"Ground Grizzly in the Long grass"...

[HuntnCarve]

The farmer cut the hay field down below the house the other day.  On a hunch, I kept my eyes peeled for signs of a roving "Ground Grizzly" at the Honey Holes?  So while on my tractor mowing this morning, I noticed some fresh diggings at newly commissioned HH1-1/2.  He had cleverly concealed his lair amidst the brush and tall grass where I can't get at with the mower. Only his diggings had given him away. 
Grabbing up a dead stick I whacked down the leafy foliage and cleared a shooting lane.  It would be perfect for a shot off the back deck.  Now the waiting game began...
Later in the afternoon I was telling the wife of my find.  She feigned interest as best a wife could do while she unloaded groceries.  Meantime, I happened to look out the deck door, only to see a slight movement in the vicinity of HH1-1/2?    Grabbing the binos, I adjusted them to the shadows, in time to see a chunky hog come into focus!  As the wife was chattering about the price of paper towels?   I feigned interest the best that a husband could do, and ran for the rifle in the back room.  She was going on about fruit varieties at the market when I slipped out the door.  Focusing on HH1-1/2 I found the cross hairs to be extremely hard to see in the shadows.  The hog was not there, but I figured he was down the hole and would be surfacing shortly?  Rifle resting on the railing, I remembered this scope had a illuminated reticle.  Turning the knob, the cross hairs lit up dark green!  Just in time too!  For precisely at that moment I detected movement at the hole edge.  Ever so cautiously the hog eased out of the mouth of the hole with his back towards me.  Placing the green cross hair between his ears I touched off a shot.  Plop!  The hog wilted on the spot.  No.7 for the year was in the books.  It was a big male that was in the process of setting up shop before I ruined his plans.  Walking down to pick him up, I glanced nonchalantly at HH2 in passing.  Well I'll be!  Fresh diggings at the the mouth!  Could No.8 be in the future?  Let's wait and see?  Until next time...

HuntnCarve
Dave

[nastygunz]

Bravo! Hes a bruiser.

[FinsnFur]

THATS a blanket size Dave!
Get that baby skinned out.

[Hawks Feather]

Sounds like groundhog for dinner.  As aways, good shooting.

Jerry

[HaMeR]

Yeah he's a bigun!! You need to skin him out & measure him! 

[pitw]

I love your hunting stories.  
Yesterday morning I had to wait patiently for my work partner[Bobby, who had gone to the lake for an hour the night before ] to show up so we could go spraying 50 miles South.  I went out to check on my just starting to grow hay and saw a gopher at 150 yds.  Grabbed my old 22 with a 4 power weaver scope that has been attached to it for 45 years and tried to find the gopher in it[Bobby says he can't see through it].  I found a brown spot and as the wind was blowing from left to right I put the cross hair 1 1/2 gophers high and about the same to the left.  Pried that sticky trigger back and damb near shit when I heard a plop.  Drove over and said gopher had the top of his head missing.  
You can't tell me that I'm a good shot but I'll bet on my luck every time.

[HuntnCarve]

Enjoyed your story Barry.  I started out with pretty much the same .22 set up as you described. LOL!  Except my scope was a 3/4" tube, 6x power.  Forty five years ago I thought it was the greatest set up around!  Killed a pile of chucks with it.  The scope got replaced ten years back with a 3x-9x one inch tube model.  Rifle still shoots great!  One of these days I'll snap a few photos of the old Marlin Glenfield Model 20 rifle that got this old chuck hunter started back in the day when a box of cartridges was under a buck....Might even tell the story of how I acquired the rifle?

Dave