Jun 6, 2015 4 min read

Like many others, I read the beautiful article in last Sunday’s paper about the Kirschner farm near the town of Ten Mile.

The piece had special meaning to me, not only because it was written about two stewards of the environment, but about two people I am fortunate enough to call friends.

Unknown to many, Carol and Jack Kirschner are mother and stepfather to Bob Shinkovec, who does a lot of volunteer work with youngsters teaching shooting both gun and bow among other activities.

Of course, an emphasis is always placed on safety. It’s always good to see an adult draw the younger generation away from the television and computer and demonstrate that there is some pleasure in the outdoor world.

For those who don’t recognize the name, Shinkovec manages the Danny Jr. Pizza Shop in Eighty Four and is better known as Pizza Bob.

• Over the last couple of months, I received more than one call from people who have spotted a bald eagle in the Canonsburg area.

Bald eagles are not commonly spotted in Washington County but I remember one that hung around the Avella area and another near Monongahela. While I have seen these large birds near Pymatuming, I had never spotted one near home – until last week when I came on one taking off near Murray Hill, which is close to Southpointe.

That is one big bird and when seen up close appears much larger than the common redtail hawk.

• June will usher in the summer groundhog season. The next four months will find me and other accuracy buffs sitting and waiting, watching fields for a long shot.

The rifle will be chambered for a fast, flat-shooting round and the scope will be of high magnification. The optics in hand for scanning the terrain for that head popped out a hole should be a decent quality. Cheap binoculars can cause headaches when used for long periods of time. Sometimes, just the top of the hog’s head will be showing as it surveys the area checking for safety. The animal’s eyes set well up on its head, allowing it to look around without being detected. It reminds me of an alligator.

While many will say the groundhog offers a good-sized target, sometimes this little bit of head is all that can be seen.

As the clover or alfalfa grows taller, the size of the target is greatly reduced and shooting beyond 300 yards becomes more of a challenge.

I know there are those who shoot groundhogs at more than 600 yards, hitting every one. I believe such shooting is accomplished in a store or bar more often than in the field.

Most groundhog hunting is done in farming areas, but many of those farms are surrounded by houses even if they are far apart. Shoot safely and never shoot at a groundhog feeding on the skyline.

What goes up must come down.

While most rounds used in groundhog hunting are fast and utilize light, fragile bullets that break up on impact, don’t depend on that entirely. It’s best to not shoot in the direction of any home or farm building.

That 50-grain bullet moving in the high 3,700-feet-per-second range might break up on impact with the ground 95 percent of the time, but I still worry about the 5 percent.

It’s a bit of a paradox but many of the safer rounds used while varmint hunting are noisy, while the biggest ricochet causer of all is the common quiet .22 rimfire. In other words the cartridge that seems the safest is really just the opposite.

• Don’t forget the gun show at Arden June 21 and 22. See you there.

George H. Block writes a Sunday Outdoors column for the Observer-Reporter.