Whistle Pigs

QuietButDeadly

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
While I am doing all this social distancing, figured I might as well crack the seal on the whistle pig season. Popped these pretty close to sheds on the farm with the .17 HMR so they are not exploded like the ones LarryR posts but they are good ones nonetheless.

We used to have a pretty good group hunting groundhogs on here but it seems to dwindled down to just a few. And with LarryR recuperating, is is even a smaller group.

Back in the good old days when Highstand ran a contest, we had a good time taking out whistle pigs!

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bwfarms

Old Mossy Horns
Last one I hit low, my error. I sniped it at 124 yards with a polymer tipped .22 mag with a 4x32 as it stood up. It jumped up, tail flicking and tumbling as it went underneath a barn. Obviously I didn't recover it but I'm confident it's dead.

Here's another one though same gun at slightly less distance, 112.

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B-KayCh

Six Pointer
Nothing like some varmit shooting. Never got to shoot many groundhogs but nutria and beavers, the 22 mag has done the job!!!
 

Mack in N.C.

Old Mossy Horns
Nice work! Used to groundhog hunt all the time, Marlin 783 22 mag is my favorite. 125 yards no problem. Used to Slay them at Butner .
 

fowlhntr

Six Pointer
Used to enjoy shooting groundhogs in the river bottoms on an uncles farm. You could really stretch it out there and was great practice
 

shadebaby

Six Pointer
I enjoy it also. I have been checking around the edges of fields this past week haven't seen them yet.

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Papa_Smurf

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Nice. We generally get a few with the 12 ga around the farm. Turkey shells put a hurtin on them.

We generally trap a few as well.
 

QuietButDeadly

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Been doing some walking every day and checking up on the local wildlife. Pasture got mowed and I spotted a groundhog along a fence line but it did not notice me scoping out the field. All I had with me was binos so I slipped back out and headed back to the house to get the .17 HMR. Drove back up there but parked far enough away to not spook it if it was still out.

Eased back to where I could see and it was still there doing some serious munching. Set up the tripod and let the .17 eat. Was not a DRT but did not go far. 145 yd shot on a big old sow.
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bwfarms

Old Mossy Horns
Where are you guys located that you have enough groundhogs to hunt?

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I thought they were everywhere. I don't hunt them, I shoot them when opportunity presents itself and that's often. There's certainly not a shortage in the piedmont.

They do appear to be more prevalent in open cattle country but they are in row crops, you just don't see them because of cover. I've gotten a few along side corn.
 

QuietButDeadly

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
North central piedmont for me but not nearly the number of ground hogs as there once was. But I have been know to be their worst nightmare for several years already, having killed well into double digit quantities several years. Have killed 8 to 10 a day an multiple occasions in the past but not near that many targets available now. Most of my kills have been within a few miles of home but I have hunted with LarryR up around Boone on occasion. Plenty of whistle pigs in the mountains and the northern piedmont for sure. I do not know about the southern piedmont but have seen them as far east as Plymouth NC.

Coyotes have helped reduce their numbers some as well as folks like me sniping them.

They like old barns/sheds and rock or brush piles for den sites, especially around clover or other tender grasses. And soybeans and gardens are their Golden Corral.

There is no closed season on hunting groundhogs so they can be shot year round. But trapping is only allowed during the statewide trapping season. Trapping them during the spring and summer when that are most active and causing problems is only legal IF you obtain a depredation permit.
 

Larry R

Old Mossy Horns
You guys are making me so darn jealous. LOL. We normally do not start hunting them here in the Boone area until 15 May (I can only speak for my brothers and I) because we like to let the little ones get big enough to survive on their own before we start whacking them. That allows the young of the year to survive and become targets themselves (herd management LOL). But about this time of the spring I do get a bad case of trigger finger itch and it ain't from poison oak. LOL. Depending on where I hunt and typical shot distances I select the .17 HMR or my 'built' .204 ruger. Either will do the job but typically I like the .204 and longer distances

Agree with QBD not near as many as a few years ago and sharp shooters like him have put a hurt on them. I also believe the coyotes have had just as much impact on them, especially the young of the year. I have seen three or four times coyotes taking on older ground hogs. I have only seen one where the coyote won over the older ground hog. I saw one where the ground hog literally handed the coyote his butt on a silver platter. On the others the older ground hogs were able to fend off the coyote until it got back into the den. I'm positive a young of the year doesn't stand a chance against a coyote, especially a coyote that is a year or more old.
 

Larry R

Old Mossy Horns
BTW if you need help in herd control contact Harold (QBD) he definitely knows how to whack them.
 

Larry R

Old Mossy Horns
Never although at a few wild game suppers I have provided a few young ones but passes on their servings. LOL.
 

QuietButDeadly

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Found a couple more making a pushed up pile of old barn timbers home. Did not get a where they fell shot this time and they were a pain to retrieve. But the 17 grain Hornady VMax pill sure did it's job. No mistaking that splat on contact.

Spotted the first one but it moved before I could get a shot. Waited a few minutes and it reappeared. Last mistake it ever made. I just sat tight for about 20 minutes and the other one showed up to get his medicine.
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Mack in N.C.

Old Mossy Horns
nice! I used to shoot them a lot and trap them a lot as well. Copland Fabrics used to have a bad problem with them back in the day as Copland's main plant was on the point between The Haw River and Stoney Creek. on the stony creek side was Kudzu which ground hogs love and they had a big problem with them burrowing under the building. The owner let me trap all I wanted and the guards would wave me through to ck the traps...... Greens beans was the ticket.
 

darkthirty

Old Mossy Horns
I shot one last week running through the saplings along the hedgerow beside my barn. Dang thing looked like a souped up squirrel running along the saplings about 6’ high.. I’d never seen one go through bushes/saplings like that. He couldn’t tote the 28 gauge 1oz copper plated 4’s “varmint loads” I’d hand loaded. 😂😂
 

Downeast

Twelve Pointer
Good Eats!

I used to hunt them in the Piedmont of Virginia many years ago and the old farmer that let us hunt his farm would cook them in a stew. He said they ate the same thing as his cattle (besides his garden!) and they were delicious. He wasn't lying either. I wish I still had the recipe.
 

Helium

Old Mossy Horns
Dang! Need to try my new Howa Mini .222 out on some whistles!

Unfortunately I’ve only seen 1 on our property in VA. However they are all around in surrounding areas
 

bwfarms

Old Mossy Horns
I didn't wait around for a clear head shot because cows were coming. Head was in the grass and slight quarter away, 125 yards with my Choot em .22 Mag. CCI 30 grain polymer and 4x32 Simmons.

Plenty more around here.

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Larry R

Old Mossy Horns
BW you need to revisit that location, that momma has a gang of young.

Have my daughter and her two little bundles of joy still visiting after my hip replacement. They are concerned about returning to Mexico City at this time due to COVID 19. It's supposedly pretty bad there and the vast majority appear to be ignoring any efforts to control the spread. Goes without saying time with them is a heck of a lot more important than whacking a few groundhogs. My groundhog and coyote hunting has been placed on the back burner but it doesn't mean that I an itchy trigger finger. LOL.
 
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