[mr_blove]

Anyone know of a good place to go potgut hunting in northern Utah, preferablly within a hour or so of Hill AFB?

[qajaq59]

Ok, I'll be the first to ask. What the h*ll is a potgut. I know there is a town of Pot Gut in Utah but I didn't know there was a critter called that. :confused:

[mbt2001]

It must be a Utah thing... I think it is a varmint, but I am also waiting for some clarification.

[koja48]

Sounds illegal & immoral . . . but you may be able to photograph some at the neighborhood tavern . . .

[mbt2001]

but you may be able to photograph some at the neighborhood tavern...

Or urban street corner...

One peice of advice, CASH.


:neener:

[mr_blove]

qajaq59 Ok, I'll be the first to ask. What the h*ll is a potgut. I know there is a town of Pot Gut in Utah but I didn't know there was a critter called that.


Ok that is what I grew up caling them, some people call them rockchucks. They look ALOT like a prairie dogs just smaller in between the size of a squirrel and a chipmunk. I have even heard of them being called prairie dogs but according to the World Wide Web these guys are to small to be prairie dogs. If I am wrong please let me know. Hope this helps.

[wagoneer1019]

rat looling animal

[Battlespace]

You might want to check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow-bellied_Marmot

I used to shoot them in Wyoming and they were a whole lot bigger than any chipmunk or bushy tail I have ever ran into.

[koja48]

Chucks are considerably larger than prairie dogs. Assuming they're indigenous to Utah & legal to hunt, I'd scope out rockpiles/rocky ridges near agricultural fields . . . the varmints love alfalfa & mow it quite quickly & efficiently. These are young ones, but still more robust than a prairie dog. The alfalfa field is about 150 yards away.

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w305/koja48/P1000410.jpg

[Corey ACP]

In Utah, a "potgut" is the common name for the ground squirrel also referred to as "sage rats" by some folks. They are quite a bit smaller than the rockchucks or marmonts that live in the mountains. They are very abundant in mountain valleys. They hibernate through the winter months but come out as it warms. They are already out if force even with the snow still abundant up higher.
As for where to go to hunt them, my favorite place has always been the Strawberry valley north of highway 40.
Lots of raptors there to clean up the remains.

[RioShooter]

I thought you were talking about hunters that are too fat to do much walking. :D

[koja48]

Sage rats are a bit more challenging, "strike-zone" wise . . .

[eliphalet]

In Utah, a "potgut" is the common name for the ground squirrel also referred to as "sage rats" by some folks.Never heard that term before but,

Sounds like the same critter called "whistle pigs" here in Idaho, IE Townsends ground squirrel IIRC.

[qajaq59]

Thanks for expanding my vocabulary. Sage rats and whistle pigs I had heard of, but the potgut is a new one.

[mr_blove]

Corey ACPIn Utah, a "potgut" is the common name for the ground squirrel also referred to as "sage rats" by some folks. They are quite a bit smaller than the rockchucks or marmonts that live in the mountains

Thanks for the clarification, I heard potgut was a utah term but I wasn't sure what else to call them. Are you aware anywhere up north to hunt them? I would like to just go for a afternoon, if I go to Strawberry it will take most of the day for me.

[Corey ACP]

MR. BLOVE.
I have seen them around the monte cristo area off the highway. I am not sure if that is any closer to HAFB than the Straberry valley area.
They got the name "whistle pig" because they get fat like a pig in the summer, and make a shrill whistle sound as they scamper down their holes to alert their colony of any dangers.

[koja48]

In Montana, we just called 'em gophers . . . and Lordy those were memorable times (and will be again, come the annual June pilgrimage).

[Girodin]

A potgut is not the same as a marmot. A marmot is much much larger. I dont know the proper name of a potgut but I know exactly what you are talking about.

[dburnett]

People I know living in Utah refer to two different rodents as "potguts"; the Gelding and the Alpine ground squirrels. They are clearly and easily distinguished from marmots, badgers, coyote, groundhogs, jack-rabbits, rattlesnakes and antelope.