Not the first groundhog I've taken, but the first with my new Impact MK2, .25 w 700 mm slug liner. Also the first one to take with slugs. And my first hunting post. Hope I'm not too wordy....but it is.
I live on a farm in a barn and though my landlord frowns on general hunting he is grateful for me to "cull the pest herd" especially now that it's planting season. The squirrels and groundhogs have a history of destroying the vegetable garden and out building foundations.
I just finished tuning for slugs on limited air supply during COVID. Not the perfect tune but I'm happy with it taking targets out past 100 meters. (I've decided to go metric with my mil-mil Midas Tac).
Anyway, I saw this guy yesterday evening and had him in the cross hairs, squeezing the trigger when the landlord's dog came out of nowhere and charged into my shot! He was just there, and had the groundhog not reacted causing me to stop my shot, I'd have a dead pet on my hands. He was on a leash with the landlord's wife on the other end. I was mad at myself for not being more alert, but It was windy (20 mph), so I couldn't hear them coming, I was 40 yards away and there was a line of eucalyptus trees so I couldn't see them. They usually take their walk earlier in the afternoon and it was the dinner hour so was not expecting them. From now on I'm calling every time to tell them when I hunt.
I apologized and she didn't seem too concerned (don't think she realized just how close a call that was). And I went indoor for 20 minutes to let things settle down.
I came back out and he was out but had to shoot through the foliage otherwise he would have spotted me. It was the only shot I had as he stuck his head out from under the wood shed. Hit him in the neck with a 38.5 grain NSA doing 915 fps. Didn't want a head shot because he might have done "the dance" and gone up under the shed out of reach. He just dropped and didn't move a muscle. Must have destroyed the spine. These slugs expand so much it didn't exit.
So the landlord was very happy....whew!
Dropped him where he lay. Notice the damage he and others have caused to the foundation.
New Impact MKII shooting 38.5 NSA at 71.59 lb-ft to the neck
Shot path, threading the needle
Not taken from the groundhog but a clay block at 100 meters. These things are devastating!!
KP
I live on a farm in a barn and though my landlord frowns on general hunting he is grateful for me to "cull the pest herd" especially now that it's planting season. The squirrels and groundhogs have a history of destroying the vegetable garden and out building foundations.
I just finished tuning for slugs on limited air supply during COVID. Not the perfect tune but I'm happy with it taking targets out past 100 meters. (I've decided to go metric with my mil-mil Midas Tac).
Anyway, I saw this guy yesterday evening and had him in the cross hairs, squeezing the trigger when the landlord's dog came out of nowhere and charged into my shot! He was just there, and had the groundhog not reacted causing me to stop my shot, I'd have a dead pet on my hands. He was on a leash with the landlord's wife on the other end. I was mad at myself for not being more alert, but It was windy (20 mph), so I couldn't hear them coming, I was 40 yards away and there was a line of eucalyptus trees so I couldn't see them. They usually take their walk earlier in the afternoon and it was the dinner hour so was not expecting them. From now on I'm calling every time to tell them when I hunt.
I apologized and she didn't seem too concerned (don't think she realized just how close a call that was). And I went indoor for 20 minutes to let things settle down.
I came back out and he was out but had to shoot through the foliage otherwise he would have spotted me. It was the only shot I had as he stuck his head out from under the wood shed. Hit him in the neck with a 38.5 grain NSA doing 915 fps. Didn't want a head shot because he might have done "the dance" and gone up under the shed out of reach. He just dropped and didn't move a muscle. Must have destroyed the spine. These slugs expand so much it didn't exit.
So the landlord was very happy....whew!
KP
