Woodchuck futility.....

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angus9259

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Seems like the more I trap and kill, the more that just fill back in from the countryside. Kinda like every time I remove one, I just put up a vacancy sign to the rest of them. Do woodchucks ever come to equilibrium based on their local population? Guess what I'm asking is - by killing them am I aiding in their propagation?

Doesn't seem like there's an adequate predator for them either. Coyotes are really the only predator we have around here anymore - which I'm thankful for keeping the mice and rodent populations down - but chucks aren't nocturnal so I don't know that their proverbial paths ever cross.... Besides, if I were a coyote I wouldn't tangle with one of them most likely...

Any other tricks?
 
Kill them as you see them. They got out of hand here last year with at least two breeding pairs. Couple hours with .22 and I eliminated 13. Might be two around this spring, but not like it was. I detest them more than skunks - make such a mess.
 
Aaron":1kr7khjq said:
Kill them as you see them. They got out of hand here last year with at least two breeding pairs.

I did not think they could take the weather up there. They must be big tough trophy sized ones! I know when we saw Manitoba skunks on the way to the goose hunting fields - - they looked bigger than southern raccoons. :nod:
 
Aaron":2kuf5zl2 said:
Kill them as you see them. They got out of hand here last year with at least two breeding pairs. Couple hours with .22 and I eliminated 13. Might be two around this spring, but not like it was. I detest them more than skunks - make such a mess.

I kill 5-10 a year and I'm sure only get half of what I see.
 
Angus:

I gave up. My old barn that is falling down (I posted a thread on it) is treacherous to walk through. The barn floor is undermined. When a niche is vacated by one you kill, it is immediately filled by the excess surrounding population. So far, their holes are in the banks of the hollers and not out in the middle of the pasture. I have surrendered. If you cannot subdue them, enjoy them! That's my motto. They are cute little critters.
 
Stocker Steve":1oxw7cad said:
Aaron":1oxw7cad said:
Kill them as you see them. They got out of hand here last year with at least two breeding pairs.

I did not think they could take the weather up there. They must be big tough trophy sized ones! I know when we saw Manitoba skunks on the way to the goose hunting fields - - they looked bigger than southern raccoons. :nod:

They do quite well up here. Bigger ones go about 10-15 lbs I would say. Skunks can get fair size too. A small coon is 20 lbs.
 
We shoot them as fast as we see them and have made a BIG dent in the ones that were around the house. They get under the foundation rocks, and the edges of the fields but it is when you drop a tractor front wheel in a hole and break a tie rod or something else that you get real serious about shooting them. Got all but one in the last 2 years that were getting into the garden and there haven't been any moving in to take their place. I also use the live trap baited with apple slices with peanut butter on them and sometimes watermelon slices. Saves catching so many of the barn cats. Also entices the coons and a few skunks on occasion. I don't think it causes too many others to move in to take their place.
 
We had one pasture that would always have a crop of them. When we turned the calves with their mommas in the field the woodchucks left. Seems when ever one would ocme out to feed or sun itself, a bunch of calves would go over and screw with it. Took about a week and haven;t seen one in that field since.
 
dun":1dvhrj50 said:
We had one pasture that would always have a crop of them. When we turned the calves with their mommas in the field the woodchucks left. Seems when ever one would ocme out to feed or sun itself, a bunch of calves would go over and screw with it. Took about a week and haven;t seen one in that field since.

Here the woodchucks screw with the calves.
 
angus9259":38e2nzdv said:
dun":38e2nzdv said:
We had one pasture that would always have a crop of them. When we turned the calves with their mommas in the field the woodchucks left. Seems when ever one would ocme out to feed or sun itself, a bunch of calves would go over and screw with it. Took about a week and haven;t seen one in that field since.

Here the woodchucks screw with the calves.

Thanks for that laugh.

My Uncle was hunting groundhogs here in Kentucky. He used a 22-250 and enjoyed long range shooting. Chucks are great for that. He came back to the house one day excited. He said he saw one as big as a collie dog. When it stood up, he said it reminded him of a grizzly bear.

I hope they don't start killing your calves.

:stop:
 
TennesseeTuxedo":izp7a05k said:
We had a fox set up housekeeping in our barn lot last year. Groundhog problem solved.

Wish I could encourage that. Doesn't seem to be working. I leave the dead carcass out for them and this morning it's gone so I know they are visiting. I'm too close to town I think. Fox and Coyote only come out at night when the hogs are underground.
 
I had a bad groundhog problem at my place when we bought it 5 years ago. I shot as many as possible with my trusty .22 Marlin and had great success with cat food in a live trap. Must have caught 20 that way. Had a couple so big I could barely pull them out. Had to been 20-25 lbs. Not even sure how they got in there!
 

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