Spot & Stalk for groundhogs W ITH RECORD HIGH temperatures for days on end, and a serious lack of rainfall, the summer of 1966 was anything but good for farming. But it was a good time to hunt groundhogs. The withered ground cover made it easier to see groundhogs throughout the summer. And the dry ground marked any missed shots with dust clouds that allowed for aiming adjustments on follow-ups. In time, I would learn to appreciate how ground cover could improve my success - by concealing me and my movements as I further developed a spotand-stalk technique for hunting groundhogs. When I started out, I did all of my groundhog hunting with an open-sighted over/ under .22 magnum/20-gauge. It worked just fine for me. The shotgun allowed me to take shots that were close, but might not be safe for a rifle, and the rifle had plenty of power for longer shots. By Tom Kissinger AUGUST 2017 29