Groundhog hunters unite!
- Thread starter .22LRGUY
- Start date
Chuckbuster
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I used to shoot them regularly on farms when in high school. However, over the years they became more and more scarce. Right now, in my old stomping grounds, you only see them (and even then, not many) on the large manicured grounds of factories and restaurants on the fringes of towns...but still within town limits. You can drive the concession and farm roads all day, looking for them in the fields and not see a single one. MNR has no definitive explanation as to why the population has crashed so hard and not recovered since the 80's. It's been years...many years since I hammered a 'chuck. But when I was possessed of more hair and less middle, I popped a good many with a .22WMR, and later with a .243.
badgreenbird
Regular
- Location
- Dawson Creek, BC
uhhh, that might be part of your answer right there!
game management aside, I used to blast a few every spring back in NB, with my .22 .... My buddies & I ate them as well! Not bad, actually... better than rabbit.
There are a few out here in northern BC - you'd think there'd be more with all the farmland around here, but I think there's too much clay in the soil. It's too hard to dig into. They like softer soil or more sand content. I haven't shot (or eaten) one in years...
the biggest thing is the rise of crop land. back when pasture was pasture for 10 years or more and hay fields were the same way they had all kinds of places to live, now its worked up every year. not that im complaining dont like the hairy whistle pigs one bit
Turkeyslayer 1300
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Russell, Ontario
It's not coyotes, it's farming practices. Square fields planted in cash crops, beans, corn etc. Ontario farmers used to plant alot more wheat in fields that had longer and more ecologically diverse fencerows.
These days the most common fencerows are old fencelines that will eventually be removed.
Removed alot of habitat for Grey Partridge ( Huns ) and has limited the groundhog carrying capacity of most areas as well.
I don't live in Ontario anymore and it has been years and years since I've seen a ground hog back home on my parents farm. I have fond memories laying prone on a round hay bale shooting ground hogs from the tops of fence posts while they bask in the afternoon sun. Man do I miss that! Gophers are fun but just not the same.
- Location
- Peace River, Alberta
I do believe shooting them in the early spring in hard on their population.
Shooting them any time is
but I get your meaning. If groundhog survival was my highest priority, I'd have no place to hunt and would need to take-up golf. It's a fine line... I want there to always be groudnhogs to shoot, but my ability to get/keep good spots means I need to get results. Working just fine so far. As it is, there are a handful of spots where they are relatively common, and not huge amount of hunter-pressure on them from what I can tell. It's my favorite spring/summer pastime, and nobody here would probably believe the amount of time and money I put into it. My wife would leave me if she knew. Based on what the piles of rubble contain beside their holes, groundhogs sure prefer some types of soil over others...so identify those on/near soybeans or hay..and you're off to a good start.
