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Groundhog (wood chuck)

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 a
You would think. Had a possum making a mess of my garage so my son and his friend decided to get rid of him. They had a pellet rifle that was supposed to rival a .22 LR that was recommended by the friends brother who is a licensed gun dealer and supposedly knows his stuff. Long story short, after 3 head shots, I put it out of its misery with a 9MM. Not calling you a liar my friend but I find it hard to grasp a pellet rifle taking out a racoon.
 
Coincidentally, this morning on my way out to work I got down close to the entrance to my street and three little baby raccoons rushed across the street in front of me. When they got to the other side the last one turned around and dropped down like you would see a cat do to watch me on my way out. It was the cutest thing I've seen in a long time.

Outside of the innumerable cool birds ( including a breeding pair of bald eagles, 2 breeding pairs of pileated woodpeckers, along with 4 or 5 other types of woodpeckers, etc.) I have an abundance of raccoons, possums, skunks, groundhogs, river otters, turtles, snakes, squirrels, coyotes, deer, turkey and all kinds of other wildlife right in my back yard. I don't kill any of them. When the raccoons were knocking my trash cans over I just took the 30 seconds to clean it up in the morning on my way out. I do chase them off the bird feeders occasionally. Which is a trip. They're like little kids. They'll run far enough away where you can't get them and then stop and look at you. I also chase stray cats out of my back yard. The groundhogs live on the hill above the river bank and aren't hurting no one. I feed them scrap veggies and fruits. Possums don't hurt anything. I don't eat any of them so I don't kill them. The coyotes in 23 years have been spotted in the neighborhood proper once ( I see them in the fields semi-regularly and I hear them all the time), but they rarely come down into the street or bother anything. I had a picture my wife took of one in my driveway once about 5 years ago. I'm glad they don't come down and ravage people's pets because then I would probably have to do something about it. People around here know not to be killing :poop: just to be killing something. The last guy that bragged about it paid a price. People may do it, but they sure as hell don't let me find out about it.

That said, I ain't telling anyone here what to do, but I think since we are allegedly smarter than small, dumb animals it shouldn't be too hard to figure out a solution that doesn't involve killing animals who are after all just trying to feed their families. I don't think much of people that kill animals for the hell of it. Or sport. Or trophies.
 
Coincidentally, this morning on my way out to work I got down close to the entrance to my street and three little baby raccoons rushed across the street in front of me. When they got to the other side the last one turned around and dropped down like you would see a cat do to watch me on my way out. It was the cutest thing I've seen in a long time.

Outside of the innumerable cool birds ( including a breeding pair of bald eagles, 2 breeding pairs of pileated woodpeckers, along with 4 or 5 other types of woodpeckers, etc.) I have an abundance of raccoons, possums, skunks, groundhogs, river otters, turtles, snakes, squirrels, coyotes, deer, turkey and all kinds of other wildlife right in my back yard. I don't kill any of them. When the raccoons were knocking my trash cans over I just took the 30 seconds to clean it up in the morning on my way out. I do chase them off the bird feeders occasionally. Which is a trip. They're like little kids. They'll run far enough away where you can't get them and then stop and look at you. I also chase stray cats out of my back yard. The groundhogs live on the hill above the river bank and aren't hurting no one. I feed them scrap veggies and fruits. Possums don't hurt anything. I don't eat any of them so I don't kill them. The coyotes in 23 years have been spotted in the neighborhood proper once ( I see them in the fields semi-regularly and I hear them all the time), but they rarely come down into the street or bother anything. I had a picture my wife took of one in my driveway once about 5 years ago. I'm glad they don't come down and ravage people's pets because then I would probably have to do something about it. People around here know not to be killing :poop: just to be killing something. The last guy that bragged about it paid a price. People may do it, but they sure as hell don't let me find out about it.

That said, I ain't telling anyone here what to do, but I think since we are allegedly smarter than small, dumb animals it shouldn't be too hard to figure out a solution that doesn't involve killing animals who are after all just trying to feed their families. I don't think much of people that kill animals for the hell of it. Or sport. Or trophies.
☝️☝️ What he said.
 
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:
Your observation about noise may be correct, but not all airguns are louder than a .22. I have witnessed a subsonic .22 short bounce off the noggin of a raccoon, so I will shoot vitals when using slow stuff unless I have an easy shot at the off switch.

The advantage an air rifle has over a powder fired arm in my world is that ordinances prohibit the discharge of a firearm but not an air rifle (although all the same safety rules apply).
 
You would think. Had a possum making a mess of my garage so my son and his friend decided to get rid of him. They had a pellet rifle that was supposed to rival a .22 LR that was recommended by the friends brother who is a licensed gun dealer and supposedly knows his stuff. Long story short, after 3 head shots, I put it out of its misery with a 9MM. Not calling you a liar my friend but I find it hard to grasp a pellet rifle taking out a racoon.
Neck shot. Followed by another two at close range to make sure it was dispatched quickly.
 
R.63d996798d1a3fc087a2d45bffbeac58

 
Coincidentally, this morning on my way out to work I got down close to the entrance to my street and three little baby raccoons rushed across the street in front of me. When they got to the other side the last one turned around and dropped down like you would see a cat do to watch me on my way out. It was the cutest thing I've seen in a long time.

Outside of the innumerable cool birds ( including a breeding pair of bald eagles, 2 breeding pairs of pileated woodpeckers, along with 4 or 5 other types of woodpeckers, etc.) I have an abundance of raccoons, possums, skunks, groundhogs, river otters, turtles, snakes, squirrels, coyotes, deer, turkey and all kinds of other wildlife right in my back yard. I don't kill any of them. When the raccoons were knocking my trash cans over I just took the 30 seconds to clean it up in the morning on my way out. I do chase them off the bird feeders occasionally. Which is a trip. They're like little kids. They'll run far enough away where you can't get them and then stop and look at you. I also chase stray cats out of my back yard. The groundhogs live on the hill above the river bank and aren't hurting no one. I feed them scrap veggies and fruits. Possums don't hurt anything. I don't eat any of them so I don't kill them. The coyotes in 23 years have been spotted in the neighborhood proper once ( I see them in the fields semi-regularly and I hear them all the time), but they rarely come down into the street or bother anything. I had a picture my wife took of one in my driveway once about 5 years ago. I'm glad they don't come down and ravage people's pets because then I would probably have to do something about it. People around here know not to be killing :poop: just to be killing something. The last guy that bragged about it paid a price. People may do it, but they sure as hell don't let me find out about it.

That said, I ain't telling anyone here what to do, but I think since we are allegedly smarter than small, dumb animals it shouldn't be too hard to figure out a solution that doesn't involve killing animals who are after all just trying to feed their families. I don't think much of people that kill animals for the hell of it. Or sport. Or trophies.
👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆
 
As I’ve been following this thread,
“and I mean no disrespect” to those dealing with what so many call (nuisance) wildlife everyone needs to remember that this wildlife has been around long before we basically took over their land.
And to those who are so quick to just go out and start killing them is disgusting and you should be ashamed of yourself.
That being said before you do anything with wildlife taking up residence on your property you should contact a wildlife management agent in your respective state and educate yourself on the laws on what you can and can’t do.
Many states have laws against relocating wildlife as well as killing them.
In regards to Ground Hogs keep this in mind, the garden in your yard is the supermarket he/she uses to feed its family.
How would you like to be trapped and “relocated” or worse shot for going shopping at a supermarket to feed your family??
Some of the comments in this thread reinforces my belief that humans are the most vicious animals on earth.
 
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As I’ve been following this thread,
“and I mean no disrespect” to those dealing with what so many call (nuisance) wildlife everyone needs to remember that this wildlife has been around long before we basically took over their land.
And to those who are so quick to just go out and start killing them is disgusting and you should be ashamed of yourself.
That being said before you do anything with wildlife taking up residence on your property you should contact a wildlife management agent in your respective state and educate yourself on the laws on what you can and can’t do.
Many states have laws against relocating wildlife as well as killing them.
In regards to Ground Hogs keep this in mind, the garden in your yard is the supermarket he/she uses to feed its family.
How would you like to be trapped and “relocated” or worse shot for going shopping at a supermarket to feed your family??
Some of the comments in this thread reinforces my belief that humans are the most vicious animals on earth.
I understand where you stand and respect your stance, BUT, there is always a but, sometimes it is necessary depending on the circumstances. I worked for Game & Parks when a pair of racoons took up residence in the attic of my old home. I had tressles on my porch that they climbed and pulled off a piece of siding at a roof transition. Didn't know they were there until spring when the 2 young uns they had were doing laps in my attic. Due to the fact that can carry numerous diseases, I had 2 dogs, 1 cat, my trophy wife and daughter had a homebased daycare business and they had chased my daughter-in-law back to her car one night they had to go. The only option was, I was issued a nuisance license so that I could legally live trap them and turn them over to G&P and they decide their fate. Without that the law states that if you live trap any wildlife you must release them within 100 yds of where it was captured so that you don't leave it without its nest. Because I had captured Mom on Day 1, both kits together on Day 2, and Dad on Day 4 and it was spring they were able to release them all together at a wildlife reserve 200 miles away from my home. Just a couple of years ago, my dog was going bananas barking at my chimney every night at dusk in my new home. Looked up one day and saw 2 racoons in my chimney looking down at me. Found they were climbing a small tree close to mh house. Waited til they were foraging at about 3AM and cut down the tree. Problem solved.
BTW: Costs me over $250 to have the feces cleaned up and removed from the 1st home and had to hire a chimney sweep for the 2nd home. I don't live in the country, I live smack dab in the middle of a small city...
 
I understand where you stand and respect your stance, BUT, there is always a but, sometimes it is necessary depending on the circumstances. I worked for Game & Parks when a pair of racoons took up residence in the attic of my old home. I had tressles on my porch that they climbed and pulled off a piece of siding at a roof transition. Didn't know they were there until spring when the 2 young uns they had were doing laps in my attic. Due to the fact that can carry numerous diseases, I had 2 dogs, 1 cat, my trophy wife and daughter had a homebased daycare business and they had chased my daughter-in-law back to her car one night they had to go. The only option was, I was issued a nuisance license so that I could legally live trap them and turn them over to G&P and they decide their fate. Without that the law states that if you live trap any wildlife you must release them within 100 yds of where it was captured so that you don't leave it without its nest. Because I had captured Mom on Day 1, both kits together on Day 2, and Dad on Day 4 and it was spring they were able to release them all together at a wildlife reserve 200 miles away from my home. Just a couple of years ago, my dog was going bananas barking at my chimney every night at dusk in my new home. Looked up one day and saw 2 racoons in my chimney looking down at me. Found they were climbing a small tree close to mh house. Waited til they were foraging at about 3AM and cut down the tree. Problem solved.
BTW: Costs me over $250 to have the feces cleaned up and removed from the 1st home and had to hire a chimney sweep for the 2nd home. I don't live in the country, I live smack dab in the middle of a small city...
I commend you for doing it the right way.
 
Living with wildlife is both wonderfully amazing and a bit of a pita. I had squirrels move in and kick out the usually migratory birds that nested in an area of my shed. So once their young ones were older, I used a bee smoker to smoke them out of there and up the chicken wire went.

Anyways I often deal with people
Letting their pets poop in my yard, while I blame the people you have little hope of fixing that type. So something I learned from grandpa and grandma is home remedies for pest control. Often times sprinkling certain spices in an area will keep
Animals out. In my case citronella (the potent kind only use outdoors mix with water) worked great on dogs and kept stray cats out of My bark dust. I used it on my own dog to keep him from pissing on and tearing up freshly planted flowers. Various peppers work too. But those can cause damage if over done but most animals are sensitive enough they don’t get close, like cayenne.

Anyways thought I would share another option if the others don’t pan out. Always use the google and find out what types of smells groundhogs hate.
 
Considering most of the woodchucks I've seen, don't shoot it with a pellet rifle. If he realizes he's been shot, it just might **** him off. :rolleyes:
Call local Animal Control or State Wildlife Officer and see if they'll help. They may come trap it for you. (y)
If not and you're on your own, hide or camouflage the trap. An old trapper once told me that most critters are plenty smart enough to recognize a trap when they see one. However, most are also curious enough to climb into any dark hole just to see what's in there. Especially if they smell food.
Many trappers build wooden boxes just big enough to slide a live trap into and completely cover it. ;)
Peanut butter is a great bait. Just about every critter loves the stuff.
Be sure to take it far enough away that it can't find its way home.
 
Choot'em if it's a female she can have 6 little ones you could be over run in one season. But I don't think a pellet rifle would kill one. You could trap then kill it.
 

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Many trappers build wooden boxes just big enough to slide a live trap into and completely cover it. ;)
Peanut butter is a great bait. Just about every critter loves the stuff.
Be sure to take it far enough away that it can't find its way home.
You need to check your local laws concerning trapping. In our state, you need to go the Game & Parks Commission and get a nuisance license issued (free of charge), and then turn the caught wildlife over to them and they decide the disposition (release or euthanized). If you don't turn them over to the proper agency its must be released within 100 yards of where it was captured and it will go back to its nest and become wise to your traps. In the case of ferrell cats which also were a problem in my old neighborhood they must be turned over to the Humane Society and unfortunately most are euthanized as it is almost impossible to tame them. My next door neighbor was putting food out for all the wildlife which was attracting them. This is also against the law. After 2 warnings she was fined a significant amount of money and she quit. Slowly the wildlife went elsewhere once the free food was no longer forthcoming. Wildlife and ferrell animals carry diseases and can be quite destructive. It costed me nearly $1,000 dollars to have the feces and large portion of my blown in insulation removed and disposed of after a pair of racoons wintered in my attic and had 2 young ones come spring.
 
Should I trap it or take it out with my Pellet Rifle.
I put three .22 rounds in a woodchuck about 2 months ago before it gave up the ghost. Not sure a pellet rifle would do the job in a humane way.

Funny thing about that woodchuck. I shot it the first time on a slight hill. It rolled into a ball and then rolled down that hill
about 20 feet. It then ran off a bit, stopped, so I shot it twice more. I didn’t know they really did the rollup thing.
 
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