Dispatching a Groundhog - What would you use?

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symphony

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This portly marmot has burrowed a den under my cottage driveway causing the ground around it to cave in.

I'd like to dispatch it humanely but also need to be considerate of my neighbours. I have a large property so safety is not an issue but don't want to alarm my neighbours with a loud discharge during the summer when my neighbours are enjoying leisure time at the cottage.

I have a couple of options, I can use a accurately placed high velocity .22lr round (1240 ft/s 40 gr.) to the head or use a .223 and either take a head or heart/lung shot? The issue with using the .223 is that I would have to wait until fall when my neighbours have left for the season. This unwelcomed guest doesn't seem to be very skittish so I think I can easily get within 50 yards to take the shot.

Will an accurately placed head shot with a .22lr be sufficient for a humane kill?

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large property? it will sound like a truck backfiring...

either that or tell them you are getting rid of a GH tomorrow - who knows, maybe they have some they want you to get rid of
 
If discharging a firearm is legal on the property I wouldn't worry too much about neighbors opinion for only 1-2 shots.

Go with the .223
 
When I was a kid, I used to hunt them with .22 shorts. I could usually get to within 20- 25yds, and none got away. Head shots only.
 
I use smoke bombs from PeavyMart. Light it, toss it in the hole, then cover the hole. It makes 25 cubic feet of toxic sulfur smoke that kills small animals, rodents, and insects such as wasps and hornets. It only takes a few minutes to dissipate and won't harm humans or large animals.
 
fiddler said:
I use smoke bombs from PeavyMart. Light it, toss it in the hole, then cover the hole. It makes 25 cubic feet of toxic sulfur smoke that kills small animals, rodents, and insects such as wasps and hornets. It only takes a few minutes to dissipate and won't harm humans or large animals.
Click to expand...

I'm going to look into these.
 
My brother in law used a hammer on a couple in his backyard. That's stealth right there. If you don't have a hammer the .22 will definitely work with a head shot at 50 yds. If you haves lots of space set up the .223 a couple of hundred yards back and make an afternoon of it waiting for him. :)
 
Killed hundreds of ground hogs with a 22 as a kid. 22 hollow points worked pretty well, shoot them like a deer, and crush shoulders.

Also shot a fair jag of them with my Diana M34 .177 air rifle, but that had to be really precise in the ear, or catch them out in open ground more than 30 yards or so from their hole and lung shoot them. They could usually get 20 or so yards without lungs or a ticker when air gunned.

Good times.
 
22 sub-sonic or a nice shot with a bow. I remember hearing about using a pop bottle as some kind of silencer. Never tried it myself as noise isn't an issue where I live.
 
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