Ground hog killing wife

Today | Me

[sparkomatic]

I'm at work, 50 miles from the home 20. The wife called and said, "Julie [my SIL] just called and there is a ground hog in the tree in her back yard. It may be sick or something."

I said well what do you want me to do about it? I ain't driving 100 miles round trip just to dispatch a ground hog that thinks it's a coon.

She said, "Well I think I can do it, but I need you to tell me how to open the safe. I need you to tell me which gun to use. I need you to tell me how to operate the gun. etc."

I talked her through opening the safe. Got it on the first try.

I contemplated having her use my 12 ga. coach model stoger but, I thought that might hurt her. Afterall, she's kind of scared of guns. I thought it would be best if she used the Ruger 10/22. Only problem is that she's just in the edge of a little town. I explained she'd want to point the gun in such a way as the stray bullets would zing out into the woods rather than into town. No, there's no "no firing guns" ordnance there. When I say small town, I mean it.

So she's digging through the safe trying to determine which gun is the 10/22. "Here's one that's black with brown wood and a camo sling."

No that's my slug gun.

Here's one in a case.

No, that's the coach gun.

Here's one that's black with wood and has carving on it.

No, that's the 270 Winchester.

Oh, here it is. It says Ruger on it. It's kind of little and has a scope on it.

Yep, that's it.

OK, what bullets do I use.

There should be some magazines laying on a shelf with bullets already in them.

Here's some. They are grey.

No, those are for the AR-15. You should see some little black cube shaped magazines with little bullets in them.

Oh, here's some little bitty bullets.

No, those are probably the 22 shorts.

Keith, I don't even know how to load this gun. I better call dad.

No, you can do this. Afterall, you were in the army.

Then it dawned on me. Michael has a Rossi matched pair on the top shelf. Shelley, grab Michaels gun. It's easy to use.

OK. I've got it.

Good. Put it together. Use the .22 barrell, not the .410 barrell. I talked her through assembling the rifle. She actually, began attaching the .410 barrel at first. That probably should have been the best choice, but it's actually got some good kick to it.

Then I talked her through how to use the gun.

She found some ammo that actually said .22LR on the box. Probably my box of CCI's.

She said, "OK, I'm going over there now. Wish me luck."

I had a meeting in the meantime. About an hour later I called back.

She said, "I did it." First shot was just behind the ear. Then I shot him again, that one knocked him out of the tree.

"Then," she says, "John Boy went over and hit him with a spoon to make sure he was dead."

I'm so proud of her.

[humblegunner]

Great job!

[Atlas Sneezed]

Bang

[bert]

I suspect the groundhog was already dead. It was afterall in a tree.

Whoever heard of a tree climbing groundhog?

[SquirrelKing]

Of course - Urgeons always deal with Urgent matters.

I think he meant sturgeons.

[sparkomatic]

Anyway, why would you want to kill a ground hog anyway ?

Why wouldn't we want to? Have you ever seen a horse with a broke leg because it stepped in a ground hog hole? Have you ever seen a little boy on a PW-50 crash because of a ground hog hole? Besides, it's legal and fun.

[TheGunny]

BECAUSE THEY TEAR UP THE YARD!!!!

[capt. norm]

Here in the South the term 'groundhog' has a totally different meaning:
sausage

[sopwith]

ground hog is good eatin too.

[ishabibble]

Not only that, but now there is the PETA issue...

[Quix]

AMEN!

Now, if we could get all PATRIOTIC, SANE, REASONABLE, expecially CONSERVATIVE

folks to own your arsenal! LOL!

[joesnuffy]

Groundhogs are nasty varmints and are rabid at a very high rate...had a deformed one that came after me and my dog on a trail hike one day...it was hissing like a danged snake and was foaming at the mouth....

Unfortunately I didnt have my 22 Smitty with me...very nasty critters....when they hit 20lbs
they are almost formidable...great fun to nail with the .17 HMR though...

[joesnuffy]

Ping Varmint Al he'l tell ya all about em....and his website has good info on how to eradicate the nasty critters

[AngryJawa]

Could we send your SIL to New York to clean out the trees in Central Park? They've had a problem with a different kind of varmint lately.

[South40]

[sparkomatic]

I'm already on gogovarmint.com.
I am a varmint hunter during the summer. I had 12 confirmed kills last year.

[Western Phil]

"Whoever heard of a tree climbing groundhog?"

Maybe it is the rare and endangered Treehog.

[So Cal Rocket]

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

How much ground could a groundhog hog if a groundhog could hog ground?

[Oorang]

LOL!

[TaxRelief]

Did they wash their hands? If they touched it and it has rabies and they didn't wash...Well, you might want to get it to a lab to check for rabies. Afterall, it did climb a tree...

[Arrowhead1952]

Genuine ground hog.