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auk1124 Offline OP
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Some health issues over the past year have limited my mobility, but I may try to do some groundhog hunting before hay gets too tall. Is anyone seeing any groundhogs out yet?

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Not yet but it won't be long as the weather warms up

Last edited by HunterShooter58; 03/12/22.

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I saw one out in Southern MO 2 days ago.

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The ol.lady said she saw one last week. Buddy lives by that spot and said it was hit a couple days later.

No reports of others yet but with this coming week being warm, i figure the sleepy dudes will be out.

Need to add a swivel stud to my #1H forend ( put one on a #3 rebarreled to .219 DW ). Its running half inch w handloads off a bag.

Need to make it bipod usable.

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I saw where some fresh dirt had been cleaned out of a groundhog hole last week, so I'm assuming that the occupant had woke up.

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Seen the first roadkill last week.We got a little cold snap so they may have went back to sleep for a few days.

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I saw one a few days ago before the cold front and snow came through Friday night. There's not a whole lot around my neck of the woods anymore.


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We have very few in Pennsylvania anymore. Many want to blame coyotes but they never seem to have anything to back it up. I think it’s fewer farms only because I grew up on a farm and we had three neighboring farms. Now there are no cows and no wood chucks. It’s like that all over our area. I don’t know, I could be all wet… But when I was growing up, I would hunt woodchucks just about every day and many days twice. I shot a lot of chucks and it always seemed like every one I shot would be replaced by two. Those were the days…

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auk1124 Offline OP
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There aren't as many around here as there used to be, but there are still some, and they usually stay tight to barns and other structures. Got to be careful getting a shot on them.

I have a couple hundred 40 grain Vmax around here somewhere. Need to dig them out and work up a load with a 223.

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Originally Posted by 450BM
We have very few in Pennsylvania anymore. Many want to blame coyotes but they never seem to have anything to back it up. I think it’s fewer farms only because I grew up on a farm and we had three neighboring farms. Now there are no cows and no wood chucks. It’s like that all over our area. I don’t know, I could be all wet… But when I was growing up, I would hunt woodchucks just about every day and many days twice. I shot a lot of chucks and it always seemed like every one I shot would be replaced by two. Those were the days…



What Ive noticed here in Southeast and south central PA is that I dont find them as often in the wide open fields like in the past. They seem to have their dens in the wooded and brushy edges and stay closer to the cover. That being said I kill at least 5 a year just in my just under 3 acre "backyard"

As far as the OPs question I havent seen any yet but have seen that some sticks etc I put over some holes on my yards edges in the fall have been moved sometime in the last 2 weeks and there seems to be some fresh dirt around them as well. Saw a fresh roadkilled one near here about a week ago also.

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When I was growing up in the 1960's, groundhog hunting was a big thing here. People would ride the roads looking for them, and I was one of those hunters. My cousin would drive, and I'd shoot them with a scoped 22 rifle. They seemed to be everywhere. Later on, I had a 243 and killed a bunch with it. Back then, you could find them anywhere, especially in and around a soybean field. Groundhogs could easily eat up several acres of beans in a large field.

While I don't know if the coyotes had anything to with it, it seems to be that about the time we began to see coyotes here in numbers, we saw a decline in groundhogs. The deer now do far more damage to soybeans than the groundhogs ever did. The groundhog is now seen more in wooded areas and in old buildings. As a matter of fact, most I kill anymore are in and around my old barns and outbuildings. I will say this though, in recent years I'm seeing more sign that they are moving back into soybean fields, as I see their dens in the fields after they are harvested. I'm also seeing a decrease in the number of coyotes here, so you can connect the dots if you want to.

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I saw two different groundhogs out in the past week in SE Indiana. Typically, they will come out this time of the year however den back up for several more weeks. I have also seen wood ducks in the creek as well as small asian honeysuckle bushes budding out.

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Growing up on the farm I only saw one coyote and that was after we got rid of the cows. I don't know if it was coincidence or not but the woodchucks started disappearing from all the farms I hunted, which was a lot!. Who knows, did the coyotes start showing up after the cows were gone or do cows and woodchucks go hand in hand and have "symbiotic" relationship. We use to have lots of rabbits around too and they started disappearing the same as woodchucks but this was 25 years later. Whatever it is it sucks...

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Saw a big groundhog today, beside the road in a field.


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Supposed to get up into the 60s here by Sunday. I think I have a 40 pack of Remington 45 grain 223 hollowpoints around here somewhere, that i bought before the election. I might just get a zero with them if I can find them.

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I have a big farm here that I hunt them with my .32 flintlock. Most of their fields used to be clover or alfalfa and was really good hunting with multiple kills most evenings. They lease it all now and the fields are planted in soybeans or corn, which means I have to hunt them early in the year before the crops get too high. Wish it would go back to the way it was.

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Originally Posted by blackpowder62
I have a big farm here that I hunt them with my .32 flintlock. Most of their fields used to be clover or alfalfa and was really good hunting with multiple kills most evenings. They lease it all now and the fields are planted in soybeans or corn, which means I have to hunt them early in the year before the crops get too high. Wish it would go back to the way it was.


Do you still see a lot of them?

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My Dad and I used to hunt groundhogs every Saturday in the summer in the mid to late 70s. They were everywhere in Ohio. In the late 80s to early 90s, coyotes starting showing up here. Now that coyotes are everywhere in Ohio there has been a noticeable decline in the groundhog population. They are pretty hard on fawns and turkey poults too.

Ron


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Originally Posted by 450BM
Originally Posted by blackpowder62
I have a big farm here that I hunt them with my .32 flintlock. Most of their fields used to be clover or alfalfa and was really good hunting with multiple kills most evenings. They lease it all now and the fields are planted in soybeans or corn, which means I have to hunt them early in the year before the crops get too high. Wish it would go back to the way it was.


Do you still see a lot of them?
They have always been along the edges for the most part, with their holes in the fence rows, woods. Never were a lot out in the fields. But yes, still more than I can kill. A few tears ago, I killed 38 in 2 months with the .32. longest shot with that rifle was 95 yards. Longest shot last year was 109 yards with the new .32 I built and it is sighted in to 150 yards. Sure a lot of fun!

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Originally Posted by blackpowder62


They have always been along the edges for the most part, with their holes in the fence rows, woods. Never were a lot out in the fields. But yes, still more than I can kill. A few tears ago, I killed 38 in 2 months with the .32. longest shot with that rifle was 95 yards. Longest shot last year was 109 yards with the new .32 I built and it is sighted in to 150 yards. Sure a lot of fun!



That's very cool. I always wanted a small caliber traditional rifle, but my eyes are so bad now it would be useless to me. Post a picture of the rifle sometime.

Last edited by auk1124; 03/18/22.
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