One of my cleanest g-hog kills

[only1harry]

Got home Thursday afternoon around 4:30 from a few days at the Jersey shore and found my DSL line down.  No dial tone, no internet!  Checked the logs on the DSL modem and it shows the line went down Tue. morning!  OMG, what am I going to do?  I called it out to Verizon and called my cable company right after to inquire into their cable Internet service..  Wife is watching the shopping channel on one TV as usual, and the son is watching cartoons on the other.  Not much else to do than check the windows for furry creatures :)

It didn't take long and around 5:45pm I spot this big fat g-hog coming over from the neighbor's property to mine.  It's the one that lives under my neighbor's shed!  It seems he likes my grass better than his or he has discovered that most or all of the 21 holes on my property are vacant and wants to explore them and expand his territory.  Maybe he did that a little the 3+ days we were gone.  I watched him for almost 1/2hr as he visited 4 holes.  He went down a couple of them along the back of my property and now he 's come into range to the other side of the house several yards behind my shed.  He walked about 45yds which is unusual for a g-hog.  I took a couple of pictures of him wishing he 'd come closer within 25yds so I can use the 14fpe Diana 36 .177.  He 's out in the open about 30yds out.  I figure I might as well put the window up now in case he gets any closer but as soon as I push the screen window up, the dang thing screeches and he spots me.  He ran a few yards then stopped always looking up at my direction.  
He had actually come closer by doing so because he ran back towards the trees closer to the house.  I decide to go about it a different way before I spook him further and lose him.  I had opened the garage when we arrived so I go downstairs with the 36 cocked and loaded and quietly sneak into the garage.  He 's off to the left and can't see me.  I slowly approach the front of the garage and after advancing 3/4 of the way I see him about 25yds out.  He hasn't seen me.  He 's now grazing several yards from the trees out in the open.  I rest my forearm on some old tires that are about 4.5ft high and hide most of my body behind them.  I wait for him to look up as he usually does every few seconds and get a good broadside view of his head.  Not more than a minute went by when he gave me that perfect broadside shot perpendicular to my position.  With crosshairs right next to his eye I squeezed the trigger and see him go down and not move a musle!  He looked just like he did before except he was lower and no movement.  I look at him well through the scope and I see his big belly move like taking a breath.  I only see very little blood and could barely see his right eye that I aimed at cause its head is down into the grass.  I reload and put another 7.9gr CPHP right above where I thought its eye was for good measure.  I don't take my chances anymore even though I know they 're down.  I see no breathing so I walk over to check him out.  He 's definitely as big as he looked from far away.  This was a very clean kill with very little blood.  The 1st CPHP hit him just 2 milimeters behind the eye and put him down fast.  The 2nd shot which was not needed but one that I typically take with g-hogs if I see any sign of movement, struck just 1/4" above the 1st one over the eye.  There was no passthrough with either of the pellets and I was not surprised.  This was the largest g-hog I had shot with the 14fpe 36, and he was 25yds out.  The others were shot at 18-22yds and were slightly smaller.  This guy's skull was comparable to his size too.  
Anyway, they finally fixed my Internet connection this evening (on a holiday! - those repair guys are always looking for overtime) and figured I 'd share the story and pics with my GTA buddies after we got back from the fireworks display.

There a couple of pics of the g-hog that I took at 16x zoom from inside the window while he was walking around in circles on my property tasting my grass at different spots.  The pic of his behind showed me how fat he was..  The camera sucks at more than 12x and can't focus properly unless I 'm outdoors with plenty of sunlight.

[longislandhunter]

Harry, you and that beautiful rifle sure have become a deadly G-hog exterminating duo  !!!   Great shooting and I love the pics,,, before and after pics,,,, doesn't get any better.   I haven't been able to get out G-hog hunting for the past few days due to work but it's OK cause I can read your adventures and drool over the pics  :)  

Outstanding,,,, keep on whacken em and keep on postin  :)

Jeff

[shadow]

Fine shootin Harry, one G-hog enter, no G-hog leave hehehe. Great pic's and he did look like he was kinda eyeballin in your direction...before the end.:) Ed

[only1harry]

Thanks guys.  They just keep coming, but I think I need to slow down the pace a little.  At this rate there won't be much to shoot at in another month.  I think they sense many of the burrows are unoccupied and that there is territory for the taking.  Maybe they pick up the absense of g-hog smells/odors?  Whatever it is, it keeps drawing them here from the neighboring lots.  
I 'm not complaining :)  I 'm also doing the neighbors a favor.

I hope I don't see another one today.. I just can't help myself  :-)  I like to keep the g-hog kills spaced out so the thrills can last all summer long :)

[Big_Bill]

WOW Harry,

You even got him to pose for you ! Great shootin and Great photos !

Keep em commin Harry, by the way, have you tried eating any of your kills ? To me, they taste like a cheep cut of beef, they need marinating and some bacon, to add to their flavor ! :) By the way, that was roasted, stuffed with onions, carrots, garlic, and celery. With my blend of Italian spices. :) I'm waiting for my next meal to walk into my back yard, to try frying! :) Even at my age, I always look for New experiences. :)

Bill

[longislandhunter]

Bill,,, the young ones are absolutely great fried  !!!!!   Wonderfully tender, juicy and nice mild flavor.  For the older ones my favorite is G-hog pot roast,,,, probably one of my favorite G-hog recipes.  

Jeff

[only1harry]

Bill thanks,

Unfortunately the wife does not allow me to bring any critters into the house.  She said I can shoot them but she doesn't want them in the house nor does she want to see me shoot them, see them dead, or "any pics of dead animals" in her words.  She had even hidden our camera last Fall so I wouldn't take pics of the squirrels or g-hogs.  I had to go out and get my own camera last December which I keep hidden as well :)  It's kind of nuts but it's a symbiosis that we both have learned to cope with.  When she sees me with the gun in my hands by a window or heading outside she just stays out of my way or goes to the family room and closes the door.  She wants nothing to do with it.
 
Fortunately my neighbor 3 houses down is a hunter and a very nice guy.  He let me bring over a few squirrels over the winter which he prepared and cooked and we ate them.  His wife is a little difficult too but she doesn't get home until 6pm from work (he 's home all the time on disability) so we sneak in a squirrel or two in the afternoon.  He doesn't care for groundhogs and said he wasn't crazy about one he tasted a few years back that he shot in his back yard.  It was probably not cooked properly.  He also said it was a little too tough so I 'm guessing it was an adult or older one.  It's kind of weird that he 'll eat a tree rat and not a fat g-hog.

[fatback]

Nice shooting Harry!!! Great pics and account of the hunt. That is a full grown G hog for sure. You and that 36 are a deadly combo.

Chris

[Timmyj1959@yahoo.com]

Way to go Harry!! The before pics. are a REALLY nice touch!! Is the 36 doing better now,, did you fix it?  It shure is getting the job done!! Pretty amazing what 14 ft. lbs. can do in the hands of a great marksman Eh?? Not to mention the fact that I know you have done your homework as I have,, studying the skull structure of your quarry leads to a sucsesful humane kill. We both know that Curtis has taken Cyotes out to 60 yrds. with his "power tuned" Diana 350 Mag. (I cant wait for you to get yours back!!) Next time you talk to him,, ask him about what I did last season with 20 ft. lbs. (Diana 54/22cal.) He He He!! As usual Harry,, Great story, & Great pics.!! Tim.

[Big_Bill]

Thanks Jeff,

I read all your posts, and am up on your recipes ! I can tell by the way you look forward to a good dinner, that you have found the best ways to cook these critters ! BACON ! :-)

By the way, I had some delicious raccoon up *Penna. way*, roasted and basted with honey, filled with carrots, onions,garlic, and and potatoes hehehe, and bacon wrap ! Just GREAT ! :) THANKS BUDDY!

Bill

[fatback]

Wow Bill, Your making me hungry with all this talk of critters and bacon MMmmm
Chris

[gamo2hammerli]

Fantastic shot Harry.....another G-hog down for the count.  Even though the wife don't want to see or know about it....at least she lets you shoot them varmints....that's a blessing.

Bill's making us hungry with his recipes for groundhogs.....

I don't have G-hogs on my small property.....which is a good thing, since I won't twist an ankle if I stepped into one of their burrows.  A bad thing....since I have one less target to shoot at.  heh heh

[only1harry]

Yeah it's nice to have a variety of critters to shoot at.  The only thing I don't have is rabbits.  I used to when I first bought the house 12yrs ago and left them alone at the time, but an owl and the old lady's 10 cats across the street wiped them all out within a couple of years.  I haven't seen one in almost 10yrs!  The owl abandoned the nest too in my backyard and moved on once the food source was depleted.  A couple of years after that, when the old lady passed away and most of the cats were gone, I noticed the squirrels started moving into the neighborhood so now I have plenty of those but they 'll have to wait their turn until they 're in season in the Fall.  I am surprised there are still plenty of them around after harvesting 21-22 of them last Fall and winter.