We have been going up to Grey County Ont to shoot Hogs for the past 10 years all the sudden they have just dissappeared . We used to shoot 30 a day now we are lucky to blip 10 between the 2 of us in 2 days.> I know the coyotes are increasing but can they get that many?
Groundhogs in Grey County
- Thread starter Looper21
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Like you, in the past two of us would shoot 30 plus in a day, this past spring we shot one between four hunters.
I don't think the increased coyote population is the main reason but rather a combination, the causes I have found are:
- Powassan Encephalitis - brain virus - don't handle dead 'hogs as their ticks can carry this, it is similar to West Nile.
- Mange
- With feed costs up beef farmers have turned to cash crops resulting in a loss of habitat due to more pastureland being worked, hunting fence rows is much harder than open fields.
The MNR has been trying to reintroduce the badger into Southwestern Ontario and lists that one problem is the decline of groundhogs as a food source.
Dan
I don't think the increased coyote population is the main reason but rather a combination, the causes I have found are:
- Powassan Encephalitis - brain virus - don't handle dead 'hogs as their ticks can carry this, it is similar to West Nile.
- Mange
- With feed costs up beef farmers have turned to cash crops resulting in a loss of habitat due to more pastureland being worked, hunting fence rows is much harder than open fields.
The MNR has been trying to reintroduce the badger into Southwestern Ontario and lists that one problem is the decline of groundhogs as a food source.
Dan
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I know coyotes take some groundhogs, but I too don't blame them for the overall decline in population. Several things, like mentioned above. Field after field that was once pasture for cattle farmers are now standing with cash crops, and the beef market has declined to the point where crops in fields is a much better investment. So there is hogs there, but they can't be seen in the crops. Still not as many as years past.
In our area, (grey-bruce) all you have to do is take a drive in the country, and look in the trees and on the hydro poles. There is a Hawk, eagle, owl, sitting on what seems like every other hydro pole. Every one of them scouring the fields looking for their next meal. I blame them on the massive drop in jack rabbits as well.
That's my 2 cents
In our area, (grey-bruce) all you have to do is take a drive in the country, and look in the trees and on the hydro poles. There is a Hawk, eagle, owl, sitting on what seems like every other hydro pole. Every one of them scouring the fields looking for their next meal. I blame them on the massive drop in jack rabbits as well.
That's my 2 cents
I read somewhere that a brain virus was responsible for the crash in groundhogs. Eastern Ontario used to be full of them, now they are rare to see. I think they are making a comeback in some areas, but as others have said, changing farming methods mean less habitat for whistle pigs. Alas the good old days of multiple groundhogs in every hay field are long gone.
