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firemandivi · Member

So summer starts and low and behold I have another woodchuck living under my shed. I took care of an entire family of them last year, must be a new guy. Problem is, I can’t seem to find him. Two months go by and the only evidence of him is the hole he digs under my shed every time I fill it in, but this only happens once every few weeks. Seems like this is his vacation home or something.

Since you can’t shoot what you can’t see, I set out the have-a-heart. A few days go by and I finally see the darn beast, but it’s nowhere near the trap its by my neighbor’s house. After talking to my neighbor she has no problem me trapping them, as she hates them also. So I see the little devil run into a storm pipe that must be another of his weekend homes (how many homes do these things have anyway) and I set the trap up next to it with some apples and stuff for bait. Wake up the next morning feeling good thinking I finally got this little pain in my *$& and low and behold my trap is gone. I talk to all my neighbors and they all know nothing. Who the heck would steal a have-a-heart trap, and my wife wonders why I hate people.

So I can’t shoot him because he is never around, I can’t trap him because someone stole my trap, I say that’s is it. It’s on now!! I go buy a leg trap and set it up at his hole under my shed. As the days go by I figure out I didn’t know how to properly set these things and how to bury them properly. Finally I know I got it right and I go to sleep knowing that tomorrow morning I will have caught him and he’ll die by my hands. I wake up and take the kids to the store but not before checking my trap and I’ll give you all one guess and one guess only what I caught (hint it wasn’t a wood chuck). I have the worst luck in the world some times, if you knew me well you would say its just par for the course. Have you figured out what I caught yet? Of course you have, what would be the worst animal in the world to catch in a leg trap, nothing other than a skunk of course. I won’t go into detail about the skunk but lets just say its dead and it wasn’t quick.

By now your all wondering what this has to do with air guns, trust me I’m getting there. So yesterday for some strange reason I took my lovely super-streak to work to target shoot during lunch. I go to my favorite spot and shoot it a couple of times but the pellets are all over the place, I’m know I’m not the best shot but there was a reason. That reason was there were dozens of mosquitoes biting me and buzzing me every second. I only managed 5 shots before I couldn’t take it anymore.

I go home and start cleaning up my yard of all the sticks and branches blown down by Irene, as I’m cleaning up what do I see sticking out of the hole under my shed but the mother fudger wood chuck. The darn thing is just staring at me I move closer to it and it finally goes back under when I’m within 10ft, but then it sticks its head out again in less than a minute. I say to myself today is your lucky day, I grab the super-streak from my car get into a nice seated position wrap my arm around my leg and zoom in. The little bugger is just sitting there staring at me. I put the cross hairs 1cm below his eye exhale and pull the trigger thinking I finally have the bastard. I feel the gun kick back I look and the woodchuck crawled back into his hole. What! How’s that possible, I heard no cry, I see no blood, there is no way in the nine hells that I missed so easy a shot. I continue cleaning my yard and for the next hour I don’t see him stick his head out. I think to myself maybe it wasn’t a perfect shot and he must have just moved two feet and died under the shed.

Today I still have the super-streak in my car and this time I brought some bug spray with me. I take aim and fire and to my huge surprise I’m 2.5-3 inches to the left of the target, mind you I was standing but I was only 10yds away. I say to myself, it must have been a flyer no way I could be that off. I fire 5 more the same thing, I shoot another 5, then another 5, all the same vertically they are perfect but they are all 2.5-3 inches off to the left. I check the scope mount, which has been known to move and its solid, the cross-hairs aren’t moving so the scope isn’t broken. I check the horizontal adjustment on the scope knowing that I tightened it after zeroing it in before and you guessed it, it was as loose as loose can be. So now I need to re-zero my gun and pray that little pest will give me another shot before winter hits.

So what I have I have learned this summer, One people are scum, stealing my have-a-heart trap and Two before you shoot any animal always make sure that your gun is properly sited in. Please feel free to poke fun at me for catching a skunk or anything else you find amusing, I can laugh at it now but I will laugh harder once I take care of that darned woodchuck.

oddtodd · Silver Status Member

It always can be worse. You could have a skunk living below your shed. lol And as far as someone stealing your trap? There are all kinds of dirty bastards out there to make life hard for someone else.

mod90 · Veteran Member

And my wife says i need to give people a chance. Far as I'm concerned some folks are just not worth the chances they get. Gimme my guns @ my dogs, and all is right in my little world. But I hope you get the lil bastard before he decides to settle in and raise a family.
I personally check my sights every 2 days, whether I've used the gun or not. Saves me the embarrassment of a close range miss Embarassed

alazar14 · New Member

Who in the world would steal a trap?

You really worked hard man sorry all that work didnt pay off.

Do you plan to use your gun to solve this problem?

firemandivi · Member

I adjusted the scope the next day and I know I will not miss, when the opportunity presents itself. So yes I will solve this problem with my 0.22 cal Super Streak as soon as the little bugger gives me a clear shot.

one shot · Member

To be fair could a animal have carried the trap off? Could a cat or something get it's leg stuck in it and drag it away?

I'll tell you one better. I shot a squirrel right in the heart yet he ran off, ran up a tree, jumped into another tree and escaped. How could that happen? I know I didn't miss because I didn't see any dirt kick up. Turns out I realized the rifle wasn't loaded like I thought it was since had I forgotten to load it the day before after I had shot it so I just shot at the squirrel with nothing more than air coming out the barrel.

Lesson learned: Always reload the rifle after firing it instead of assuming you will remember to do that after you bring in your kill.