Ground Hogs

[neal7250]

Has any one ever live trapped a ground Hog. If so, what did you use for bait?

 

[308win]

When I was a kid I tried to catch them in the box traps I used for rabbit with no success. I used the same bait I used for rabbit - apple, carrot, lettuce, usual suspects. Groundhogs are really fond of tender soybean sprouts, maybe those would work.

A Hornady 110gr VMax in a .308win works.

 

[TrueBlueSam]

They like a variety of plants. They love plantain and clover and I have watched young groundhogs eating wild grapes. I once bagged a groundhog that was raiding a barn for dogfood. Groundhogs create homes for other animals with their digging activities, so if they are not destroying crops or building foundations I prefer to let them be. They have a lot more meat on them than a squirrel, and they are very challenging to hunt at close range in the woods.

 

[neal7250]

Thanks fellas. I have to get this thing. He is putting a hurtin on my garden, and I'm not comfortable about turning a bullet loose here.

 

[GunTech]

Airgun?

 

[Navy joe]

First you get your dog to corral him under the car then you prone out and get him from 10 yards with a .22 pistol taking care not to accidentally shoot the dog or the tires/fuel tank, etc. Least that's how I got the latest one. They usually don't make it to the car, dog killed 6 last year.

 

[koja48]

Whatever you do, don't use a shadow for bait . . . the little rascal will vanish for a spell, then return.

 

[cpttango30]

I used to do it for the Army at Ft Dix. We used apples, carrots, celery and other veggies. Worked real good if we had the trap in a good location then we would always get one.

 

[Grumulkin]

I trapped one last year in a live trap using marshmallows. I then executed it.

 

[Savage Shooter]

Id try clover , lettuce and other green leafy veggies
If you can't use a gun use an airgun if you can't use an airgun use poison if you can't use poison then maybe try a sling shot they can be very effective in the right hands.

 

[Savage Shooter]

O doh I have completly forgot I am a trapper and I missed this use a bodygrip id suggest 220 if you know where his hole is and set it infront of his hole if youhave pets and don't want to chance catching them then use footholds Id suggest 1 1/2 the bodygrip is deffenitly the best way to go.

 

[308win]

You could always try the Caddy Shack routine only use gasoline. Let the fumes permeate the burrow until you smell it coming out of all of the entances then throw a match one of the entrances. Let me know if you try this as I want to watch - take video.

Just kidding!

If you sic your dog on 'em he needs to be a fighter as a cornered groundhog can be pretty ill tempered. Groundhogs are tough so I would be leery about using a run of the mill air rifle or even subsonic .22's unless you can get close - really close.

If you know where he is denning you could use a snare on the entrances; there will be more than one. The one most used will usually be pretty obvious; the others will take some looking.

 

[koja48]

This works!

 

[Luis Leon]

Koja48,

That is a dandy looking, lightweight rig. Would you please tell me more about it? I have a few Beeman spring-piston air-rifles. But they are heavy.

regards,

Luis Leon

 

[koja48]

E-mail sent & thank you. Light-weight, accurate, and quiet . . . easy to reload for, too . . .

 

[dagger dog]

Those teeth on an old boar ground hog just keep on growing, when you skin out a skull some of the teeth look as long as your little finger, sure in hell wouldn't want old fido or myself to get chomped on with those fangs!

 

[308win]

My Uncle and I killed one that had one of his incisors grow in a circle and was growing down into the top of his skull. He was slowly starving and was really thin when we shot him. That was one of the most bizarre things I have seen but then I lead a pretty quiet life mostly.

 

[Old Crow RFC]

live trap bait

I used sheep feed ... grain and oats , - sweat feed and added a little honey and cinnimon cought the 3 young ones that had moved under my deck in a day ... they couldent resist

I think the cinnimon and honeys smell had them interested fast .... had one in less then 10 min -on the first set

 

[Sebastian the Ibis]

I don't know what kind of shape you are in. But a fishing net works well if you can run along the edge of cover, and intercept the groundhog before he gets to it- a boot will work too.

 

[EricTheBarbarian]

Ive tried to trap them, but never had any luck. always ended up with racoons if i left the trap out over night. I doubt a air gun would kill them. I know for a fact a .22 works great.

 

[koja48]

I doubt a air gun would kill them.

Please see post 13 above. My .22 caliber airgun works very well. The .25 I'm building will work even better. Airguns work fine within their power & range limitations. I couldn't recommend .177, however.

 

[wheelgunslinger]

Archery tackle will take a whistlepig out no problem, and no worries about the neighbors.

 

[alsaqr]

I used to do it for the Army at Ft Dix. We used apples, carrots, celery and other veggies. Worked real good if we had the trap in a good location then we would always get one.

We always baited our box traps with fruit and/or veggies. Ground hogs make decent pets if you catch one when it is young. A younger ground hog is pretty good eating.

 

[OH25shooter]

You know there may be more than one. You never mentioned what you plan to do with that varmint if you catch him. I cornered one in my neighbors fenced-in yard and hit it square in the head with a nearby galvanized pipe. It made the weirdest sound. He looked at me as to say, what the hell was that? I'm afraid the best groundhog eliminator is a bullet. They are simply big hairy pests. You can trap a mink or beaver, but groundhogs need to be put to death.

 

[Selfdfenz]

koja 48

Is that a groundhog or a ground squirrel? Mature groundhogs in this area run big. Like 15-20#s.

Best

S-