5 Star GHog Hunt

[K22]

Sometimes a great varmint hunt doesn't entail a lot of shot opportunities or even long shots.

After having double hernia surgery in early May, I finally got the clearance to start ghog hunting so I went out on Saturday, my first real opportunity for 2020, where I could roam the fields.

I hunt six farms on a regular basis. After visiting all of them on a recon mission I discovered that I'm unable to hunt four of the six due to bean fields too high, corn too high obscuring available hay fields / tree lines, and heavy planting of corn / wheat wiping out hay fields. Of the two remaining farms, opportunities are limited to one large field and three small fields. Very depressing for an avid ghog hunter. The days of long continuous hays field are gone in my area.

So I end up at this farm that has one large field and one small one. There is no shade in the large field and its in direct line with the afternoon sun - brutal to say the least in this heat were are experiencing in eastern PA so I opt for the smaller field which has some shade with plans to check the larger field later. At 73, I'm not as tough as I used to be.

I set up by 5:00 PM. The configuration of the terrain is poor in the sense I have to shoot up at an angle making it difficult for me to obtain a stable position shooting off my cross sticks. Further complicating the situation - I have no idea if there are any holes in this field since I missed the spring part of the season and the hay is a little high. So I decided to walk the field. I find two fresh holes - dug out - fairly large. I return to my set up position hopeful.

Two hours pass - I see nothing. It's hot a hell - bugs eating me alive. Every 30 minutes or so I roll over the hill to check the large field - nothing there. At about 7:30 I see one at the far hole - 182 yards away. He's standing but then quickly drops down and I lose sight of him.

Ten minutes later one appears at the closer hole, 164 yards away. He's edging out of the hole, stops an sits. I place the Browning A Bolt, Varmint Stalker, 223 Rem on the shooting sticks. Center the cross hairs on his chest and send a 50 Nosler BT. He disappears. Hay is a little high so I'm not sure if I got him especially since the angle is so steep I can't rest my other elbow in my knee which results in a less stable position. Don't see any tail "death wiggle" or hear the classic "thumb" either. I resist the urge to go check - want to see if that other guy comes back out.

At about 8:10 the other guy emerges from the hole but doesn't stand. He crawls around feeding. Again, less than an optimum position to shoot plus his profile is slightly obscured so I wait. I finally get a clearer profile and send another 50 Nosler BT. I hear the classic "thumb" - he's down for sure.

As the sun sets I walk up to the holes - got the first one (164 yards) - perfect shot in center of chest. Inspect the second hole and as expected found the second hog (182 yards) - perfect behind the shoulder shot. Both hogs monster class - the second is female not male.

Icy on the cake - haven't hunted with the old "A" bolt since 2014 and wanted to give it a try since it's kind of a compromise between my heavy varmint and my light weight stalker rifles. This Browning has a 24" medium weight contour. Very accurate, in the 1/2 moa range but the trigger is not good and there are no after market triggers available that I know of so it's a case of "adapt and overcome." Really savored this hunt even though I only got two shots and the modest distances.

 

[vonb]

Great story and hunt. Good on you for getting out there.

 

[rebel]

NC has been this way for awhile. Early beans get to tall by July to do anything but edge hunt. One advantage though, you can clearly glass the u shape damage path of a groundhog in soybeans. Since he has eaten his cover down, he can be seen.

 

[hogpatrol]

Under those conditions, two for two is pretty darn good. SE PA is a little different, long hay fields with plenty of action and late beans going in after the wheat came off. You're right about the heat here. It's just about unbearable.

 

[K22]

NC has been this way for awhile. Early beans get to tall by July to do anything but edge hunt. One advantage though, you can clearly glass the u shape damage path of a groundhog in soybeans. Since he has eaten his cover down, he can be seen.

Yea - for sure - last year I hunted a bean field late. You could absolutely predict where the hogs were as evidenced by the excessive thinning of the bean patch - works almost all the time but you have to get them before they get into the undamaged beans or they'll disappear.

 

[K22]

Great story and hunt. Good on you for getting out there.

Thanks - I'm addicted to ghog hunting and it was tough sitting out the spring. I went out once in late May - three weeks after surgery and just sat next to the truck with rifle watching a tree line. But it wasn't very satisfying not being able to roam the fields so I waited until I was recovered enough to get after it.

Planning on going out on Thursday if the weather isn't too bad but we've been having a stretch of very hot humid weather - it's isn't the heat so much as the severe thunder storms - getting hit by lighting is not the cure for COVID-19 I was hoping for.

 

[Coonman300]

K22...great hunt. I always enjoy your stories. There are MANY great shooters on this site. The groups they shoot on targets never cease to amaze me. However, your skill of using shooting sticks and stacking up varmits along with the dedication to practice until your proficient enough to hit your index cards at range is most impressive. Glad your over your surgery and back at it!

 

[K22]

K22...great hunt. I always enjoy your stories. There are MANY great shooters on this site. The groups they shoot on targets never cease to amaze me. However, your skill of using shooting sticks and stacking up varmits along with the dedication to practice until your proficient enough to hit your index cards at range is most impressive. Glad your over your surgery and back at it!

Thanks for the kind words. I'm not as good as I was in my younger years - the eye / hand co ordination just isn't the same but as long as I can breathe I'm going to hunt hogs.

Also the new farming practices are a real challenge to find huntable fields these days. Even so, I enjoy being out in the fields.

I went to shooting cross sticks several years ago designing my own since none of the commercial ones met my needs. I needed ones that were high enough so I could use them while sitting on a portable sportsman's chair. Also I needed something that was rapidly adjustable for height since I like to stalk and move around a lot. They also needed to be light enough for stalking.

The solution was a pair of 1/2" diameter solid aluminum rods cut to 44 inches in length with one end of each rod covered with 1/2" ID rubber heater hose 12" long and the other ends sharped to a point. I bound the sticks together with a couple of wraps of 1" wide Velcro. The result is a light weight but rigid shooting aid, rapidly adjustable for height by merely change the spread of the sticks.

With sitting and resting both elbows on my knees it's quite a stable position. However it took a lot of practice and technique development to become proficient with them. The sticks used while sitting on a chair also give me the advantage of increase field of view in rolling terrain increasing shot opportunities. For me is was the perfect solution for my style of hunting. I can't compete with bench guys for long range shots (over 300 yards) but carrying a bench in the fields I hunt isn't practical - I like to be highly mobile. However probably 95% of my shot opportunities are under 300 yards so I'm not giving up much with the sticks.

 

[VaRandy]

I feel for you guys in Pa fighting storms and high heat. I usually shoot Pa for hogs for 6 weeks or so after traveling about 4 states or so. I am 74 now and cannot walk the elevation changes for long and prefer to carefully pick a place where I can shoot from a bench all day at as long a distance as possible.For the first time in 6 years now, I am shutdown from my GH season because of the Covid. I was hoping I could be there for the end of the season and shoot bare ground but even that looks dismal. To make matters worse I have a new .257 wildcat being finished up now and will have to wait till next season to get it eating hogs.For any of you that ARE retired and can hunt anytime you want, I am always looking for reasonably priced accommodations anywhere near good shooting ground, I prefer the SW of the state but can go anywhere at anytime (without the Covid!).

If I were in Jail, it would not be that much worse. Counting down the time I have left and cannot afford to give up an entire season.