Groundhog tactics?

["J"]

I almost never bait groundhogs. The problem with using bait is domestic cats which might get curious as to whats going on, not necessarily that they'll try to eat it and if you set traps late in the afternoon/evening and the groundhog doesnt get caught first, the next morning you'll likely have a raccoon, possum or skunk instead. Fine for if you're trying to get rid of a bunch of nuisance critters from your property but I;m not there usually to catch everything, I am there to catch the groundhog(s) that are digging holes.

The way I trap them is the way I show in the pictures, put trap over the hole, fence the sides/tops as needed and done. The groundhogs must either come out of the hole if they want to eat or make another exit. I've yet to have one make another exit. I set double door cage traps, I use comstock cages. This allows for some reason if there's a groundhog or other critter outside the den when I'm setting to get caught trying to get back in. You can, and I have, used single door traps over the holes if you dont have double doors(i only do so when I run out of em) with fencing.

Only time I entertain the idea of baiting groundhogs is if I've got a place where theres no dens on the property and we have a raiding groundhog and theres no fences or trails that its using, then I'll resort to bait or the guns.

Thanks for sharing, I might just give it a try.

 

[Bowhunter57]

@CNP-Outdoors
Baiting groundhogs is a waste of time and money. Once they come out of hibernation and start eating, they have to maintain their metabolism, so they're going to come out to eat. The main thing to watch is the time of day they're out and about. They have biological clocks and feed about the same time every day. A lot of their feeding times are dependent upon the weather.....meaning that they tend to feed in the warmest part of the day, in the early spring, but as the temperature increase, they feed in the cooler morning and evening hours. Groundhogs are lazy and are not necessarily up with the chickens, but rather are out an hour or more after sunrise...during the summer months.

Knowing where their holes are can make it easier to know where they're likely to show up.
I've learned to shoot what you can see on a groundhog. In other words, because their head is facing to the left, don't assume their body is to the right of their head and take that shot. Shoot the head, as it appears. Another thing is to assume a groundhog is standing next to his hole and to take the deadliest shot possible. Otherwise, he will dive down his hole and never be seen again.

There's no such thing as overkill, when it comes to groundhogs. They are tough customers and can take a lot of abuse. I've shot them with nearly every weapon you can imagine and sometimes they still manage to walk away. A shotgun, for example, is a bad choice. I shot one at 20 yards with a Stevens SxS 12 gauge, using 3" #4 buckshot, which has 41 pellets and it took 3 shots to stop him.

 

[CNP-Outdoors]

Thanks for your input. I appreciate it! I am using the 22-250 and have got 3 recently. Even after a clean headshot that thing didn’t stop moving immediately. I could t believe it was moving at all when I walked up on it and saw the destruction.