Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Trapping Trying to trap groundhog....need tips

With a Havaheart box trap I've used dry dog food, leave a trail leading to the trap and a small pile behind the pedal. Sometimes i wrap the dog food in a piece of screen and suspend it in the back of the trap. A little bacon grease rubbed on the screen cloth seems to entice reluctant ones.

Put a steel trap slightly off center of the path and hide it. They aren't super smart. I have caught them when I set a trap for them. I would use at least a #2 they are fairly strong.

The ones I had have disappeared for some reason, didn’t kill them. Matter of fact I haven’t seen any out recently along the roads.

The Coyotes have really thinned out the groundhogs here in VA.

I have trapped them with #2 and#3 steeltraps. Just set it and hide it in their path to the hole.

Try a road flare instead of a smoke bomb. As long as you can find and cove all the holes. Leave on open and light the flare place it as far down the hole as possible. Then place a rock about the size of the hole down near the flare. Fill the hole in with dirt. The rock stops the dirt from putting out the flare. No more G-hog. The flare puts out enough smoke to displace the oxygen in the hole I have done this in place where I could not shot them or a visible trap would be a problem Tree hugger/ neighborhoods.

Thats how we do it for prairie dogs.


Works good. We use 110's though.

#4 buckshot works good too. Lol

Ground hogs can be pretty territorial, I agree other ground hog urine or scat, is a better attraction than fruit. If legal in your state I would set a 110 or 220 conibears in front of the hole, as long as there is no other house hold animals around. We use to catch a bunch of them on the farm that way