Groundhog Day at Camp

We’ve been at our place since September 2001. The World Trade Center was still smouldering. I had not bagged a Groundhog in well over 5 years. Y’all have to remember that I was close to giving up in those days. I’d lost every one of my good hunting spots. There really wasn’t time to hunt. When I did get out, it was for something a bit more serious– deer and turkey. Groundhog just wasn’t high on my list if I was going to have to drive a couple hours.

We’ve had a load of deer and turkey come off our property. We’ve bagged coyote and squirrel. We’ve had elk and bear and bobcat, but the one game that has eluded us is groundhog. Part of it is the coyotes being around. Part of it the lack of good food for them. We have had one occasionally show up, but never for long, and usually, it has been close to one of the barns.

Sunday, everyone had left before Noon. I stayed behind to lock up and get one last deer rifle sighted in. It was O.T.’s 25-06 Mauser. I miss O.T. His deer rifle is all I have left. I was checking to make sure the 117 grain Hornady’s were still grouping well.

On the fourth round, a nice fat groundhog interrupted my shooting. He walked out in front of the 100-yard target stand and stood up on his hind legs.

As a varmint round, I can say the .257 117 grain Hornady Interlock SPBT is not explosive. I had a nice entry and exit, about what you’d expect of a deer round on a whistle pig. After that, I decided things were good enough and packed up.

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