Thursday, July 26, 2012

Me 1; Ground hogs 0

I brought the .22 bolt action Marlin down from the Bolt Hole to the Aerie because the ground hogs had put on so much fat eating up my garden and lawn that the air rifle just wasn't going to do the job.

Today that decision paid off. After seeing ground hogs twice with no chance of a shot, I laid a fat ole boy to rest. Took two shots--although the first would have been lethal by itself. Darn thing tried to crawl away after a chest hit and got stuck in the wire fence I've got around the herbs, beets, lettuce and onions. Had to put a second round behind his ear execution style so I could drag the carcass out of the fence and into the woods.

Normally I hate the idea of having a critter suffer after being shot, but if he had made it to the weeds, I would have been okay with the knowledge he would probably die in his hole. his rotting corpse would have probably discouraged other ground hogs from moving in what is now a vacancy in prime territory. (I say "prime" based upon the weight and size of the ground hog I slew today.)

2 comments:

Rev. Paul said...

Good shootin' there, Tex. :)

joated said...

Eternal vigilance it the price one must pay for vine ripened tomatoes.