2012 OH groundhogs - Final Tally

[MrMajestic]

Re: 2012 OH groundhogs - Dogbone shoots OH hogs

Made it out today for a couple of hours at lunchtime Got this one at 225 yards with my .223 Ackley and the 80 grain A-Max.

Waited for a while then walked back to the truck and traded firearms for my T/C Contender with the 20" barrel chambered in .17 Ackley Hornet loaded with the 20 grain V-Max. Setup in my High Tension Tower hide and smacked this one at 100 yards standing with a Tower brace as a rest.

Afterwards I had a couple of visitors, this one I called "Fireball" ???

And this Girl was "Rocket"! ;D

You might be a "Gun Crank" when you see Bovine ID tags and think cartridges! It's an illness Boys! ;D

 

[Dogbone]

Re: 2012 OH groundhogs - Dogbone shoots OH hogs

Good job! Nice arsenal! It's a sickness alright!

 

[Nomad47]

Re: 2012 OH groundhogs - Dogbone shoots OH hogs

HaHa. That's too funny about the ID tags, MrM. Yep, definitely an addiction.

I haven't made it out since DOug (Dogbone) was here, so I'm stuck on 402 for the season.

Oh, I did shoot the 12BVSS 6XC on paper at 100 and steel at 500 yesterday - after dry patching the bore and twirling a bronze brush in the throat area. A .163" group for the best 3 of 4. And 4 for 4 hitting the 8" steel at 500. So that gun is back to shooting.

 

[Dogbone]

Re: 2012 OH groundhogs - Dogbone shoots OH hogs

Oh, I did shoot the 12BVSS 6XC on paper at 100 and steel at 500 yesterday - after dry patching the bore and twirling a bronze brush in the throat area. A .163" group for the best 3 of 4. And 4 for 4 hitting the 8" steel at 500. So that gun is back to shooting.

Good! So what do the think the issue was? Dirty barrel? Or did the new loads you worked up do the trick?

 

[Nomad47]

Re: 2012 OH groundhogs - Dogbone shoots OH hogs

It was suggested (on another thread) that with all the rounds I have put down it this year (688) that I might be getting a rough throat. Or I might have been developing the dreaded carbon ring in the throat. Either way, it looks like spinning the bronze brush in the throat area took care of it.
The load I've been shooting and the new load both looked good on paper at 100. I only shot the new load at 500.

 

[Dogbone]

Re: 2012 OH groundhogs - MrMajestic meets Rocket

Good news for sure!!!

 

[lpreddick]

Re: 2012 OH groundhogs - MrMajestic meets Rocket

Nomad47: just my ocd nature, but the dreaded carbon ring occurs in the last few thous of the neck portion of the chamber. it's the small, usu .015-.025 thous , portion of the chamber just in front of the lip of the cartridge just before the 45 degree bevel into the freebore portion of the barrel leading to the start of the lands. since i got my hawkeye iv'd learned so much. if you never use a bronze brush this ring remains and will grow in thickness until it will crimp a loaded round if the case is longer than those producing the ring. an established carbon ring is a BEAR to remove. tony boyer's book has a diagram that shows the ring and he speaks of it's removal. i get rid of mine after most varmint hunts. i still envy your target rich environment...spent 4 hrs on sat...NOT THE FIRST PIG! later.

 

[Nomad47]

Re: 2012 OH groundhogs - Confused groundhog

Thanks, LP. I'm not sure the carbon ring is what I had, but since the bronze brush appeared to cure my problems, I suspect it was my problem.

Got out this evening to a field in the conservation deal that finally got mowed. (Dogbone, it was the last place we were but didn't set up.) Shot 5 - all the holes got exposed. Season total - 407.

I've got to relate a funny thing that happened this morning. I was riding with my farmer friend that farms 435 acres. He was chopping corn for silage. We were crossing this 30 foot wide watercourse and on about the fifth pass we drove over a groundhog hole. After a couple more passes, we saw this groundhog that was wandering around like he was lost. At first he ignored us but as we got close he boogied on down the watercourse. We laughed. He must have come out of his hole and with all that corn completely gone, he must have thought he got 'beamed' to another county.

 

[MNFinn]

Re: 2012 OH groundhogs - Confused groundhog

Nomad47,
following your season going after G-hogs has been really entertaining, and made me wish I lived somewhere that afforded that kind of shooting

 

[Nomad47]

Re: 2012 OH groundhogs - Confused groundhog

Thanks, emn83. We're leaving OH in a week so my groundhog shooting is almost over for this season. We'll be arriving in AZ around the middle of Sept, taking a few days to visit friends along the way.
Do you live in Colorado?

 

[MNFinn]

Re: 2012 OH groundhogs - Confused groundhog

Thanks, emn83. We're leaving OH in a week so my groundhog shooting is almost over for this season. We'll be arriving in AZ around the middle of Sept, taking a few days to visit friends along the way.
Do you live in Colorado?

Nope, live in Northern Minnesota

 

[Nomad47]

Re: 2012 OH groundhogs - Confused groundhog

Got out this evening for probably the last time this season. (Leaving Ohio on Monday) Shot 8 with 9 shots, nothing over 200 yards. Lots of head shots as the alfalfa was just deep enough to hide their bodies. They would stick their head up and I would shoot it.
Dogbone, it was that alfalfa field that I just got permission to shoot while you were with me. I should have pushed a little harder for us to shoot it that day.
415 total 'hogs. 1348 rounds fired so far this year - LOTS of them at groundhogs.

 

[Nomad47]

Well, I wouldn't say I lied, but my prediction of being done with groundhog hunting in Ohio was false. I went out this morning to one farm and shot three. Then I went to another farm this evening and shot another 9. I am definitely done now for the year in Ohio with a total of 427.

Only thing left here in OH is a long range steel competition on Saturday.

 

[CanusLatransSnpr]

Thats impressive Nomad to say the least! I would be tickled shitless if I were able to shoot 1/8th that many groundhogs in a season ! Good work !

Mike

 

[lpreddick]

i too am jealous...my total is less than 75, but did get 5 yesterday. i had to put my new 22 BR shooting 63 cheeks to the test. she got an A+! my first was an example of what happens to me when i see the ghog in the scope. my brain goes neanderthal...kill, kill, kill, instead of saying "wait until it gives a profile and the wind is accounted for, etc.". the pig was 372 yds and the shot was clear...grass about 1 inch high. i sent a flank shot! my non-neanderthal brain knows this is not the best shot for me...several have been able to crawl into their hole to die as did this one. i was p---ed so an unwary crow had to soothe my frustration 250 yds and drt. his buddies bitched and moaned for at least 40 min after swooping down at his remains. the next three ghogs were shot correctly and did not move! there was no exit on them also. big one 10 lb 7 oz, the others 9 lb 5 oz 9 lb 2 oz. got one earlier with my 223 les baer ar and he checked out at 11 lb 15 oz!

 

[CanusLatransSnpr]

lpreddick, what are you feeding those groundhogs over there ? The one I shot the other night came in at 9 lbs. and I thought that was big!

Mike

 

[lpreddick]

hay that is fertilized to the max. most farmers grow their own hay and spend BIG BUCKS on fertilizer. most fields are not flat. rain washes the fertilizer downhill into "flats' or "swags" and the grass here is really green. ghogs follow the food source and dig holes in the side of the slopes. they also have things around here called "sinkholes" which are really deep and can have monsters, but are hard to hunt since the range is short. there are a few alfalfa fields and those pigs reach 12 lb +. the other plus is that there are not a lot of ghog hunters anymore...too much "work". we have overhunted some fields and the ghogs from these never got to reach their max weight. it seems to take about 4-5 years for one to reach 10+lbs. genetics seem to play a role. some fields never produce any big ones, while a few fields will have everybody dragging their belly. need to load more ammo. enjoy.

 

[CanusLatransSnpr]

I didn't realize it took that long to produce a big fat hog! I understand fertilization and run-off as I work for an ag-chemical business. In my part of the world, hay isn't that big of a commodity so no one spends money on it! Thanks!

Mike

 

[Nomad47]

One of the 9 I got last evening (alfalfa) was a monster. I don't carry a scale with me so I can't say for sure. But it felt like it weighed about the same as a 16 pound bowling ball, although I doubt it really weighed that much. I should have taken a pic with my cell phone.

I feel very fortunate to have shot the numbers I have shot this summer (and one coyote). I hunt in a five mile radius around where my motorhome is parked. That's over 75 square miles or 48,000 acres. I'm probably hunting on 3,600 acres (12 farms at an average of 300 acres). The four farms with the highest kill count were 95, 81, 74, & 64 kills. The farm with 74 kills is 435 acres and I don't know what the others are, but I would guess the 95 count was bigger but the 81 count smaller. Anyway, I've thinned them out quite a bit on 3600 acres but that leaves plenty on over 44,000 acres surrounding me.

 

[MrMajestic]

Nomad, sure did enjoy reading your writings!
My Wife is out of town, state actually she is in OH with her family, so I was able to get out tonight without an explanation. It wasn't long and I got one at 216 yards with my .223 Ackley Improved and the 80 grain A-Max. Waited the field out because the Amish Farmer wants them out for the Mules safety. About an hour later I got another in the same area and when I went to investigate I found they were only 5 yards apart. The first was this years and the second a very large Sow. Both were at their burrows and probably were family. The Sow had a very large mound and when I left I told the Owner that after the last cutting I would help fill in the holes. I got seven from that field but for retaining the privilege of hunting his land its the least I can do.