flesh and blood flying everywhere once it got hit and it looked cut in half.  The camera was rolling while you hear the shooter say lets go check it out.  In the meantime you see the G-hog gain conciousness and crawl away out of the picture slowly!  Then you hear these 2 guys say "where did he go?".  They could not believe they could not find the G-hog, and I couldn't either.  It was just amazing that he was able to crawl away.  I am sure he died within seconds but not before he found his burrow which is never far away.  I will try and find it again.  It was unbelievable.  I am glad you are able to recover all of them with the .223.  Are you still hunting them?  Can you post some pics of the gun and G-hogs?  They don't have to be airgun kills