Got a groundhog

[Forum Admin]

After mowing down some tall grass on the edge of my property, I discovered a little family of groundhogs. They are really tough critters to kill, as soon as they see you, they disappear. I got one of the little ones today with my Gamo Shadow. I had to low crawl about 50 yards to get a good shot that wasnt pointing toward anything I didnt want to shoot (house and outbuildings). I finally crawled around the shed and there he was 10 feet away. A headshot later, and he was history. Here's the first of hopefully three:

[josephlys]

Congrads on the kill. very nice, good stalking. Btw hey check this out, I'll bet that these slingshots have real potential to be great hunting weapons. Lighter ones can be made for birds. <object width="1280" height="745"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/B9lJ5FoXrek&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&hd=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/B9lJ5FoXrek&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="1280" height="745"></embed></object> Hope this vid gets thru' thanks.

[josephlys]

Btw whats that in his mouth, did he die while eating a vegetable. Maybe when your pellet hit em, he was shocked and choked on an asparagus.

[Forum Admin]

Yes, he died with food in his mouth    Headshots produce very interesting effects, loss of bowel control, flopping around, etc. I've seen lots of animals die with a mouthfull of food, from mice to whitetail deer. Come to think of it, I wouldnt mind dying with a slice of cherry pie or cheesecake in my mouth. 

Slingshots definitely make good hunting weapons. As a young teenager, I hunted a lot with a marksman slingshot when I ran out of CO2 for my pellet rifle. I shot lots of birds, frogs, and squirrels using anything from rocks, marbles, and ball bearings for ammo. Takes a little more practice to master, but you can get pretty accurate with a slingshot.

[josephlys]

Slingshots used with right bands and right ammo can be deadly. Plus I like them for their pocket friendliness, you can bring them anywhere. Flip them out at a moments notice, and plink some pest. Btw Im still at spring ballvalve airrifles, gave some to my friends to motivate them to hunt. The only problem I have with them is they are too slow loading and bulky. Can the Co2 tanks of paintballguns be used to make a more powerful userfriendly AG. Paintballguns shoot so rapidly, or can a painballgun be modified to shoot deadlier projectiles that would be fun.

[username1]

Forum Admin, why did you let your homemade airguns miss such a precious and rare chance? If you had used your homemade one, even more people would have visited here. That's what they expect at our forum. Hunting with a commercial airgun is not strange. I think, when I hunt with a commercial airgun, in fact, the manufacturer aims the gun for me (with his state-of-the-art sight), squeezes the trigger for me (with his electric trigger system) and kill a game for me (with his well-made and uniform rounds). No fun left at all! Nothing! Even some little children can do that (Watch Youtube!)! Just my opinion 

[josephlys]

Well thats not true, I think the only reason you find it not fun is because you are bored with it. Just like me I some times get bored using my homemade blowgun all the time, although it is quite effective and practical. So I rotate, use and play different things, like slingshots, spears, recurves, throwing sticks, and homemade airguns. You just dont know how lucky you are, able to own an air rifle. What I'll give to have one.

[Forum Admin]

I wanted to use one, but didnt have any ammo made at the time.  Groundhogs eat people's vegetable gardens and their burrows mess up the foundations of houses, so I wanted to be sure to get what I could when I had the chance. As time permits, I plan to use a homemade airgun to take care of the others, I've got my supply of ammo up again. 

[chucker]

Missed on 2 chances to get a groundhog with my homemade airgun today. need to build a qdv valve airgun with spring trigger so punching the blowgun dosnt kick my shots off.

[Forum Admin]

Those blowgun triggers do make it hard to put your ammo on target.  I'm redesigning my QDV to allow for a friction fit barrel system, much like Stu's Trom-boyn. I've also bumped it up to 3/4" type L in the valve for better flow with a wider range of barrels. The problem I'm having right now is getting the o ring grooves made just right for a perfect seal. Something difficult to achieve without a lathe.

[mouz]

i tried to make a QDV but it totally did not work at all. i just couldn't hold any air.

[Forum Admin]

Yeah, those o rings are a pain in the rear. I've got another piston design that should overcome my lack of machine tools, but I'll have to find a more specialized ring than my local hardware stores carry. Off to the auto parts stores 

[chucker]

@ mouz: i was put off piston valves when a coaxial i made just didnt wanna seal properly and that they still need some sort of pilot. That qdv is an awsome design, serviceable piston and easy triggering .

[mouz]

except that my QDV didn't even hold 1 psi for 1 second yes, i totally agree. i think maybe if i got some better O rings i might have better luck.