GTA
General Discussion To Gateway To Airguns => Hunting Gate => : nalby August 14, 2008, 11:12:44 AM
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Got my first groung hog, he's been destroying my flowers for years. Every time I see him he takes off running but not this time. I spotted him in my yard heading toward my flower bed with his back to me(hehe)I ran down to the basement snatched up my .22 B26 loaded a crossman hollow point scooted out the back door headed to the front yard and he was still there. he was about 20yrds away pulled the gun up to my cheek looked into the scope, then all of a sudden he turned looked right at me then BAM turned him off like a switch. I wonder how many more there are?
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He didn't even know it was coming! nice shot
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i WISH I HAD GROUND HOGS, INSTEAD OF THESE DAM RATS!!!
NICE SHOOTIN!!!! HE LOOKS DEAD..
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Great shootin Jim,,,, nice pic .... That B-26 sure did the trick :)
BTW,,,, if you have 1 G-hog then you have more nearby :)
Just consider them additional targets :)
Jeff
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Hey Jim, I 'm in upstate NY too (well lower upstate)!
Good job stalking him and shooting off-hand. You did the right thing. You must have something, a structure, or a big tree between you and the g-hog to be able to get that close without being spotted and it's always best to approach them from behind. So you did everything right with your 1st g-hog! Congrats!
Now let me tell you.. It's very rare you see more than 1 g-hog on your lawn or property unless it's a young one with its mother. You can bet your house you got more of them! I always see a loner every time and I have killed about close between 40 and 45 g-hogs over the last 4-5yrs, all on my property. Keep looking out the windows regularly and you 'll spot another in a couple of days.
This one looks like a young adult. You got much bigger ones out there, and they are more skiddish and experienced than the young ones. The big ones also know not too approach the house too much to eat the flowers. Usually the younger inexperienced ones do that. My wife has flowers all around the house and I 've never seen a large adult come over to munch on them, only a couple of younger ones.
It also gets harder to get them once you 've tried stalking them a couple of times and they spot you, because now they know what you look like and which way or how you come for them.. so try to get them on your first encounter like you did with this one. After a couple of failed attempts, I had one that would look up at the 2nd floor window where I normally shoot them from, every 4-5secs when he was out feeding. He wouldn't give it a rest and wouldn't give me time to set up a "shooting solution" like Jeff would say. Even if I were totally still at the window he 'd recognize me from 35-40yds out and split. So finally after the 4th or 5th attempt I came out and approached him having the shed between him and I and I was able to get to within 20yds and take him out. So try a different approach/technique if your first attempt fails and don't ever try a body or quartering shot at them. Always in the head between eye and ear to put them down fast. You should also reload as soon as you take the 1st shot even if they are down because I 've lost a couple of them when I thought they were down for good and didn't bother reloading. Sometimes neck shots work behind the ear too but they are more risky.
Good job on your 1st g-hog. Looking forward to more pics from you!
Harry
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Nice shot, Jim. The B26 is certainly up to the job.
Long Island and up-state NY must be infested with ground hogs. Guess they don't care for all the sand here in SC.
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Way to Go Jim. Thanks for sharing. Tommy I believe you are right about the northeast being infested with groundhogs. I spent the summer of '76 selling books door to door in Pennsylvania Amish and Mennonite farm country near Lancaster and I saw dozens of them every day. That is real rich farm land and paradise for groundhogs. Quite a few pheasants too.
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We always had g-hogs here on Long Island, but not in the numbers we have them now. Seems like a few years ago their numbers just exploded and it doesn't appear to be slowing down. My hunting buddies and I have talked about this many times. I thought for awhile that it might be due to the foxes and birds of prey, their only predators here, being pushed out by the ongoing development but while this probably has some effect it can't be responsible for the entire population explosion. There are so many of them here now that you see them dang near everywhere. They've invaded just about every neighborhood out where I live and on the local farms they are just out of control. I certainly don't mind though :) more targets to choose from :)
Jeff
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Thanks guys I'm glad to see that they are very cunning and great escape artist and it wasn't me all this time.now that I have an idea of how to stalk them they better just move away now. lol
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Hey Johnny, be thankful that at least you got some rats to shoot at!
Where I live, I don't have anything to shoot at 'cept target paper! LOL!
The only thing living or moving that I can shoot at are plants!
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The BAM went Bam...and it was lights out for the G-hog. Superb shooting. Should've posted the rodent with your gun. We all like photos with guns posed with its kills.
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Tcups: G-hogs are one of the very few North American animals that go into true hybernation so the SC climate is not suited for them because it's not cold enough. They are found only in the Northern parts of the country (and Canada) where it gets really cold in the winter. They usually range from South Jersey on up (on the East Coast). I don't even think VA has them.
Jeff: That is exactly the reason g-hog populations have exploded in the recent years - you said it: The land is being developed too much too fast. As more & more trees or forests are leveled to build homes and back yards with nice lawns, the predators like foxes, coyotees and racoons cannot get to the g-hogs. These predators generally avoid residential areas. I visited a few web sites a couple of years ago to read about g-hogs including Wikipedia and University studies, etc. and they all concluded that house development and generally man continously expanding and building up rural and more specifically wooded areas, is the only reason the g-hog population has soared. Lets not forget that they are commonly called woodchucks because woods are, or used to be, their main habitat. When an area is leveled for home development, condos/towhouses, commercial/industrial, office buildings, etc., all the animals move out except for the G-hogs. Most of them are patiently awaiting under ground in their burrows and tunnels to surface when the construction ends. With the predators far away their #'s natually increase.
Wikipedia and other scientific sourses said that the G-hogs's main predator is now man, and that they are mostly killed for sport or pest control, which is why their average life expectancy is only 3yrs. Still they continue to thrive. I believe they said it is estimated that 1-2 Million G-hogs are taken every year! That 's a large number considering that more than 1/2 the country does not have g-hogs. I 'm going by memory here but I 'll double check that number. Still it's amazing how their population keeps growing. The extreme predation by man has not hurt their #'s, so one would conclude that the constant land development is too beneficial for the G-hogs to the point where heavy hunting does not affect them.
In Rockland county where I was raised in Suburbia just 16mi. north of NYC, g-hogs started moving to my parents property and the neighbors' shortly after they leveled most of the woods behind their house and around the block, to build large Million-dollar (or multi-million $) homes and new roads, etc. I 'll never forget the day just 3yrs ago when was coming up to my parents' front steps and see a g-hog hole on the side of the concrete steps under the foundation! I walk in and see my mom distraught. She saw the g-hog 20min. (for the 1st time in her life) earlier when she opened the door and it ran towards her and down its hole next to the concrete steps. She 's afraid of a mouse so you can imagine when she saw a 10lb g-hog that looks like a big hairy rodent! :-) I spend hours waiting by the window with the Marlin 60 .22LR to get it on and off for a couple of summers but was only able to get one in their backyard. 30yrs in that house and they never had g-hogs until 3yrs ago when all the development started occuring around the neighborhood. It used to be all wooded areas and actually my hunting grounds during my youth. My dad back then without consulting me put a big rock in front of that hole so the g-hog opened up another one the next day on the opposite side of the steps coming out from under the house foundation. For 3yrs relatives and visitors came in and said: do you know you have a big hole under your house? :-) It was there for everyone to see as they walked up those 2 steps. 3yrs later and I still have not been able to get that g-hog but I only spend a couple of hours visiting them at a time so it's hard when you don't live there and you mainly visit for dinner and holidays. A couple of months ago as I was coming close to my mom's driveway I saw him again run across the street straight to the same front steps and disappear. A neighbor was out too and we started talking and he said he is infested too and they mainly live under his deck. He had been living there for 32yrs and never had seen one until a couple of years ago when the construction of new homes started.
I had some big plans for those g-hogs at my parents' house this year but after my dad passed away last year, my mom sold the house this summer and moved to Lancaster,PA (Amish country like someone said) near my sister, so I 'm looking forward to visiting her new place and hopefully find some g-hogs near by :-) My sister lives in a brand new development just outside Lancaster PA. My brother-in-law said they have g-hogs in their back yard too and asked me to bring a couple of airguns to see if we can get some but my sister was totally against it when I visited them a few weeks ago. I didn't feel bad because these huge homes were all like next to each other on only 0.2 to 0.25 acre lots. They all can see each other's backyards and there were no trees in sight except for little baby ones everyone was growing, so I didn't feel comfortable shooting anything especially because I believe it's illegal in PA to hunt or shoot critters with an airgun (another stupid law).
Anyway I ended up writing a book again.. I type very fast and get carried away so I apologize for the long post.
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only1harry
i'm from Rockland county also, I grew up in Congers then moved to Orangebug when I got married now I live in New Hampton just outside of middletown( orange county)
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gamo2hammerli
I was planning on posing my B26 but I was expecting company and I just had time to snap a pic. I was cleaning the shovel when my guests arrived so I cut it real close.
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Harry,,, I enjoyed your post immensely !! Certainly explains the g-hog population explosion around here. In my area they really aren't hunted so their population just keeps growing out of control. Here in Suffolk County it's illegal to use, or even be "afield" with, any kind of rifle. That leaves bows and shotguns (no slugs) as your only g-hog hunting option,,,, unless you're into airguns that is :) The DEC definition of a rifle doesn't apply to air guns and hence they are legal by "omission". Out of all the people I know here who hunt, which is quite a few, none of them hunt g-hogs. I know a couple of trappers that trap and kill them for some of the local farmers, but their activities are restricted to those specific farms and even with all the g-hogs they trap they are still out of control. I was talking to one of the trappers last year and he told me on one farm alone during the course of the summer he trapped over 200 g-hogs and the place was still teeming with them.
Anyway,,,, just wanted to let you know I enjoyed the facts in your post.......
Jeff
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Hi fellow Orange County resident! I 'm in New Windsor.
Those rural areas around Middletown were heavily developed in the 80's & 90's so there must be a lot of G-hogs around :) I was looking at new homes in Middletown and surrounding towns in the mid-90's but settled for an older '70's built house in New Windsor because of the back yard seclusion and small quiet street.
Now the entire wooded area on top of the small hill behind my house has been leveled and in its place are 2 new houses with nicely trimmed lawns. Once they did that (2-3yrs ago) most of the the g-hogs that lived there migrated to my backyard and took residence on the slope and bottom of the hill where you can see a dozen burrow entrances most of them by a tree trunk. If you look hard enough you 'll find 15 or 16 holes along a 32-33yd stretch. So their presence on my property grew in the last few years where before that I 'd average 5-6 per year, now I 'm shooting close to 20 in one season. After several years of shooting them and close to 50 g-hogs later, I have finally been able to reduce their #'s dramatically, especially this year. I have taken 16 of them because I started shooting at the young ones for the 1st time where in the past I would let them go.
So you definitely have a lot more to take care of and unless you are vigilant and check your windows often, they will keep coming and causing damage to your flowers and garden and will start digging holes closer and closer to your house when their #'s get out of control.
Next time you drive down the street getting ready to pull into your driveway on a Sat. or Sun. afternoon, try looking at your lawn and as far back of the house as you can. You will catch one running back to its hole. Most people are focused to driving and getting to their driveway so you never see them. When I pull up, my eyes are all over my property looking to spot one because by the time I 'm parked in the driveway it's too late. They 've already run back to the trees or the holes under my shed. Pay particular attention to where they go when they retire or run away. That way you get an idea where their burrow is if you don't already, and next time you will know which direction they will be coming from and be ready for them. Looking forward to more pics! :-)
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My house has woods in the front across the street and also woods in the back and on the side so I'm pretty much surrounded. I have seen them run across the street but there is a 10 foot steep drop off so the disappear rather quick. I'll just keep an eye out and hope I can reduce there number.
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Great shot Jim and pic.:) Nice to see all finding our Hunting Gate with fine harvest. Ed