testtest

Groundhog (wood chuck)

i never had it but am pretty sure it is nothing like chicken.
According to one of the links..."I thought it was sweet, like porky-rabbit, a lot better than the squirrel I've had. There's a tenderness to the meat that I don't usually associate with game, too" All dark meat.

Considering that hogs roll-around in the mud & eat any garbage that's available I'd say the groundhog would be safe to eat.
 
Honestly @Tenbones , I've not really looked for them or their dens since I removed them from out under my shed. There's a tree line that runs behind me and down the block and behind that is a small dairy farm. The area has always had groundhogs (and other critters) before my large shed (12'x24') was even placed here. As far as I tell, they started under one neighbor's shed, then moved under mine once he got a dog. The neighbor on the other side complained they made a home in and around his open face lean to shed. He's the neighbor that would shoot them asking permission to shoot on my property if he found them grazing over here. Both neighbors have passed away, and the houses now mostly unoccupied except for occasional visits by family members that live elsewhere. I suspect with the dog gone and no groundhog hunter around, they moved back to those habitats, but I've never investigated to see if that's true.
 
I always try to I give (some) wildlife benefit of the doubt, eliminating whatever they seek, mostly food sources, late season then it’s looking for a den. I do not have a pact with the chipmunks. Constantly digging and burrowing, freeloading on dropped birdseed, their destruction around my sidewalks and driveways (was) a big problem...not anymore.

Once tried to catch and relocate a skunk for the dogs sake.
Raccoon or possum, maybe even a feral cat kept messing with the trap for the bait, now I have multiple encroachers.

Being in the City I’m cursed with the proximity of delicate neighbors so that prohibits using pellet method and if it’s not a head shot, any where else like the belly will infect over time causing a slow death and is just too cruel.

Nobody will miss an errant woodchuck, trapping this cleaver and cunning giant rat may not be easy. Keep us posted and bait choice or dispatch should you do catch the rascal.
 
Since coons and possums seem to like the big cottonwoods, why not a groundhog? Groundhogs will climb trees and fence posts but they build dens underground. They don't live in trees.
 
IMG_2017.gif

Personally, there are other alternatives then to just kill them cause they went under your porch and your flower bed, but that’s me
 
I ordered some of these from Amazon. I’m hoping they will get the job done when the time comes
 

Attachments

  • IMG_2284.png
    IMG_2284.png
    3.3 MB · Views: 138
trap it. if it comes back then pellet rifle. can a pellet rifle take out a woodchuck?
how many woodchucks does it take toooooo

we have MOLE RATS, or ankle breakers wife uses a .410 shotgun aimed at the hole. she sits silently waiting for the little flucker to pop up...them BOOM another mole rat done gone
she has a better average than some of the best snipers, only missed 2 in last 12 years
wood chucks could be removed same way???
 
Gro
If you have one of the newer high power .22 caliber pellet rifles and make a head shot maybe. Do not go for a body shot though.
At the end of my trap route was a 100 acre nature reserve stocked with quail and pheasant. If I was treating my dog to a hunt after checking the traps, I carried either a 16ga or a 20ga shotgun. Day to day was a .22 rifle with .22 long rifle ammo to dispatch anything that was trapped but not dead. Close range, head shot only. Dispatched, the usual suspects as well a the occasional Bobcat.
 
If you need to shoot the critter, there are break barrel air rifles available in .22, .25 and .30 calibers. AirGun Depot has them as well as being able to find them on Amazon. Gamo makes a .177 pellet called Red Fire I have sent many a squirrel and a raccoon to their reward with.

You can also find other types of air rifles that will certainly provide enough whump to dispatch the bugger. I heard today about an .82 caliber being available...
 
If you need to shoot the critter, there are break barrel air rifles available in .22, .25 and .30 calibers. AirGun Depot has them as well as being able to find them on Amazon. Gamo makes a .177 pellet called Red Fire I have sent many a squirrel and a raccoon to their reward with.

You can also find other types of air rifles that will certainly provide enough whump to dispatch the bugger. I heard today about an .82 caliber being available...
I'm going out on a limb and assume that the fixation with air guns is tied to the belief they are silent or near silent. That would be a great reason to obsess over air guns if that was accurate. Unfortunately, while air guns exist that can cleanly kill a groundhog, they are going to be as loud or louder than a powdered propelled projectile. :oops:
 
I would try trapping first personally. Unless I eat it, or it is actually dangerous/unhealthy for my famiky or very destructive to an actual structure ie: chipmunks, I try to relocate first.
 
Back
Top