grounhog behavior!

[civil82]

Yesterday was the season opener for spring turkey in PA. I was set along the edge of a fall-cut cornfield with my back to the wood line. After hearing one heck of a racket in the leaves on the ground behind me, I slowly turned to see what was going on. A mature chuck was gathering leaves in it's mouth and bringing them back down the hole. I always figured that there was some sort of bedding, but never have it much thought. It would gather an overstuffed mouth full and follow the same trail to the hole. It did this at least six times.
It's always a neat show when it's up close and not via 32x glass.

 

[LHSmith]

I spent my summers as a youth hunting GH's on my Grandmothers farm using a Mossberg 640K Chuckster here in NE PA.......EVERY day......I am a firm believer that you cannot wipe them out just by hunting them. I KNOW they went nocturnal due to my constant hunting pressure....coyotes were pretty rare around here back then. I remember picking wild strawberries on the hillsides waiting for the new pups to come out.
Some weird GH trivia: last year a N.E. Pa TV news station reported that the thief who was stealing American flags from the veterans graves was finally caught.....yup...a distant relative of Punxatawny Phil.

 

[dtucker]

I never knew that they climbed until 1 day when i was heading back through a field after hunting i came across 1 strung out on a nice size limb hanging of this tree. The field had 2 nice size oasis ( circles of trees ) and it was right at the edge of the field. I was so shocked at the site of it up their that i stood there for a while watching it. It was a good day for him because i let him live.

 

[mikecr]

When commie GHs start burning veteran flags, I just won't be able to tolerate it

 

[LitLBoy]

January 14, 1961 found a ground hog trail in the snow in northern Ohio. Burrowed out of a 4 ft. snow drift on a creek bank and walked in a straight line for about 1/2 a mile and climbed twenty feet up into an 8" diameter oak tree. My Christmas present that year from my parents was a Rem. Mod. 572. I still feel a little bad about shooting that ground hog.

 

[LHSmith]

When commie GHs start burning veteran flags, I just won't be able to tolerate it

Damn straight, I like to think of them as VARMINTCONG-----thanks to Carl Spackler (Bill Murray- Caddyshack......Best movie ever made) It's Dooty!! ;D...... Still can't eat an O'Henry Bar.

 

[lpreddick]

another "can't believe it". drove to a farm where a "monster pig" lived in a sinkhole. i edged onto the gravel road and there he was...325 yds away and he SAW ME! he ran down the hill to the very edge of the sinkhole and stopped. i glassed him admiring his size...he stayed. what the hell...slowly opened my door and whooosssh...gone. the wind was so bad the rest of the day was not very productive...a 7 pounder must have been really hungry as the alfalfa was whippig around his head as he ate. yes, he ate a 64 gr berger at a paltry 97 yds. getting dark, so i'm driving home and there by the roadside was a ghog with his hind feet ON THE HIGHWAY. my tires were 3 feet from his very lucky butt and he kept on eating. i see a lot of them eating at the roadside but never like this. even though i thought about it, running one down with your vehical isn't really sporting, plus i could end up in the ditch or worse.

 

[mikecr]

Could have been a Geico car insurance commercial...

 

[CatShooter]

another "can't believe it". drove to a farm where a "monster pig" lived in a sinkhole. i edged onto the gravel road and there he was...325 yds away and he SAW ME! he ran down the hill to the very edge of the sinkhole and stopped. i glassed him admiring his size...he stayed. what the hell...slowly opened my door and whooosssh...gone. the wind was so bad the rest of the day was not very productive...a 7 pounder must have been really hungry as the alfalfa was whippig around his head as he ate. yes, he ate a 64 gr berger at a paltry 97 yds. getting dark, so i'm driving home and there by the roadside was a ghog with his hind feet ON THE HIGHWAY. my tires were 3 feet from his very lucky butt and he kept on eating. i see a lot of them eating at the roadside but never like this. even though i thought about it, running one down with your vehical isn't really sporting, plus i could end up in the ditch or worse.

Running them over is definitely NOT sporting! I'm not too sure if 97 yards is sporting either - unless it is with a handgun

 

[LHSmith]

Running them over is definitely NOT sporting! I'm not too sure if 97 yards is sporting either - unless it is with a handgun

It's a heck of a lot more sporting than gassing them or feeding them bubblegum.

 

[lpreddick]

i take out the 97 yarders and closer since i don't want these idiots contaminating the gene pool.! watched one eating during a rain with him shaking off like a dog every few minutes. this lasted 45 min! once the rain stopped his potential genetic transfer was terminated. barn pigs are the smartest and obviously live long and can be big. back to the horse farm today...17 holes+ in one location.

 

[CatShooter]

i take out the 97 yarders and closer since i don't want these idiots contaminating the gene pool.! watched one eating during a rain with him shaking off like a dog every few minutes. this lasted 45 min! once the rain stopped his potential genetic transfer was terminated. barn pigs are the smartest and obviously live long and can be big. back to the horse farm today...17 holes+ in one location.

Cleaning out the gene pool has to be hell, but somebody has to do it. You are a noble man to accept this burden.

 

[Frankr]

I have seen one eating another G-hog that had been shot about a half hour before. that's where they get the name dirt pig , I guess. they will eat anything.
but recently we have a few spots that never get cut and can hunt them early before the grass and bush get too high, it seems they wont stay still long enough to get a good shot on them. I watched four different ones that never stopped moving over a 500 yard area. yea they would stop like a second or two and keep moving. I have never seen that before. most of the time they stop and eat a bit before moving on. we did some missing, high wind 450 yards or so.. I thought the coyete's maybe have tought them to not sit around eating?

 

[dragman]

I got my first one yesterday could only see his head sticking up out of the tall grass now he is dead in the field.

 

[lpreddick]

went back to my friends farm with that very sharp eyed ghog at the sinkhole...300yds. i VERY SLOWLEY crept onto the gravel and there he was going up the hill beside the sinkhole...SOB, he saw me and ran down the hill to the edge of the sinkhole, just like twice before. he stops on the rock and we stare at each other. he vanishes under the rock!!! now i know where he lives, so i set up and glass the rock at 32 power with a 68 cheek 6mmbr round ready to chamber. the cautious little devil sticks his head out and then emerges. WHAT A PIG! looked like a havalina. wind is brisk but is at 12 o'clock, so i put the sightron's dot on his chest and lightly touch the 1.5 oz jewell and those two wonderful sounds ring out across the valley...BANG.....WHAACCCKKK! he flips and rolls forward out of sight into the sinkhole. 297 yds. drive to the fence and VERY carefully crawl under the electric wires belly up...once did it buttocks up and YOWEE, there is my trophy DRT and weighed in at 11 lb 15 oz! my largest to date, 11 lb 5 oz second place. spent the rest of the day at the horse farm but nobody came out. no worries. i was still feeling the afterglow of once again outwitting a worthy adversary.

 

[WyleWD]

drive to the fence and VERY carefully crawl under the electric wires belly up...once did it buttocks up and YOWEE,

First of all, good shooting to get that one. And thanks for the story.

By all means do what works out for you on negociating electric fences..... but having been bit by electric fences more times than I care to admit...... and an assortment of places on my anatomy. Some advice I'd definitely share with you is you are far better off getting stung by an electric fence on your buttocks than getting stung on your manhood. Don't ask me how I know as I don't even want to recall it again. But it is the maximum definition of pain. WD

 

[dedogs]

I carry a sitting pad made of closed cell foam and covered in old denim, about 18 inches square. works great when you fold it over the hot wire, push down and just step through. 8)

 

[MrMajestic]

Nice work lpreddick! Gotta love it when a plan comes together!

 

[wyoming .260]

drive to the fence and VERY carefully crawl under the electric wires belly up...once did it buttocks up and YOWEE,

First of all, good shooting to get that one. And thanks for the story.

By all means do what works out for you on negociating electric fences..... but having been bit by electric fences more times than I care to admit...... and an assortment of places on my anatomy. Some advice I'd definitely share with you is you are far better off getting stung by an electric fence on your buttocks than getting stung on your manhood. Don't ask me how I know as I don't even want to recall it again. But it is the maximum definition of pain. WD

I watched a beloved Uncle, who has since passed away, of 6'4" and about 260 urinate accidentally on a fence...... he claimed it burnt the end clean off. I did not inspect to see if he was just whining or it was true. He did seem to dance around a bit before almost falling over though!