Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints groundhog under my deck and basement steps

My problem is , sometimes they are tearing the place up, but I just don't have time to sit there day and night to wait and kill them, or I don't want to damage my other property where I may have to shoot.

Buy a couple of #3 steel traps and hide them under some loose dirt where they are going under your stuff or a 330 conibear trap.. They are a lot of stink if they rot under your house from poison or a shot that lets them get away. I am speaking from first hand experience. They stink so bad it will make you want to burn the house down to get rid of the smell. They are fairly smart once they see one in a trap and will dig it out and flip the trap over.

Sorry for getting back online since I posted this first message. My computer's Malwarebytes application went haywire and I stayed off the computer mostly because all of this schit malware floating around and us using CC to buy stuff I did not want to compromise my CC and other stuff.

Anyway for the GH...I saw at least two (one bugger than the other) but this past few days they did not show up. Not sure if something got them or what? Normally they come out in the mornings and the evenings. But it is raining today so I doubt they will come out. They are and can be quick if you open the sliding door. I have decided I will shoot my rimfire and will go to the range and verify it is spot on at 25 yards. I will shoot them from my bedroom window on the second floor of the house and since it will be pointing down probably 30 degrees I think I will be safe. I know this will not be a range shooting outing but one shot I think I can nail this sucker and be done with it. I see them out from my kitchen window fairly regularly. And I have seen fox just outside my yard so I know those foxes and other predators can get a GH.

Of course I'd like to get an air rifle but that is around $300 and RF is pretty cheap especially since we have several RF in the house. The reason why I post this question is because I know guys are shooting them with their 223/222 at a minimum and was wondering if the 22 RF will work but after thinking it over, at 25 yards the 22 RF will definitely work. A few years ago I fired a 22RF into a 2X6 weather treated board we have for our garden and if I remember correctly the RF bullet went in the board about 2" so that should be enough for DRT. I however need to kill them before winter sets in...and I rather not go to the poison method just in case they die in the hole and stink up my place. I need to verify if its still around but hard to do when I head to work. Hopefully on the weekend I can catch them ...

Not sure where in VA you live, but the more I think about this, the more I'm convinced a live trap is the smart solution. Other stuff might be legal where you live, but also might not, and even if it is, anything that could be perceived as cruel might get you in more trouble than you want. You don't want ANTIFA camped on your lawn over a woodchuck, or Channel 7!

If you can get a shot at him, I think the gun is the way to go. Poison and traps don't discrimminate. Only a person with the ability to reason with their finger on the trigger can do that. I'd rather not have to deal with releasing a non intended catch, or the consequences of a killled or maimed dog, cat , bird or anything else. You reasoning is sound to make sure you are dead nuts at that angle and range, and figure a way to quietly open the window to get a shot. Even if you trap it, you will have to shoot it in the trap, which is not that pleasant of a task. No one in their right mind will let you relocate it near them. I prefer my .17 WSM which I used to kill four groundhogs and a raccoon in the first month of owning it. The .22 ought to be up to the task at that short range, and as always, you use what you have. Everyones situation is different. I don't worry about neighbors on my 471 ac, but with how well you've thought it out, you have considred all these factors.

Have had the same situation more than once. Shot one with a .22 pistol out the kitchen window. 2 in the lungs. Shot a couple out the upstairs BR window with a .22. Head shots. Most recent one the Dog did the deed. There were 7 living on the bank by the driveway. Five now, a couple days ago cars got two. They come up in the yard and eat, sit on old stumps along the driveway and are fun to watch. They stay there, they only have the Dog and cars to worry about.

If the shooting circumstances or death concerned me, I would trap it. Take it down the road and turn it loose in the woods. They will like it there.

It's a Groundhog, not a nest of Rattlesnakes or a Black Bear hibernating under the porch. Which happens around here not infrequently. Bud had one in his garage, he did the deed with a ball peen hammer. Groundhog for clarification.

Not that big of a deal. Really.

Use a conibear 220 kill trap to get rid of that critter.

A local farmer said to throw a shovel of human feces into the hole, they will move out and not return. I practice SSS personally.

22 cb. Use regular rifle safety. Unless your neighbor is outside it won't bother anyone.

Catch it in a trap and feed it for a few days and they usually tame up fairly quick. You want a pet few others have, now is your chance.

I've caught cats and dogs in steel traps.Both were difficult to let go especially cats. None were maimed or had any broken bones.Their skin didn't appear to be broken either.
Just make sure if you shoot one that it doesn't go under the house and die.

Dog killed one last week that made it under the deck to die. Stunk for 3-4 days then it was gone.

Got one from under my barn yesterday.
Live trap with 1/4'd apples for bait.
Had him in less than 2 hours.
Now he sleeps down in the gully.

Live trap. Executions at dawn.

Fly bait works but you will kill anything and everything that eats/drinks it.

^^^ This. The cheapest & most humane way if you are doing it yourself. Otherwise call your local wildlife control person.