KILLING GROUNDHOGS

[Ford850]

I recently shot a groundhog with the .22. I don't want them establishing a colony on my hilly property because of the erosion potential. I don't like to kill animals for no reason, though... My wife googled it and found they are edible, so I cooked him up in a gumbo. It was delicious! I cut all the fat off, then chunked the meat and browned it in butter in a skillet. Then I added it to a gumbo, and voila! a very tasty pot of food. This is the second one I have eaten, the first tasted like a cross between beef and venison. This one tasted like beef. I recommend it, and I don't play around when it comes to food.

I was also really surprised at what a clean beast it was. Ticks were especially bad this year, and when I shot him I figured he would be covered in them. There was not a tick on him. It is also kind of fun to get the rifle out and hunt on your own property!

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That looks delicious! You need to post this down in the County-Cookin section: https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/country-cookin/

 

[MossRoad]

For your enjoyment...

groundhog in tree - Google Search

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Must be a rare breed of WC. Or a **** of a dog that can tree a WC. LOL

Geee Don, looks like that "rare breed" of WC get's around, and there must be a lot of spl. dogs around that can tree them too...

SR

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Dads 22-250 was my favorite GH gun. Could shoot them from a long distance.

 

[FredH]

As others have wrote , We have ground / Digger squirrels here in the northwest and west coast . Create lots of problems in the fields for horses with their burrows . Also play heck around homes and buildings digging under foundations and even slabs . Although I have multiple rifles available from .22 on up , I went with a Crosman quest .177 caliber single pump , break style rifle . Topped it with a generic 4 - 16 x scope . Now I sit on My front porch in my chair with my cold beverage , snacks and smokes and have ranged out as far as 66 yards to at least thin the herd some .

Type of pellet is also important . What ever brand an style the rifle is sighted in with , is what is used from then on . I use a round nose that has a slight indentation in nose , similar to a hollow point . Spear points just don't seem to have the impact power . Granted , You are likely needing longer range , But I feel your pain .


Fred H.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

WC's are also very hard on orchards too.

They dig large holes under the tree's pulling the dirt away from the roots, the tree's go into decline and then die...

Orchard growers love to see WC's get shot!

SR

 

[4570Man]

So is a wood chuck and a groundhog the same thing?

 

[sixdogs]

So is a wood chuck and a groundhog the same thing?

Yes.

When I was a kid, there was one woodchuck that would not get caught. We tried everything and my BIL was afraid a cow would break its leg in the hole. So, my job one summer's day was to dig it out with a shovel. I don't recommend it but it was not that hard. I just kept digging at the hole and tunnel and eventually the chuck tried to surface for air. I whacked him with Mr Shovel and still have the rawhide lacing I made out of it's hide.

On strange things they do, a warden once saw one swimming across a stream. Apparently had to get to the other side.

 

[Oldoak]

I live in the country, the groundhogs I trap I take to the city & release.
They have lots of opportunities for food & shelter there.

You should be fined for cruel and inhumane treatment of animals. :laughing:

 

[RalphVa]

I ain't a 'killin' nothing what's just tryin' ta' make a livin'.



I did trap a dozen or so and moved 'em down the road a piece. Last one was a couple of years ago and I haven't noticed any since fer as I kin recollect. Which ain't all that fer n'more.

It's against the law here in Va to transport wild animals. If you do, you're sentencing them to death because the animals that live in the area where you take them to will kill them. Why not just kill them yourself?

Ralph