Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Groundhogs

I have begun my annual groundhog hunting this weekend, so far I have got 3 . ! medium size and 2 large ones about 20 lbs ea.. one was showing his aging as he had lost a little weight and his fur was not smooth, most likely in poor health.. I try to get one a day it is difficult with the nosey neighbors around feeding them. HAHAHA.

I shot 7 yesterday afternoon on a tree farm I have permission to hunt (legal with a small game license and a FX Crown .25 pellet rifle). The rifle is very accurate out to 100 yds and head shots are the only way to go.

I’ve killed four so far this Spring. I don’t have to go far; there is a soybean field just across my front yard. They love soybeans.

What rifle/cartridge etc are you using?

I use my Ruger single six convertible with a 9 1/2 in barrel. it is very accurate.. I get to within 50 yds or less and only do head shots.. seldom miss its BANG and lights out. I practice a lot.. I can throw a can up in the air , draw shoot and hit it about 50% of the time..it takes a lot of practice.

That sound like fun Hubbey.Bob Munden style....

i used to shoot dozens a year around here in western PA. i own an old christmas tree farm and keep paths cut. for the past several years i have seen very few. i know shooting dozens a year may have had an effect, but i see the same thing in other areas. less hogs in the fields and on the roads and less holes in the fence lines. something must be killing them other than me. seems odd. this area always had tons of hogs but not much anymore.

Where in PA?

Wow, some of you have shot more than I've seen in the last 5 years. They nearly became extinct here & are coming back, but slowly. A lot of the old die hard varmint hunters don't even shoot them as it's just a treat to see one.

Back in the 70's - 80's. Weather permitting, I'd start on Good Friday & hunt weekends till about the first of June. Maybe a bit longer after hay cuttings, but otherwise the grass everywhere would be just too thick to see them. I usually killed 50-60 a year. My biggest I got the day we were in a Groundhog shooting contest. An old sow with wrinkled teats indicating she'd had many a pup. She was 27 pounds & won 50 bucks for the biggest of the shoot.

Maybe you can't tell, but I miss those days.

The explosion in the coyote and fox populations have decimated the woodchucks in western New Jersey. Twenty years ago, there were tons in the middle of alfalfa fields, not any more!

I haven't shot any yet this year. Will wait till after second cutting when the pups can survive without mom.

My go to rifles are a Rem 722 and several Sako Riihimaki chambered in .222 Remington out to about 290 yds and a 6BR for beyond...Did my personal best on a chuck (612yds) with that rifle couple of seasons ago....And a lot of misses past that distance

Do you use the mag cylinder or the 22LR?

I've always wanted to try one of those long barrel Singe Six's. I bet that would be a great platform for using 22 Magnums.

Are groundhogs like nutria?

Good to hear. I used to live in Va, and as kids woodchucks were our passion all summer long. At last visit, however, all the old ground was converted to suburbia. We have marmots out here in eastern Oregon, but they pretty much confine their activities to rocky boulder strewn remote rims. Not much of a hazard to haying equipment, crops, or stock, so few take time to bother them. Wright's Point Willy makes an annual appearance to establish our winter's duration for this community.

Have a good one,

Do nutria predict weather

Around here those things ought to be put on the endangered species list. Haven't shot one in years. Only one I ever see lives about 125 yds. behind me. Thinking it may indeed be due to the increase in the fox & coyote populations. See a lot more of those now than in years past. Especially foxes; which show up on my trail cams all the time. 20 something years ago a friend would ask me to help cull 'chucks out of his small meadow that he kept mowed. Another farmer used to tell me to "shoot the bast@%ds". Did 'chuck control with everything from 22LR to various centerfire varmint rifles. Damn; I miss those days.

No, but you can make a hat that's practically indistinguishable from sable out of them.

All kinds of cats eat them too.