Another day, another garden varmint

[daytime dave]

I had been noticing that the systematic destruction (eating) of the broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage in the garden for about a week. No rabbits at night, but something was definitely gorging on the large leaves of these plants. I suspected the resident ground hog from the barn. The damage looked like he was going from plant to plant and then row to row.
I looked for him this morning just after sun up, not there. Just before I left for errands, there he was. He was big and broadside. I hurriedly retrieved my Browning T-bolt. The shot would be 60 yds or so, right out the back door. One shot anchored him to where he was. A head shot with my 2" model 63 finished him for sure.
He was heavy, and no wonder. He had decimated three rows of produce. No more salad bar for him.

[Sir Henry]

Nice shot!

[BigAl52]

Ground Hog stew Dave?

[daytime dave]

Ground Hog stew Dave?

Probably not, but I have a recipe or two I think.

[Vaquero]

Good shooting.

RP

[North Country Gal]

That is definitely a well-fed groundhog. Good work, Dave.

[Ozarkwoodswalker]

Good shot. Well done!

[rickhem]

Nice! And a 60 yard shot is far enough away that you get to hear the bullet hit too.
I almost hate to admit it, but I get a little pumped when a new groundhog starts taking up residence under the one garage. I have a couple traps out for them, and I'll relocate them to way out in the woods if I catch one, but if one is caught out free-ranging, I do what you did. Getting trapped is by far their best option. Some of them are pretty good at the whole escape and evade thing too.

[Hatchdog]

Nice shooting Dave and a great selection of firearms to complete the task!

[daytime dave]

Nice! And a 60 yard shot is far enough away that you get to hear the bullet hit too.
I almost hate to admit it, but I get a little pumped when a new groundhog starts taking up residence under the one garage. I have a couple traps out for them, and I'll relocate them to way out in the woods if I catch one, but if one is caught out free-ranging, I do what you did. Getting trapped is by far their best option. Some of them are pretty good at the whole escape and evade thing too.

Yes, I heard the thump of the strike and funny thing, his tail went up when he was hit. It went down with the coup de grace. He never moved at all except his tail.

I tried the garden without fencing last year and it worked ok. This year, not really. The fencing is hard to mow and weed around. I'll see about a happy balance next year.
Since I live in the countryside, shooting varmints who damage the garden is what happens. I don't shoot the varmints just because, as that old fat whistle pig will attest to. I'm pretty sure he lived in the barn before I moved here. I won't be looking for a new Tennant though.

[rickhem]

I have a fence around our garden. I personally would not have a garden, but she likes it and tends it daily. The fence is just a 24" high one, to keep out the rabbits and such. It's low enough to just step over. I know what you mean about mowing around it so I have the Farmworks 41% Glyphosate from Tractor Supply and spray around the fence a when the weeds grow where I can't just mow them.

[daytime dave]

I once saw a ground hog climb my two foot high rabbit fence and get into my raised garden box when I lived in suburbia. I couldn't believe it. I had no idea they could climb like that. When I saw it, I was certainly amazed and also impressed. He got his later, via a pellet gun as it was suburbia.

Do you get good results with that weed killer? I've been using 30% vinegar for fairly small areas and get pretty good results.

[Redthies]

I’m having problems with ‘coons and skunks these days. I have live trapped and relocated 2 skunks successfully, but the current lawn shredder is proving hard to catch. I’ve caught the same raccoon (or siblings) 4 times in my trap. I think he is starting to get Stockholm Syndrome. He was actually sleeping in the trap at 5:30 this morning when I went to see if I had caught the skunk. He’s probably figured out that if he gets into the trap, he gets a nice meal (mackerel on a taco last night, although he didn’t eat the stale taco shell), and a place to sleep it off before getting released in the morning.

The skunk I’ve seen out in the yard a couple of times, but once the light hits him, he’s gone pretty quickly. I might have to sit out on the front porch in a down jacket with the .22 and tactical light and see if he comes into view. One of my dogs got sprayed twice in a week last year, and I have no desire to repeat that experience.

I “armored up” one of my traps as the ‘coons and skunks have been shredding the soft covers I’ve been using. Skunks won’t spray if they can’t see their target. I left the “view port” so I can tell what is in there and whether or not I need to use caution on release.

[daytime dave]

Good idea on the armor. I love the rhyme.

[Redthies]

I got tired of them destroying the entire footprint of lawn under the wire floor too, so it’s all around coverage. I’ll try again tonight

[Redthies]

Another dawn brings another satisfied customer at the Raccoon Eatery. Big momma today. They love the mackerel!

[daytime dave]

Congrats on getting another varmint.

[Hatchdog]

I have to share a couple of stories from my past with varmints.

My last place had a barn where I stored hay bales on top of pallets. Occasionally I would get a skunk in the barn that would be inside the pallets. I would know as they would always poop just outside the barn before climbing into the pallets. I could be in there face to face with one looking thru the pallets. I didn’t expect to get sprayed and never was. I would set my trap outside the barn in a location where I could shoot and the little fools would enter it and bang, no more skunk. But, I also had feral cats take up residence in the barn. I would set the trap for them and relocate them to a remote area nearby. Only one cat made a return trip so that one went whitetail hunting with us and was relocated in a very remote area. Bye bye kitty.

But, stupid me one time set the trap inside the barn for a cat and instead trapped a pretty black kitty with white striped down its back. Oops. I didn’t’ want the skunk to spray my hay so I researched a bit and discovered like redthies said that they wouldn’t spray if out of sight. So I “bravely” threw a blanket on the trap and “bravely” carried it outside and set in place for a shot. When I pulled the blanket off the trap it had caught underneath it and tumbled a bit. Well that got the skunk’s attention and he let go. It was his last hurrah tho…

“Bravely”, right! I was very nervous and didn’t like this at all.

[Mags]

A couple years ago a neighbor shot a skunk. We heard the shot which was immediately followed by the reek. It was unbearable for a couple of days.