Beltfed, I'm going to hedge on whether the .450NE is sufficient for gophers. You might have just been lucky. If those suckers are wounded and charge they will sink their long front teeth into your balls, and you know the result of that!

The last groundhog I killed was a big old grey Virginia boar all fattened up late last September. It was a headshot from about 25 yards with my .500NE double. I felt comfortable taking the shot, knowing I had the second barrel in the event of a charge.

I might go so far as hunt one with my Gibbs; but again, I would have the instant backup shot, even though the .450NE is a bit under-powered. It would be dicey with a single shot rifle. A man's got to be careful.

Maybe now you understand why people hunt them from great distances with flat-shooting varmint rifles. That's the safe (but sissy) way of hunting marmots. The fat little fuckers can't maintain a charge over 250 yards. Of course, I'm assuming your Georgia whistle pigs are at least somewhat as mean and nasty as our big Virginia groundhogs.

I swear, the most frightening sight of my life was seeing one of those crafty marmots glaring at me from the opening of his den as I rode by on horseback. All this happened in the Flattops Wilderness of Colorado in July 2002. Still sends chills down my spine to think of that day and how close I was to danger. Count your blessings.

Curl