What ever happened to Ontario groundhogs?

2 reasons for an almost non-existent groundhog population in my area...Fishers and Coyotes.

All small game has taken a big hit in the last 20 years...but mainly in the last 10.
 
Notice the presence of Opossum? I used to see groundhogs all over, not anymore. All i see are possum, coyote, redfox, some rabbits, tons of coon.
 
The last time I was back in the Ottawa area, The hay fields had been replaced with a lot of corn. In the late 60's there were lots of hogs, and the farmers were happy to see me. With my Remington 40XB heavy barrel in 6mm . . . I was referred to as the guy with the white barrelled shotgun.
 
I shot my first two of the season a couple of weekends ago with the 22mag. Yes there used to be more around but there are still hunt able populations around. There is also a lot less pasture around that are now worked fields, that has to do with the decline as well as the yotes.
 
There was a massive one living underneath my Wife's grandfather's cottage, he came out to sun himself one day so I picked up a single shot .22, I hit him with a broadside and he went right back underneath the cottage.....I guess I needed a big bore of somekind.
 
When we bought this farm in 1985 I shot 11 ground hogs in one aftrnoon on a 40 acre patch. I proceeded all summer and cleaned up at least 100 of them.
This includes the neighbours farms.I was in big demand. Used a ruger target in22/50
also never saw a coyote for a few years then............. I've seen one so far but there are no more on my farm. Me and coyotes thats the reason!!!!! JITC
 
Dominion Link said:
In many areas of southern Ontario, coyotes have wiped out small game. I think I've seen 3-4 jack rabbits in the last 20 yrs. Cottontails are a bit more common, but not like they used to be. Foxes are much less common then they used to be too. I've been in sugar bushes where there wasn't a grey squirrel to be found. No doubt in my mind that since coyotes first started populating southern Ont. they've had an ever growing negative impact.
Click to expand...

this kinda thinking really annoys me. people dont see any critters around so they automatically assume that yotes are to blame. people jump to conclusions before looking deeper to find the real problem.

i do a ton of quading on the reserve and it is infested with yotes and stray dogs. but, we still see all kinds of deer, cottontail, turkey, and squirrels. you'd think all the deer and small game would have been wiped out by all the canines by now, but its the total opposite.

population cycles, weather, and over hunting are more to blame than yotes...

as for the groundhogs, i saw 4 in the same field today on the way home from work. im thinking its time that i start hunting the little buggers :)
 
I've shot probably 200 in the last 3 years. All from one farm about 300 acres :D I left maybe 30 to re-stock, I'll hit that spot up again next year. I know a few areas where there is still quite a few groundhogs. But you'll have to pay me for the GPS coordinates LOL
 
DVXDUDE said:
I've shot probably 200 in the last 3 years. All from one farm about 300 acres :D I left maybe 30 to re-stock, I'll hit that spot up again next year. I know a few areas where there is still quite a few groundhogs. But you'll have to pay me for the GPS coordinates LOL
Click to expand...

Can I pay you in groundhog pelts... say next week? :D

Jeff
 
I remember 15 years ago having trouble with them in hay fields around here. We bought some kind of smoke/poison stick that you put in their holes and got rid of them. Maybe it got too easy to get rid of them? Doubt you could still buy that stuff anymore!
 
canadian hunter312 said:
this kinda thinking really annoys me. people dont see any critters around so they automatically assume that yotes are to blame. people jump to conclusions before looking deeper to find the real problem.

i do a ton of quading on the reserve and it is infested with yotes and stray dogs. but, we still see all kinds of deer, cottontail, turkey, and squirrels. you'd think all the deer and small game would have been wiped out by all the canines by now, but its the total opposite.

population cycles, weather, and over hunting are more to blame than yotes...

as for the groundhogs, i saw 4 in the same field today on the way home from work. im thinking its time that i start hunting the little buggers :)
Click to expand...

In the area of our farms near Allistion it is DEFINITELY coyotes and wolves that cleaned them out. Our farms and surrounding farms haven't been hunted since the 80's and there aren't any around. In the 70's I used to go hunting them every day and didn't even make a dent in the population, they infested everything.

It was funny that a friend from the Kingston area would go hunting wolves in the late 90's. Where did he go? ALLISTON !!!
 
Coyotes & fisher ... depending on location, plus farmers use of "groundhog bombs" as they call them. I can recall taking more than 50 in a day with a buddy from one farm in Eldon Twp, north-west of Lindsay in the late 60's with HB varminters. Today, you're lucky to find one, let alone a huntable population of jack-rabbitts or cottontails ( and the barn cats are cathing hell too ! ). But the coyotes are still there. Another buddy shot 23 coyotes last winter just north of there ... all fron an upstairs window at his place.... bnut hasn't seen a rabbitt at his place for years, let alone a groundhog.

Same around where I live ... and no foxes either ... seems coyotes & fox just don't get along. Even the turkeys are now starting to get pounded by the 'yotes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom