Groundhog Problems

[Steve]

A family of groundhogs have taken up residency under my house. While I nothing against them personally, I do not really like the idea of freeloading rodents. I have also read that they can often tunnel up to 5' below ground level which can lead to water and erosion problems for my house. They come and go behind the hedges that surround my house, so getting at their burrow entrances is not feasible. And I live on the edge of a small town, so blasting their furry littles butts is not an option. I have tried Hav A Hart traps, but they totally ignore them.

Any suggestions on how to get rid of them would truly be appreciated.

 

[spencer rifle]

They will be hibernating soon, if not already. They make smoke bombs to use in burrows that will likely kill a hibernating groundhog.

 

[tcecil88]

I shot this one at our farm the last Saturday. She was under the house and starting to tear things up. I have had them excavate under a shed quite a bit at a former residence. I got 11 off that shed over the course of 5 years or so.
Crappy photo of me, but then again, there are not many good ones.

I have caught them in live traps too. Put it at the entrance of the burrow with some sort of greens for bait. Make sure the entrance of the trap is facing the hole as close as you can put it.

 

[hooky]

One of these

For this result

Just need to be careful. If you have a dog or a cat, you'll need to keep them away.

You'll want a 220. A 110 is too small and a 330 can't be used on dry land (or at least that used to be the case).

 

[tmcindy]

I would indeed think they could be a serious problem and could do a lot of damage.

 

[tcecil88]

One of these

For this result

Just need to be careful. If you have a dog or a cat, you'll need to keep them away.

You'll want a 220. A 110 is too small and a 330 can't be used on dry land (or at least that used to be the case).

That works too...

 

[Creedmoor]

I normally use a chunk of Cantaloupe with a few pieces leading them to the trap.
I use either a live or a conibear #2.

 

[tmcindy]

I normally use a chunk of Cantaloupe with a few pieces leading them to the trap.
I use either a live or a conibear #2.
View attachment 233442

He doesn't look very happy.

 

[Creedmoor]

He doesn't look very happy.

He was sleeping when I walked up to him,
I believe he had a hard morning before I got to him. It was over shortly.

 

[9mmfan]

Where I used to live, I used subsonic 22lr to take many a ground hog, racoon and opossum.
Just takes patience and having a piece ready to rock.

 

[Jaybird1980]

I know you said it's not feasible, but a conibear on the run is the most reliable method. If at all possible I would make that happen.

Hard telling how many are in there, usually it's several.

 

[irishhunter]

Pretty good to eat !

 

[BigRed]

A family of groundhogs have taken up residency under my house. While I nothing against them personally, I do not really like the idea of freeloading rodents. I have also read that they can often tunnel up to 5' below ground level which can lead to water and erosion problems for my house. They come and go behind the hedges that surround my house, so getting at their burrow entrances is not feasible. And I live on the edge of a small town, so blasting their furry littles butts is not an option. I have tried Hav A Hart traps, but they totally ignore them.

Any suggestions on how to get rid of them would truly be appreciated.

Have gun.
Will travel.

 

[hoglegs]

When you say "under" your house, is it a crawl? I had one under my porch that tore up my drain tile system around the footers, did a bunch of damage $$$. Now the whistle pig is top of my no-fly list. Sux you can't pick'em off, I've had great success with cci velocitors. I'd second the rodent smoke bomb, especially this time of year with hibernation; maybe have something ready to seal the hole up right after you shove a few down there. Also heard of people piping car exhaust into the hole, but I'd be very carefull doing that near an occupied structure. Fyi after I filled / buried the hole, I layed down chain link fence & stone, it stopped the burrowing from the other ground hog invaders.

 

[Hookeye]

Snuck up on one this morning.
G5 Montec went through and stuck in a tree.
Had to unscrew arrow.
Pretty groundhog......but with barn and soybeans......even in the woods nearby, they gotsta go.

 

[Mgderf]

If they are under the house, you don't want to kill this and stink the place up.
There is a cheap alternative, but it also has drawbacks.

If anyone living in the house has any respiratory problems, this idea will not work for you.

Find the entrance to the den.
Dump a box or two of mothballs down the hole and poke them down with a stick.
Cover the hole with a heavy rock or brick.
In an enclosed space, mothballs will displace the oxygen, making the den uninhabitable.
If it works, the whole clan will be gone in less than 24 hours.

If anyone upstairs has asthma, it may make upstairs uninhabitable for them.

 

[freekforge]

Neighbor and I killed 9 groundhogs in 2 weeks with a cage trap baited with cantaloupe and broccoli. Momma tore the trap up a bit. Had to have a box or tarp over the trap otherwise they ignored it. Cb shorts in a bolt action work in town when dispatching them in the trap.

Young groundhogs make good pulled bbq

 

[AmericanBob]

Neighbor and I killed 9 groundhogs in 2 weeks with a cage trap baited with cantaloupe and broccoli. Momma tore the trap up a bit. Had to have a box or tarp over the trap otherwise they ignored it. Cb shorts in a bolt action work in town when dispatching them in the trap.

Young groundhogs make good pulled bbq

I've always heard ground hog was tasty.

 

[tcecil88]

I've always heard the same thing. The one I shot the other day was a big one, so I fed her to the buzzards.

 

[2in1evtime]

I've always heard ground hog was tasty.

As long as they are young ones, used to hunt, eat them when i was younger, if you saw one in a tree it was good to eat!!! Lessons from my grandfather who is long gone now except in spirit!