Finally got to the duck farm this afternoon with the .22 RWS 350 Magnum to try out the RWS Super Hollow Point pellets on some woodchucks. I got to the farm a little early, around 3:30, and even though the G-hogs usually don't start emerging for their dinner until around 5 pm I decided to start still hunting around the farm.
As I started my hunt my first thought was that I should've brought a .177 rifle because there were more birds there than I've seen in a long time. There were huge flocks of starlings and several large flocks of pigeons all over the grain feeders. I was tempted to head home and swap rifles but I had come to hunt woodchucks and that's what I was gonna hunt so I continued on my way.
It was brutally hot at the farm today, even though there was a rather stiff breeze, and the humidity was almost unbearable so I started thinking that the G-hogs might not come out until real late in the afternoon after the sun was almost completely down, but I stayed close to the thick foliage that borders the farm and continued my still hunt, hugging the shadows as much as I could.
I had worked my way 3/4's of the way around the farm and was heading towards a large mullberry tree which was about 75 yards away when I saw my first G-hog. It was a good sized one that was feeding on mullberries that had fallen to the ground underneath the tree. He didn't see me so I moved back into the foliage that borders the stream running the length of the farm and plotted my move. I figured if I stayed as close to the bushes and reeds as I could then I might have a chance of getting with range. I started a slow approach, hugging the bushes, and after 15 minutes I was 35 yards from the G-hog. He was still picking through mullberries on the ground and hadn't noticed me. In order to take the shot I had to bring the rifle to a shooting position and step out from the bushes to get a clear shot. Once I stepped out of the bushes I knew the G-hog would see me and hopefully freeze for a second or two giving me time to take the shot. I stepped out of the bushes with the rifle shouldered and sighting through the scope and the G-hog did just what I expected, he looked at me and froze. I put the crosshairs on his head, pulled the trigger and heard the loud "slap" as the pellet struck home. The G-hog simply went limp and never moved again. Hit him right where I aimed, between the ear and eye and there was a clean hole right where the pellet had struck.
Figuring I might get a couple of shots at some starlings as they fed on the mullberries I set up a small blind under the tree and waited. Sure enough I wound up nailing 2 starlings but not in the mullberry tree. There was a large dead tree 30 yards away and the starlings were using it as a lookout perch. I picked off 2 starlings in a row and man did those .22 RWS Super Hollow Points put those birds down quick !! I couldn't retrieve them for pics because they fell directly into the stream below the dead tree and floated away. Having cooled off by staying under the mullberry tree I decided to take my dead G-hog back to the truck, put him in a cool shady spot and return to the hunt.
After depositing the G-hog back at the truck I made directly for a spot on the farm where there are several large and small G-hogs that come out and feed every afternoon. The G-hogs live in a large impenetrable thicket of wild blackberry bushes right on the bank of the stream. Directly in front of the thicket is a large thick grassy area that the G-hogs feast on. Immediately to the north of the grassy area is a large tree that has several large limbs that actually grow down towards the ground and form a natural ground blind. This ground blind is 15 yards from the grassy spot the G-hogs feed in. I figured I'd get set up my small backpack stool right in the middle of the tangle of branches and limbs and wait the G-hog out. If they came out I'd have a clear 15 yard shot
I was only in the blind for 20 minutes when I saw some movement inside the blackberry thicket. 2 small woodchucks emerged, looked around for danger and then disappeared back into the thicket. Five minutes later one of the chucks emerged again. He was nervous but soon waddled out to the rich green grass and started feeding. I put the scope on his head, squeezed and immediately heard the loud POP as the pellet slammed home. The G-hog shuddered for a second then rolled over and died. I just left him there and maintained my hidden position hoping another one would emerge.
Sure enough, 20 minutes passed by and out comes the dead G-hogs little brother. I watched him for a few minutes, curious to see how he would react to the dead G-hog in plain view, but he didn't seem to even notice the dead relative so I decided to take this one down. I waited until he stopped moving and stood up to take a look around and I sent a Super Hollow Point racing towards his head. The pellet slammed home with a POP and the G-hog fell over dead as a stone.
The 350 Magnum and the RWS Super Hollow Point pellets had proved to be a very effective team. Satisfied with the hunt I retrieved my 2 dead G-hog and headed back to the truck to take some pics. I probably could've gotten more shots had I stayed longer, but I had 3 G-hogs to photo and clean so I continued my walk back to the truck. As I was casually walking through a small field approximately 100 yards from my truck I suddenly saw some movement in the knee high grass. I looked to my left and there was a small G-hog busily digging a new burrow. He was so busy with his digging he hadn't noticed me as I approached and we were now only 20 yards from each other. I already had a pellet in the 350 so I dropped the 2 dead G-hogs from my left hand and brought the 350 up to my shoulder. The tunneling G-hog saw me about the same time I got the scope up to my eye but instead of racing off he made the fatal error of taking that split second to stare at me. The trigger came back, the gun fired and the hollow point slammed home. The G-hog flopped forward, hit the ground and never moved again. G-hog #4 was down :)
I had brought the digital camera with me to the farm so before I left for home I posed my trophies with the 350 magnum. I posed them a couple of different ways to try and show the head damage done by the hollow points. When I got home my daughter took a nice pic of me holding my trophies. I am really impressed by the performance of the Super Hollow Points in the 350 Magnum as well as their accuracy in the gun. Next gun I'll take to the farm for G-hogs will be the GAMO 1250 .22 and I'll see how the Crow Magnums perform. Should be interesting to compare them to the RWS Super Hollow Points. Well, sorry this is so long,,,, hope you like the pics.
Jeff
