New trick for Chucks, maybe?

[MrMajestic]

Walked down to the neighboring farmers garden tonight as he has been after me to eradicate the Groundhogs that have been competing with him for its harvest. I restrict myself to my CZ 452 in .17 Mach2 due to the close proximity of houses and our Township park. I have a very good backstop and feel completely safe and legal as other than his house I am over 150 yards from the nearest residence.
I setup standing with my monopod/shooting stick against a fencepost approximately 50 yards from the firewood piles were he has been seeing them. First 15-20 minutes nothing so my mind began to drift and I remember listening to Woodchuck sounds on a website and one was a fighting sound(I believe) where they click there teeth together I assume as a threat to their opponent. I am aware of the whistle(hence the name whistle pig) but I have had limited success getting them to stand up to it, at least when I do it. So I clack my teeth together with a open mouth and immediately this one comes scurrying up from the backside of the woodpile. It stops on top and I settle the sights under his chin(gun sighted in for 100 yds.), touch off a round and number 22 goes down for the 2011 season.
Okay, opinions on whether I'm crazy or not without talking to my wife! I need to experiment more with the technique but there is no doubt in my mind this one responded to it!

 

[gambleone]

I've never heard of this, but I am going to try it. I hope my wife doesn't
see or hear me. ;D Would like to hear from others on this subject...

 

[CaptainMal]

Try it again. That was a young one. Wonder if it will work on older ones?

Never heard of anyone trying to "call" a hog. Real interesting.

 

[Taildrag15X]

I like to let the dog take care of them, it's fun to watch him wait.......

This is his first kill from the yard, alone....he liked to wait by the hole for them to "pop" up!

This is one I didn't know he killed until my wife came home from work and he dug it up to show her his catch......

 

[Dogbone]

So I clack my teeth together with a open mouth and immediately this one comes scurrying up from the backside of the woodpile.

Hey, I'll try anything to get them to stand up or come out of their holes. Don't care what the good wife thinks. And since I can't whistle real good, I'll try the blade of grass between my thumbs routine we used to do when we were kids. :-\

 

[queen_stick]

My grandfather tried a lot of things... dog whistles, two coins, whistling, clicking, and etc...

The only thing that worked consistently.... patience!

He shot over 300 ground hogs every year, and sometimes over 500. He tried everything at least once... in the end he just went out and sat in the field.

 

[Thorbird]

That is too funny. But makes sense.

 

[ollie]

OK. I was hunting the other day and things were going a little slow so thinking of this thread i tried the clicking of my teeth and a hog stood up about 60 yds from me. It was a fatal mistake for him.

 

[RJinTexas]

I willing to bet some of you guys are going to generate a little extra income for your dentist from this tread.

RJ

 

[MrMajestic]

I willing to bet some of you guys are going to generate a little extra income for your dentist from this tread.

RJ

After a little spill (37ft. fall) in '84 most of mine are fake but I must admit my jaws are a little sore! ;D

 

[skeeljc]

Walked down to the neighboring farmers garden tonight as he has been after me to eradicate the Groundhogs that have been competing with him for its harvest. I restrict myself to my CZ 452 in .17 Mach2 due to the close proximity of houses and our Township park. I have a very good backstop and feel completely safe and legal as other than his house I am over 150 yards from the nearest residence.
I setup standing with my monopod/shooting stick against a fencepost approximately 50 yards from the firewood piles were he has been seeing them. First 15-20 minutes nothing so my mind began to drift and I remember listening to Woodchuck sounds on a website and one was a fighting sound(I believe) where they click there teeth together I assume as a threat to their opponent. I am aware of the whistle(hence the name whistle pig) but I have had limited success getting them to stand up to it, at least when I do it. So I clack my teeth together with a open mouth and immediately this one comes scurrying up from the backside of the woodpile. It stops on top and I settle the sights under his chin(gun sighted in for 100 yds.), touch off a round and number 22 goes down for the 2011 season.
Okay, opinions on whether I'm crazy or not without talking to my wife! I need to experiment more with the technique but there is no doubt in my mind this one responded to it!

We used to shoot chucks from the road back in the 60's in Indiana. Mostly bean fields. One day I accidentally bumbed the horn ring when setting up on one. He stood right up for a clean head shot.

 

[K22]

I don't think you're crazy at all. I've have seen some very strange ground hog behaviors in the 50+ years that I've hunt the critters.

However, I am never close enough to make that work for me. But I have used a "grunt" to halt a deer or predator. It works most of the time for those critters.

Also, I remove my hearing aids when hunting so I can't hear very much. 

One of the strangest experiences I ever had was in the eighties hunting groundhogs in Greene County, PA. In those days, I like to hunt them with a pistol, a S&W Model 27, 357 Magnum. The terrain was such that it allowed me to stalk several holes to within 50 yards.

Anyway, I one beautiful summer late afternoon I came over a rise, saw a crawler about 40 yards away. I slowly brought the Model 27 into position and squeezed off a round. I missed - the hog ran in a nearby hole. Almost immediately I heard a bunch of squealing and commotion. The hog came backing out of the hole and scurried away into a tree line. A rather large male emerged from the hole. This time I connected. It was the only time I've ever seen anything like that.

 

[SmokinJoe]

K22, keep your hearing aids in, they offer some hearing protection, certainly more than having them out, and you can hear stuff better while hunting, too.

 

[K22]

K22, keep your hearing aids in, they offer some hearing protection, certainly more than having them out, and you can hear stuff better while hunting, too.

My ear doctor advised taking them out when shooting. Also have to remove them to put in ear plugs in when in the field.

 

[Rick in Oregon]

I'm blessed with the ability to whistle very loudly without putting any fingers in my mouth. I can "chirp" very loudly as a result too. I learned back in the 70's when shooting ground squirrels that one of my chrips would make the critters stand and look up.....with the expected fatal result.

BUT, when used for rock chucks, the chirp either makes them rise up for a look-about, or bail immediately into their den. Haven't figured out what the difference in chirping is, maybe the octave, volume...dunno, but there are two distinct different chuck reactions when employed. Seems the result is mostly a bail, so I use it very sparingly these days, as most of 'my' chucks are pretty spooky. I have no idea why that is.

 

[SmokinJoe]

K22, don't know what you are wearing but my hearing aids include custom silicone ear molds that help block out sound effectively enough that I can use them for shotgun sports. I have an attenuated program that helps also. But when I shoot my rifles I wear 28dBa muffs over the hearing aids/ears and that works really well, too.