Southern Groundhogs

[atchman2]

For your Northern folks, I just want to point out that I've seen a bunch of groundhogs out of their dens!  It just started getting warm here this week.   Tomorrow I'm going to take my binos up to one of the rural counties and scout for them.   I'm eager to see how the air guns do against them.  What I like about the idea of shooting them is it is a daytime event!

[Furseeker]

Does that mean we can expect to see a groundhog/airgun picture very soon?

[atchman2]

If I can find one to shoot!  They are cute and cuddly so getting permission might be hard.

[Mryan21]

I can't wait for the woodchucks. Wish i lived in the south.

[shadow]

The weather is getting warmer here also with some nice sunny days but we still have a bunch of snow on the ground and I haven't seen a G-hog yet. :0 Ed

[airiscool]

First couple of years I was hunting them I'd give in the the Spring "trigger itch" and shoot every Chuck I saw.

Then I spent a couple of years of walking fields with none to hunt. The farmer was happy, but I wasn't.

I learned that when they first appear in the Spring warm-up, the females are about to, or have just given birth. The new-born  kits are slow growing and can't take care of themselves for quite some time yet.

Whenever possable, I'd wait 6-8 weeks after they first appear. During that time I'd just scout,  map out  dens, and glass the burrow mounds watching the kits get bigger. When I could see  that the kits were out away from the burrows eating  grass, I'd load-up and go after Momma and Pappa. I'd only take out the field Chucks who's burrows damage the hay fields leaving the "boarder Chucks", those Chucks that have burrows in the hedge rows, as seed for next year. Later in the season when the field kits were fully grown, I'd take them out.

The farmer was still happy because there were fewer burrow mounds in his fields and there was less Chuck activity to be seen. Plus, I was happy because I never ran out of Chucks to shoot the next year.

Paul.

[atchman2]

Good advice!  One of the local Predator hunters told me, just becauseyou can shoot something doesn't mean you should. His example is that the female coyotes are about to have pups so you don't want to shoot any until fall unless they are being destructive.  

I can spend the next few weeks looking about.  I also need to find some turkey hunting locations so these things go hand in hand.  It isn't like I don't have half a dozen air guns to shoot in the now nicer warmer weather!

[Mebits]

It's got to be a nice way to enjoy spring, too! There's something nice about getting out after a winter of limited sun and just bask in sun and smell the new grass.

I may have a place to shoot groundhogs myself. I'm REALLY looking forward to taking one. My farmer says that they taste better earlier in the season when they're younger. I doubt it would make much difference after two hours in the oven with turnips and carrots. We'll just have to see!

[longislandhunter]

Groundhogs Did someone say groundhogs ?   Just the mention of them gets my blood pumping  !!  

I haven't seen any sign of them around here yet, but then it's still to cold.  During the winter I was doing some reading on g-hogs and the reading revealed just what Paul said about them giving birth as they come out of hibernation mode and the fact that the young pups need to remain with the mother for 6-8 weeks before they're capable of moving out on their own, which the mother will encourage them to do.  After reading that I decided that  this year I won't shoot any until that 6-8 week period is up and the young ones are able to fend for themselves.  I had planned on shooting less G-hogs this year anyway since I really hammered them for the last 2 years at the duck farm, so I'll use that 6-8 week "cease fire" period to do just what Paul said, map out their burrow locations and their overall population.  

Mark, as for the younger ones tasting better... that is definitely true.  I enjoy the older ones as well but the younger ones are just so much more tender and their meat has a much more mild taste.  One of my all time favorite small game meals is fried squirrel but I'll take a fried young g-hog over the squirrel any day, that's how good they are  !!  AS for the old ones, especially the big old fat ones..... I make g-hog pot roast out of them and I have to tell you it comes out so delicious that there just aren't words to describe it  !!

Randy,,, that 350 magnum of yours will do a great job on the g-hogs..  Mine, loaded with predators, is a g-hog slaughtering machine    although I must admit that I almost always use my .22 Condor for them since that's what I primarily bought the Condor for.  There's just something about a 28 grain Eunjin pellet travelling at 1000 fps that spells instant death to any g-hog it's pointed at  

Jeff

[airiscool]

I get the same way Jeff. I don't eat them, but Chucks are my favorite game to hunt.

Should be quite the year up here.

Usually, early June, we'll see maybe one, or two kits up sunning themselves on burrow mounds, wrestling/playing around, or out around the mound exploring.

Last year we saw  many  more burrows with kits, and it was common to see three and sometimes four kits per burrow.

When the weather breaks, gonna keep looking for a farm to hunt.  It's been too long since I could.

Paul.

[only1harry]

There is nothing I love more than hunting Groundhogs.  They are very challenging to hunt especially when you are outside looking for them.  You must avoid being out in the open and have to constantly conceal yourself from them by always staying behind something large that is between you and them.

The Groundhog is the most skittish critter in existense I think, at least out of all available small-game that I can shoot.  What makes them more challening is that they are never far from their burrow.  If your shot is not perfectly placed on the right spot in their head, they can crawl away fast or run down the hole in a couple of seconds while you are watching your quarry get away in agony and dispair

I am afraid this year I will probably just have to read your stories for a while since I have wiped out all the G-hogs in the neighborhood as I do with most other game animals that have a season  There was one G-hog left across the street last year.  Hopefully it will mate with another and I will have some young ones visit my property looking for new dens late in the summer.  I hope it's a female and will have a big litter

My problem is I never waited until June-July to shoot G-hogs in the past.  I always started shooting them in March & April while they had young in the burrow and some were pregnant.  Had I waited until June, there would have been a lot more G-hogs running around today.  I always told myself I am going to wait until after they rear their young for a several weeks, but when I see one, I just can't resist reaching for an air rifle, hehehe.

Here 's one I shot a little pre-maturely but I thought it was just fat when it fact it was ready to burst with little G-hogs

[longislandhunter]

Harry,,,,  I'll bet you that when the warm weather arrives and the g-hogs come out of hibernation that you'll have more than a couple within range  

I know you shot an awful lot of g-hogs but they seem to breed like rabbits and I just have a feeling that you'll be seeing brown furry target in and around your yard  

Jeff

[only1harry]

I hope so!  But you also know that very little escapes me when it comes to my yard  I had not spotted a Groundhog on my property since late August except for the one across the street.  I think I will see one or two this year, but only because they will be patroling beyond their normal range looking for mates I believe.  Right now there are very few in the neighborhood, if any, to mate with and there are still 2+ feet of snow on the ground.

It's good that they have big litters.  Usually 3-6 Groundhoglings  The summer before last you may remember (in '08) I had a female move in with 5 little ones.  After I took out the adult female the little ones - maybe 2mos old, were easy pickings, hanging out all day eating non-stop, sometimes 2 together side by side.  They made for easy targets  I even took one with the 850.  It was kind of sad too at the same time.  They would hang out inches from the burrow sometimes for an hour or more or when it was getting dark, without eating (they were too full), looking around, like waiting for their mother to return.  I had never seen G-hogs hang out in the middle of the lawn for 1-1.5hrs at a time, and 3+hrs total for the day, or so late in the day.  They just didn't know any better because their schooling was cut short  I was just afraid of a hawk or a big owl grabbing them, being that they were out there so long, so I felt it was either me or other predators

[Mebits]

Jeff, let me pump your brain a little bit more.

What flavor profiles does ghog call out for? If you're going low and slow, is it a parsnip and garlic kinda game with celery root on the side, or does it call for turnips and tarragon. Mushrooms? Tomatoes? Chickenstock or beef stock? Red wine? Vermouth?

I was planning on treating it just like bunny, but since you've got more experience, I'll ask you.

Oh, and would you ever just roast them instead of cooking them wet and slow?

(a thought occurs: would you advise against roasting ghog with either pork or chicken thighs or both with rosemary and garlic and making raviolis with them?)

M

[longislandhunter]

Mark, I've never roasted them but I'll bet it would be good.  I usually fry them or make pot roast  or stew.  I've read many recipes online and I have seen recipes posted for roasted g-hogs.  Seems most of those call for par boiling them prior to putting them in the roaster.  You can actually just prepare them anyway you'd prepare any other wild game.  Most people might think they have a very strong "gamey" taste to them but I don't find that to be the case.  They do have a bit of a unique flavor all their own but it's not very gamey by any means,,, at least not the ones I'm shooting and eating.  I'm the first to admit that my cooking skills are very basic so I stick to my tried and true recipes that I know how to make, but I have no doubt that a person with more cooking experience could make all kinds of great tasting meals out of them...

Jeff