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General Discussion To Gateway To Airguns => Hunting Gate => : longislandhunter October 02, 2008, 01:50:20 PM
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Last week I sighted in the 48 .20 cal with Predators and today was her first hunt with her new diet. I haven't been to the duck farm in a while and the temperatures have been getting much cooler lately so I didn't know if the G-hogs were still above ground and active, but I figured I'd give it a try.
I got to the farm, got suited up, cocked and loaded the 48 and headed off to hopefully find a G-hog. I slowly worked the wooded edge of the farm, staying in the shadows as much as possible and moving very slowly. I had worked my way 1/2 way around the farm when I suddenly saw my first G-hog. It was a huge dark brown G-hog that had just come out of his burrow,,, only problem was that he saw me at the same time I saw him and it was a standoff. We stared at each other for a few seconds and he turned around and went back down the hole. Oh well, at least I knew the g-hogs were still active. I moved off and continued my search.
As I approached a small open field I suddenly saw a light brown patch that appeared to be moving. I looked through the scope and sure enough it was a medium sized g-hog grazing. He was about 45 yards away from me and hadn't noticed me so I decided to try a stalk. There was a mound of dirt with thick grass growing on it directly between the g-hog and myself,, so keeping the mound between us I crouched down and started to slowly close the distance. I got within 25 yards when all of a sudden I noticed a second g-hog feeding about 10 yards away from the first one. All of a sudden the first g-hog must have sensed something because he stopped eating, looked my way and then waddled into some thick grass and disappeared down a burrow that I didn't even notice was there. I figured the second g-hog would get spooked by the first one running off but for some reason he didn't. He just kept on eating. I moved another 5 yards closer and got into a shooting position. The next time the g-hog put his head up to take a look around I was gonna take him out. Well, didn't take long,,, after perhaps a minute or so the g-hog stopped eating and raised his head to look around. I pulled the trigger and sent the .20 caliber Predator on it's way. A split second later I heard that "POP" and saw the g-hog slump down on all fours and start quivering. I quickly loaded another Predator and ran over to the g-hog. The predator hit him hard right behind the eye and there was blood pouring out onto the ground. He did that death quiver that they do then it was all over. The 48 had finally taken her first g-hog. I carried the g-hog back to my truck, laid him in the shade and then went off to find another one.
As I was slowly working my way along the stream and woods that border the western edge of the farm I suddenly saw some movement about 70 yards ahead of me. I put the scope up and took a look. Yup, it was another medium sized g-hog that was standing on the other side of the 3 foot high chicken wire duck pen fence and he was staring at a cluster of grain feeders that were on the other side of the fence about 10 yards from him. He hadn't noticed me but there was no way I could approach him until I let him get to one of the feeders. I slowly unfolded my backpack folding stool and sat down to wait him out.
I sat there for 30 minutes waiting for the g-hog to get up the courage to cross the fence and head to the feeders. Finally he made his move. He looked both way, almost like he was crossing the street, then in a flash he went under the fence and appeared on the other side. I watched him waddle his way to the closest feeder and he crawled 1/2 way inside it. I quickly moved to my right about 15 yards which put another grain feeder directly between the g-hog and myself. The ground was very wet so it was easy to make a quiet stealthy approach. Keeping the grain feeder between me and the hog I slowly made my way to the grain feeder I was using for cover. I peeked over the top and saw that the g-hog still had his face buried inside the other feeder sucking up grain. All I could see was the back 1/2 of his fat body sticking out of the feeder. The distance between us was 10 yards. I had him :)
I kept the cross hairs on the g-hog and waited for him to show his face. I kept the scope on target for what seemed like an eternity but he finally pulled his head out of the feeder to take a look around and that was my moment. The pellet was away and slammed into the sweet spot with a loud 'POP". The g-hog rolled over onto his back and his tail and legs started to twitch. The predator made a nice clean hole in the side of his head and there was a steady stream of blood pouring from the wound and pooling up on the wet ground. G-hog #2 was down for the count. :)
I was tempted to stay and try for another one but I still had to get home, take pics and clean my harvest and since it wouldn't be long before I'd lose daylight I decided to just head home and take care of business. I proudly took some pics of the 48 with her first "real" game then got to the job of skinning and cleaning. Hope ya like the pics..... Man,,, I love this rifle... :)
Jeff
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Great account of your hunt Jeff,
Great shootin too. Those two g-hogs are BIG, did you weigh them by any chance ?
Great photos of your trophies too. AND what a Beautiful Air Rifle !
Thanks for sharing Jeff, I've been waiting for this one :)
Bill
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Jeff:
Outstanding. I can hardly believe there are any groundhogs left in Long Island. That Di 48 .20 is a thumper. Great shooting.
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Ah the goddess Diana puts out some nice rifles doesn't she? :-)
Congrats on taking the first G-hogs with the 48 .20 Jeff! Those are certainly nice & fat, grain-fed, grade A g-hogs. They are not that old so they should be good eating :) Have you chronied her at all? I 'm curious what kind of punch she carries. I 'm guessing ~18fpe? You certainly did not take any chances with the distance. I always try to get as close as I can to them with a Springer.
Good shooting and nice pics. I enjoyed your hunting story. I think only those who have hunted g-hog before can visualize the prey 100% and their movements, etc. the way you describe it ;)
Can you trap some of them and drop them off on my property? I 'll pay $20/chuck + gas :) I have 21 empty holes & burrows begging for occupants!! hehehe
I honestly didn't think they 'd be out today. It was cold in the morning up here - 50deg, and only got up to 60, but that farm is a g-hog magnet. They just can't resist that grain. They want to fatten up as much as they can for winter. I finally saw one earlier in the week going under the neighbor's shed in mid-afternoon. It's not far from my property. Maybe it 'll venture into mine before winter? Need to prey to Diana again :)
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Thanks guys. Bill, I didn't weigh them but I would guesstimate their weight around 10 pounds or so. When I skinned and cleaned them I couldn't believe the thick layers of pure white fat on these bad boys. They really fatten up quickly on the duck grain and they absolutely love the stuff. They were fairly young ones and should be real good eating :)
As for the rifle,,, I haven't done any chrony tests yet but I plan on doing it soon. I'm also curious as to what she's putting out... I'll really miss the g-hogs when they finally go deep for the winter sleep, which I think will be soon, but once the g-hogs go deep the 48 is gonna be let loose on the local tree rat population.... :)
Jeff
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I just caught wind of your hunt over in the classifieds...Great hunt with that 48/.20. I had no idea those got so big, although I've never seen one in person.
congrats!
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I was going to say what TCups said... I would hate to be a g'hog on Long Island. I really gave that 48 some thought, too, but I accidentally bought the Panther instead... anyway, you got a beautiful rifle and a great narrative.
Recently I had the chance to actually heft a 48 and the full size 350 in a TX Bass Pro, right next to each other. Both super sweet. I like the break barrel action, but the shorter 48 seemed so... pointable. Maybe the 350 Compact Pro is the happy medium but you surely got a great rifle. It would be cool to add a springer .20.
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Thanks Dave,, thanks Jonathan.
That Panther is a sweet shooter also. I have one in .22 and did some serious damage to the small game population with it last year....
The short length of the 48 is one of the things I like about it and yes, it does point well.. It can get a bit heavy during long hunts though,,,, I just bought a pair of sling swivels to install to take care of that.
Jeff
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Nice story and pics. They sure look fat.
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Cool story and cool shooter nice job...........................Troy
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Fantastic hunt Jeff, I was waiting for the 48 to get after some kind of critter and she didn't disappoint.:) GREAT! pic's and it does look like they were getting fat for their winter nap soon. I've been night hunting real heavy including last night between the rainfall and I did see two Raccoons but a good shot never presented itself and the rain started again. I've spotted only a couple G-hogs but they were moving out and I'm hoping to get at least one more before their napping for winter. Again GREAT HUNT STORY, SHOOTIN and PIC'S buddy. Ed
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Jeff that was great buddy, and you may be one up on Ed.. hehe Thanks for sharing Gene
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Jeff that was a great read.. I felt like was there with ya.. The pics are wonderfull also..
Man i wish I had groundhogs... I think texas may have praire dogs somewhere tho...
I may have to make a road trip...
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I wish I could trade you some groundhogs for some of them HUGE long eared jackrabbits you guys have there... Those things make the bunnies around here look like field mice :)
Jeff
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Looks like you shot one of them with a shotgun. Strange how the blood ended up like that....instead of a big smear. Yep, they`re getting fat for winter. Very excellent shooting.
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Yeah, it kinda does look like a shotgun pattern. Some of it's from me rolling him over at the kill site to make sure he was dead and some of it's from being tossed in the bed of my truck with the other dead g-hog.
I did shoot one once though with a shotgun. I was at the duck farm with my 12 gauge shooting pigeons and I stumbled across a g-hog at a feeder. He started running back to his burrow and I let him have a load of #8 pellets at about 15 yards. He stopped when the pellets hit him but he kept on going,,,, I had to chase him down and pump a couple more shots into him. It wasn't pretty and I wouldn't ever shoot at one again with bird shot. If I had known that was gonna happen I would've just let him run off. Now a slug from a shotgun would be a different thing entirely :)
Jeff
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Yep, them little #8 shot is too light to penetrate their fur and blubber. heh heh
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Don't let him fool you Stanley.. he uses #2 shot on these g-hogs and then walks over and shoots them in the head with a pellet gun. Good catch though :) All those airguns Jeff has are for the "final shot" and mostly for show :-)
It does look like the g-hog got sprayed with bullets though, doesn't it? hehe
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LMAO,ROTF!
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Why,,,, is there something wrong with using #2 shot on G-hogs ?? :)
Jeff
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If you have never cooked one of them, you best get a crock pot because they are not fit to eat any other way.
I've shot, cleaned and eaten a few. Now one thing I have learned about 'hogs is that you can soak them over night in a can of orange concentrate and make them a whole heck of a lot tastier... They still need crock potting, but they are tastier.
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At fifteen yards the pattern from a shotgun is about ten inches across. Maybe you underestimated the distance?
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Hi Michael,
I've been eating G-hogs for a long time, find them very tasty. I agree with you,, they do take to a crock pot very well but I've also found the younger ones to be suitable for other forms of preparation.
As for that one hog I shot with a shotgun,,,, it was in fact just about 15 yards. Since then I've never shot at another one with a scattergun.
Jeff