| Earlier this
year a friend of mine was telling me how bad the ground
hogs are in his pasture on his farm. He went on to tell
me how they are in the barns and all around the old equipment,
etc. I got a chance to go out there about a month ago
to take a little walk. I saw one hog but was unable to
get a shot before he made it back to his hole. The grass
was a little high and it was difficult to see the hog
and so I figured that I had better wait until they cut
the field again. Although I didnt get to shoot any hogs,
in the 1 hour that I was there I saw 3 deer, 1 woodchuck,
and 1 fox. The fox was within 30 yards. 2 of the 3 deer
were very nice bucks. A successful trip in my eyes and
I would be back when the field was cut.
Well last week, Thursday actually, I stopped by the
farm on my way home to see if the field had been cut.
They were in the process of bailing it and had most
of it already in the wagons. I stopped to talk to the
farmer, who Ive known since grade school, and he said
that there were a few holes in his field. I had to get
home but told him that I would be back soon to help
him out with his problem.
Not sure how much help I was in reducing the population
but I did have my opportunities. The first one I saw
was about 110 yards on the far end of the field. I was
carrying my Remington Model 700 Classic in .17 Remington.
I had a small bipod on the gun but was also carrying
my version of Varmint Als bi-fur-pod (shooting sticks).
This was a pretty big chuck and was feeding contently
in the taller grass. While he was feeding in the grass,
I could only see his top half and was aiming at his
shoulder. When I shot, he ran to the edge of the woods
and stopped. I couldnt figure out what had happened
but I definitely missed him. I had enough time to get
off a second shot but was not sure why I missed. I didnt
shoot at him again and he was able to reach safety in
the dense undergrowth of the treeline. I sat there trying
to figure out why I had missed him and realized that
I had the gun sighted in at 1" high for 100 yards.
I must have shot high since I did not see the impact
in front of the hog. Being able to spot your hits with
the .17 is definitely a bonus.
A little disappointed at myself, I headed further down
the field. I spotted a big gray hog at the far end of
the field. He was about 150 yards away and I got set
up with my bi-fur-pod and the gun resting in the sticks.
This hog was out grazing and was a good size chuck.
I put the cross-hairs on the shoulder and then aimed
lower realizing that the point of impact would be high.
I squeezed off the shot when I felt solid and watched
the action through the scope as the little 25 grain
Starke Hollow point rolled this large chuck clean over
onto its back. Not even a twitch of the tail could
be seen. Below is a picture of my .17 Remington in my
bi-fur-pod over the chuck.
When I walked up to the hog, I rolled it over to see
if there was an exit wound. To my surprise and disappointment,
there was a large exit wound just behind the front shoulder
on the opposite side.
Description of the gun and load.
- Remington Model 700 Classic (1999)
- Caliber: .17 Remington
- Load: 24.2 grains of IMR 4320 behind a 25 grain
Starke RPVB. Remington 7 primers.
- Scope: Simmons 44 Mag. 4-12 power.
Scope base and rings Leupold. Yes I know that the
rings are silver and that the base is blued. I bought
them from a store going out of business and got them
cheap. Cheap was definitely necessary at the time.
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