GTA
General Discussion To Gateway To Airguns => Hunting Gate => : only1harry May 02, 2010, 09:52:47 AM
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and my 1st with a .25 Condor :)
I have been working a lot of hours and many weekend and have not had a chance to do much shooting or posting for that matter. This was the first wknd I had completely off without work bothering me. I have not spotted any G-hogs all Spring except for one across the street which lives in the back of that house and that was once last wknd. Every morning and wknds when I work from home I check the windows but nothing. And every day when I walk to the car I check the 4 holes around the shed searching for signs of a G-hog at the burrow entrance or look for flies which are attracted to them.
This past Thursday it finally looked like one had possibly moved in. Some of the dead grass from last Sunday when I cut the grass was gone from one of the burrow entrances under the shed and it looked like there was a nice clear path through some of the taller grass very close to the shed which the lawn mower could not reach. This gave me some hope that I may see one but the thought that it might be a skunk or possum was always in the back of my mind. I have seen a skunk go down that same hole a couple of times when I pull into the driveway at night.
Today the entire day everyone was and about in the neighborhood doing spring cleaning and mowing their lawn. Around 4pm it seemed like everyone went back inside at the same time including my wife, son and I and it got quiet very fast. We turned on the A/C because it was still 85deg, had a snack and were relaxing after cleaning out the garage and doing Spring cleanup all day. I decided to give the windows another try and scan my property. First I check the window facing the tool shed 21.5yds out, and there he is! A good size G-hog about 4ft from the end of the shed or about 23yds out. He was facing away from me. I went and got the Talon Tunes Condor .25 and loaded a 25.4gr JSB pellet. I then slowly raised both inside and storm window pausing every time the G-hog looked up and around. That took a couple of minutes and now the G-hog was at least 25-26yds out still facing and walking away from me. I put a small pillow on the window and rested the gun. After adjusting A/O and zoom to about 14X on the Simmons 44Mag (6.5-20x44), I followed the G-hog around through the scope for another 3-4 min. until he finally turned broadside but not completely. He was still sort of diagonal to my position but that was good enough for me because my back was starting to bother me as I was arched and bent resting on the window sill. As soon as he put his head up again to check around I quickly placed the crosshairs milimiters in front his ear and squeezed the trigger. I didn't hear the impact but just the phsssst of the shrouded Condor which was wearing its newest and bigger/longer shroud from Talon Tunes. The G-hog went on its side with tail up staight up, and then on its back with all 4's up in the air and expired in another ~5secs with all 4's up.
In my excitement I forgot to take a pic the way I found it with all 4's in the air but I took the usual ones with the gun. The pellet seemed to have entered right near a crevice at the front and top of the left ear and exited the other side under the right ear. It seemed to be a female and it might have been pregnant which kind of sucks, because it could have given me more little G-hogs running around to shoot later in a few weeks, but what can you do? :) I just can't help myself, hehe. This one was a decent size just over 10lbs so not a bad trophy. Hopefully this is a sign of a good off-season but I know there are hardly any left after taking such great #'s of G-hogs the last few years. I just have to wait for them to move in from other areas, so it' s a waiting game.
I had to dial down the Power wheel to 7 on the Condor to keep the 25.4gr JSB's from going supersonic. I also only fill to ~2400psi to accomplish that. The pellet that hit this G-hog was traveling 1,060 to 1,070fps. Anything above 1,075fps and there is a little supersonic crack that comes out of the muzzle/shroud so the objective is to avoid that and keep the gun as quiet as possible.
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Great shooting an super pic's of the wicked Condor and her harvest. Now did you go and take a female packing your future hunt's in her hehe, just can't help yourself bro lol. Ed
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Congrats Harry! Nice shooting!
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Now that's the post I've been waitin for buddy !! :)
See, I told you you'd have some more g-hogs move in,,, I just knew it. Don't feel to bad about whacking this one,,, if this one found your yard then that means there's more of em out that will find it too ....
Excellent shooting and excellent pics buddy. I'm really happy for ya Harry,,,, I know you like shootin g-hogs as much as I do.... maybe even more :)
Jeff
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Great post. I'm working on finding some local farms to shoot on. Good posts like this keep me motivated! Thanks!
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Thanks Ed, Dave and Jeff.
G-hog is #1 in my book Jeff and you know that :) 2nd fox, and a close 3d coon and squirrel, hehe. From the lack of sightings so far with the warm weather I am not too optimistic about this summer, but I am keeping an open mind :)
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Your up on me Harry, always on the prowl for a Fox or Yote. Ed
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That Ghog was to fat to run. Congrats and great shooting.
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Wow, Harry that thing is huge. Great shot placement on that one. I can't get over how big that thing is.
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Thanks guys!
Dave:
That is an average one around here when they are 1-2yrs old (adult) but over 10lbs is considered decent size. I have shot several bigger ones especially in the middle to late summer when they get much fatter. A couple of the biggest ones I have taken were 15-16lbs shot in late September in 2 different years, I 'd say '05 and '07 ('07 was with 350 .22). There has always been one to two 12-14 pounders every year too. Most of them however are 8 to 11lbs, not counting yearlings.
The G-hogs have actually been getting smaller & smaller since I started shooting them in '01-02. That's because they were unharassed prior to that and were allowed to graze freely. My wife would be outside sun bathing in the backyard, and G-hogs were feeding 10-12ft away from her. They were accustomed to her being outside all the time and when she didn't move much, they felt comfortable coming out which is pretty extroardinary because they are very skittish and careful critters. Usually a car will go by and they run down their hole. I didn't realize then how infested my property was and how dangerous those holes could be until 1 day about 9yrs ago my son's foot went into a freshly dug hole in the front yard while he was running. He fell and got injured on top of his ankle being sprained and badly swollen. That's when I started shooting them and haven't stopped since. I find going after them very challenging. They spook very easily and are very hard to stalk. They "had" some good genes back then, but after 70-80 dead G-hogs (all shot on my property), most don't reach full maturity anymore or make it to the end of the summer to get big (they get lead first), so they 've been smaller in size than usual. They are still dwarfed by racoons (look at my avatar), but most adult G-hogs will outweigh a possum.
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Harry,,,
During my last 2 visits to the duck farm I've seen quite a bit of new burrow activity as well as some "youngsters" who were busy building homes. If your g-hogs are running on the same schedule as the ones down here then you should also be seeing the younger generation branching out to find new homes. I don't know if the ones I'm seeing are from the last litters of last year or from this years litters but there is definitely "new home buyers" in town at the duck farm :) I'll bet ya you're gonna have some good shooting this summer on your property cause I guarantee you there's more g-hogs in your neighborhood than you might think..... at least I hope there is :)
Jeff
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Nice shot.
Sheez. That a lot of power. 25g pellet over 1000 fps!!!
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ZOT! Nice shooting! That is some serious FPE for an air gun. I haven't seen that many groundhogs this year, but I guess I'm too busy trying to shoot turkeys and coyotes. You'd think though I'd have seen some while doing that though? On the other hand there is LOTS of water here and the groundhogs tend to hang out higher on the hills.
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That's a nice lookin rig. Slinging 25 cal pellets that fast when it's turned down, what a beast. Great shooting and pics. Hopefully your season pics up for ya.
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congrats
nice shooting
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Good shot Harry. Glad to hear you can still get some hunting in.
Was that Chuck that wide and flat before , or is that because you ventilated it ???? :D
Paul.
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Excellent shot at that G-Hog. That powerful Condor or yours really pounded that .25 JSB pellet into the pig. Remember to leave some alive so they can breed!!!!! heh heh
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Thanks guys! I enjoy shooting the G-hogs the most.
Stanley:
Yes I know but easier said than done! I can't help myself. I see one and it's like I get possessed. I go into a robotic sort of mind state and all I can think about is how I am going to get that G-hog here and now :) Everything else like let them breed so I have more to shoot year after year, goes out the window! Nothing matters but getting that G-hog with 1 shot in the head. I can't explain it. Something comes over me when I see one on my property :) If I don't see one for a while I get the shakes, hehehe.
Paul: No it was much bigger, gigantic as a matter of fact, but like you said, the pellet ventilated it and it shrunk unfortunately :p 8)
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Glad to know I have the discipline to not only NOT shoot something, but to feed them to encourage them to make more! :)
Just wait until the weekend when squirrel season starts and the fruits for my discipline and labor will be realized! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA! :D I've seen at least fifteen squirrels, most of them newbies who aren't on to my blasterating their buddies! I can even cheat and bring out the "El Cheapo" call with squirrel sounds on it!
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Randy, I have the discipline to not shoot critters out of season. I am ok with that. Just today I was watching 2 squirrels calmly going through the trees in my backyard, and kept myself in the chair in my porch while having my morning coffee. I held my kness down with my hands and closed my eyes and tried to relax and forget they exist :) I controlled the cold sweat running down my face after a minute or two, and even looked the other way so I couldnt' see them and get tempted :) No seriously for some reason it doesn't bother me when I see critters that are out of season.
I guess knowing that that G-hogs are not protected and can be taken any time, diminishes my "discipline" greatly when it comes to them :) It's the only explanation I have 8)
You mentioned you did not see any G-hogs. If you are not looking for them you probably are not going to see any. They usually see or hear you first, and down the hole they go which is never far away. They are also very good at integrating with the terrain around their burrow. They can camouflage themselves well when not out in an open field munching on grass and weeds, and can stand completely still for a very long time. They particularly like sticking their head out the hole for several minutes and up to 1/2hr before coming out. It is very hard to distinguish that head from far away or if you are not looking for them.
In my opinion, the best way to succeed in spotting and/or shooting G-hogs is to scout the area and find the burrow entrances. Just like you do when deer hunting, etc. You scout the area for signs of tracks, find the trails they use, etc. You then come back and hide 25-30yds away from their burrow and wait for them to come out. Or 50yds (or more) away if you have a powerful PCP, 22LR, WMR or HMR. The weather has to be very nice with warm temps and a light wind or breeze. They won't come out with gray clouds overhead or if it's windy or gusty out. And you MUST shoot them in the head. Many of G-hog have made it down the hole, some almost cut in half after being shot with high-powered rifles, because they were not shot in the head! If their heart or brain is not blown up, they will muster every ounce of strength to make it to the safety of their burrow where they usually die seconds or minutes later. Once they make it down into their chambers it is almost impossible to recover.
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Yeah, I'm too busy looking for other things to be looking for groundhogs right now. I've seen a couple next to the road in the city, but I haven't been really looking while out in the country. Most of the places I hunt turkeys and coyotes are near creeks and with the flooding you won't see any ground dwellers here. I've got less than two weeks to get a turkey :( However coyotes and groundhogs are year around NO limit! They can wait! Squirrel season is next weekend again! They are going to be hard to shoot as the foliage is dense here! I may even have to use the dreaded shotgun in some places. I'll just do like I do for coyotes, sling the shotgun and carry the rifle in my hands.
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Shotgun ??????? Did you say shotgun ????????? OMG.... don't go blastin all those pellets at those poor little tree rats.
Leave the scatter gun at home and do it the "right" way...... sneak in as close as you can and surgically harvest them one pellet at a time LOL :)
Jeff
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I think Harry's got G-Hog withdrawals during the off season... hee hee
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Hey Stanley you think? :) I did up until Sunday but I am better now.
Withdrawal symptoms will not appear again for at least another week. I got my fix for now 8)
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Thanks for sharing. Fantastic story and photos.
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Thanks Wade. I have shared every G-hog I have taken with the GTA for the last 3yrs and this was no exception :)
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Keep um comming.
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Harry is back! lol good shooting!
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Nice shooting Harry!! I'm not to sure if that's a pellet gun tho! Seem's to be to powerful,, Are you sure you dont have a primer and cartridge they goes in that thing? :emoticon: :D
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Thanks guys. Yeah you got me Cody.. It's actually a .223 which is why I need such a big "shroud", hehehe.
Seriously though. On PW 10-11 and 3k psi fill, the JSB .25cal pellets went 1,130fps. 31gr Kodiaks were 1,075-1,080fps. At 1130fps believe me when I tell you the shroud does not work well at all :) There is a distinct supersonic crack and the report is louder than usual, but still only about as loud as a 350 or so. Once the velocity drops below ~1,080fps, it's pretty quiet, and the hammer strike is all you hear which is a little louder than I want it to be, because of the heavier hammer. If this Condor had a factory hammer the valve strike would be less than half as loud. I am thinking about a 9mm conversion :)