First one of the year

[nagantguy]

First one of the year - inside 20 yards on the a wood pile I didn't get around to cutting . 17hmr

Shot another one as well down by the creek- it got back in its hole but left lots of blood and hair behind .

Saw a third - a huge one but was slightly uphill from me and cows behind it so I cut east to get around it and when I came up the other side it was gone .

Damn I miss this all winter long

 

[Mudburner]

Thats a woodchuck, right? Being a vegetarian, those are actually pretty good eating. Slow cooked in a crockpot with potatoes, carrots, onions, green pepper....

 

[nagantguy]

They are good eating - a cousin to a pig but I do t care for them in the spring - to fatty and oily

 

[nagantguy]

View attachment IMG_3014.jpeg
Upper chest shot about 85 yards 17hmr held about half a mil for wind .
#3 for the year .

 

[Rodney65]

Thats a woodchuck, right? Being a vegetarian, those are actually pretty good eating. Slow cooked in a crockpot with potatoes, carrots, onions, green pepper....

Neat. I never would have thought that having never actually seen one. I thought they looked like beavers.

Gophers, or more specifically Richardson ground squirrels, are common here but I have never heard of someone eating those.

 

[nagantguy]

View attachment IMG_3016.jpeg

Got this one this morning- he managed to escape me all last year . Head shot 35-40 yards .17hmr

 

[Mudburner]

Your photos are very tactfully posed! Having seen first hand what .17HMR does to groundhogs...

Incidentally, I asked for that one to eat and the guy gave it to me. I still have the skin in the freezer somewhere. They have a LOT of little bones but I feel it's worth the effort to cook. Groundhog skin is pretty tough. Historically I think it was used to make banjo heads? The ones I shot were living under my outbuilding and up close the parents were gnarly and their skin hair was patchy and looked like they had heavy callouses on their skin. The younger ones looked OK... except for the bullet damage... A full size groundhog can absorb a direct body shot from a .22 rifle and still run off and recover. Have to hit em in the head for an instant kill. Or shoot em with something bigger.

 

[nagantguy]

Your photos are very tactfully posed! Having seen first hand what .17HMR does to groundhogs...

Incidentally, I asked for that one to eat and the guy gave it to me. I still have the skin in the freezer somewhere. They have a LOT of little bones but I feel it's worth the effort to cook. Groundhog skin is pretty tough. Historically I think it was used to make banjo heads? The ones I shot were living under my outbuilding and up close the parents were gnarly and their skin hair was patchy and looked like they had heavy callouses on their skin. The younger ones looked OK... except for the bullet damage... A full size groundhog can absorb a direct body shot from a .22 rifle and still run off and recover. Have to hit em in the head for an instant kill. Or shoot em with something bigger.

Their toughness is legendary for their size . The only thing that is hard wired into their ugly heads is “get back to the hole” “dig another hole “ , “get back to the hole “ “make some young” “eat” “get back to the hole”.
Even with the 22-250 I’ve seen them run yards dragging all their insides and get back in the hole

 

[Ronws]

Awesome. Reminds me of what I would see watching "Chuckin'" on YouTube. They provide a service to the farmers in their area.

And though they have used a number of calibers, they do most of the work with the .22-250.

And I think there should be points system to award points for most air time, most flips, most blown apart...

 

[nagantguy]

file:///var/mobile/Library/SMS/Attachments/30/00/EC070E42-B8F6-4D05-A90C-FD0370FCE62D/MOV_7323.mov

Here is one from this morning still doing death dance - 44 yards head shot 17 hmr.

 

[nagantguy]

Sorry for what ever reason the short video won’t load to this sight .

 

[nagantguy]

View attachment IMG_3027.jpegView attachment IMG_3029.jpeg
Got both these in the head today after work, the top photo- through the ear at about 35 yards
Bottom photo- he was a smart one - I just aimed at his hole while he was on the run and broke the shot when I saw brown in the scope - ear jaw base at about 60 yards . That makes 7 on the year .View attachment IMG_3027.jpeg