Last minute ground hog shooting.

[ohlongarmisle]

Yesterday my set up is in this recently cut bean field full of holes, groundhogs are very wary here I saw 18 in 7 hours and shot 7, missed 2 due to extreme wind gusts. I didn't know that many groundhogs could survive here with such an abundance of coyotes and bald eagles, but somehow they do. Many groundhogs were dug in in the banks right along the highway, so they were off limits. Next week mid sixties we'll try again. Closest shot was 155, yards furthest 250 yards, most right at 200, 3 headshots easily identified were taken successfully at 200 yards. CZ 527 American in 17 Hornet, Hornady factory Superformance 15.5 grain NTX lead free at 3870 feet per second. Flattens them like a lightning bolt. Hawke 6x25x50 with long range illuminated dot, best scope for varmints I've ever seen.Over 100 for the 2022 season so far.The pile is last week about 10 or so.

 

[JungleShooter]

OhLongArm,

now THAT is some very good hunting!! Congrats!
Good pics.
Good shooting.
Good helping the farmers.

At 200 and 250y, a groundhog isn't much of a target anymore — more like a speck in the scope image....
At those ranges headshots are a challenge even with 6-24x.
Well done.

And welcome to our LRH forum!

Matthias

 

[357Mag]

Ohio -

Howdy !

Don't think there is such a thing as " the last minute ", when it comes to shooting grounghogs.
But hey... that's just me.

In NE Indiana over the years, I've seen them out ( even if just one ) every month of the year except Feb.
And that is because I was probably in the wrong place @ the wrong time.

Seen 'em out in Winter, eating the bark off trees.

Some of those immediately pre-hybernation " consumers " offer perhaps the best chance for coming across a really big 'un ?!

Thanx for the updates !


With regards,
357Mag

 

[Coyote Shadow Tracker]

Awesome
I cherished going to my birthplace in PA several time each year to hunt Chucks. They are already in the ground where I came from.
I see that you are bundling them up to skin out and butcher for some stews. Instapot cooks them the best with the pressure to keep in the flavor.
Great picture and brings back memories!!!!

 

[Baker Alvin]

Good Shooting! Thank you for sharing your experience.

 

[Old Hickory 45]

That's a good dent in their numbers! Nice shooting!

 

[Varmint Hunter]

The number of groundhogs seen on the farms in central PA has dropped so noticeably over the years that I just about gave up on hunting them. The locals all have different theories as to what happened to them. Some say it's the increase in coyotes, others say it's pneumonia due to damp springs, others think it's some sort of plague.

All I know is that it's something other than hunting pressure.

 

[ohlongarmisle]

The number of groundhogs seen on the farms in central PA has dropped so noticeably over the years that I just about gave up on hunting them. The locals all have different theories as to what happened to them. Some say it's the increase in coyotes, others say it's pneumonia due to damp springs, others think it's some sort of plague.

All I know is that is something other than hunting pressure.

Coyotes would never cause a total reduction in GH's,many coyotes are nocturnal, gh's not so for the most part, I have seen some on a full moon night.I drove through Beaver Falls Pa, a short time ago , the countryside was full of gh's, who knows. If it wasn't 2 hours from me I'd try to secure some acreage to hunt. In Ohio now I'm at over 5000 acres.

 

[Coyote Shadow Tracker]

Coyotes would never cause a total reduction in GH's,many coyotes are nocturnal, gh's not so for the most part, I have seen some on a full moon night.I drove through Beaver Falls Pa, a short time ago , the countryside was full of gh's, who knows. If it wasn't 2 hours from me I'd try to secure some acreage to hunt. In Ohio now I'm at over 5000 acres.

Been hunting chucks for over 50 years in NE PA. 20 years ago there were days where we two of us could shoot 40 chucks in a day. Then the "Fracking" started 10+ years ago and chuck numbers seem to get low. We blamed it on the Drilling and Fracking making ground noise/vibrations and taking hay fields to put in Wells. Another concept was that since the Dairy Farmers were now RICH from getting leases for their land, then extra if a pipeline was put through their property and IF they by chance got a Well on their land that was producing Natural Gas they just hit the lottery. Dairy farmers sold their cows and retired. Since that happened a lot of the very nutrient rich Hay fields where the chucks lived and ate started disappearing. No more Dairy Cows, no more rich manure to make the high grade Hay. So, the numbers of chucks went down to loss of fields and food.
Some said that the Coyotes are eating all the chucks but like @ohlongarmisle stated-Coyotes are nocturnal and chucks are daytime so their paths rarely cross.
Then what I really think is that a hell of a lot more hunters became interested in chuck hunting and shot them out. At the end of the year we would always not shoot all the chucks. We would say let's leave some SEED for next year. The last time I visited PA and hunted chucks almost all our good producing fields were barren. My hunting partner had developed friends with over 100+ Dairy Farmers in 50 years. That is a lot of land and fields. The remaining Farmers said that chuck numbers were very low and that they always have other hunter asking for permission to hunt.
Next thing the Game Commission will probably get involved and put a Season and special license on Chuck hunting.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

I hunted the same 6-8 large farms for decades and the groundhog numbers appeared to remain constant. There was rarely anyone else interested in hunting hogs where I was. But over the last several years there was a slow and steady decline in the number of hogs and holes. I tend to think it is something environmental, but who knows?

 

[cornchuck]

Good shootn' sir! I always say, the second best time to hunt groudhogs is in the fall.

Jason

 

[357Mag]

Yesterday my set up is in this recently cut bean field full of holes, groundhogs are very wary here I saw 18 in 7 hours and shot 7, missed 2 due to extreme wind gusts. I didn't know that many groundhogs could survive here with such an abundance of coyotes and bald eagles, but somehow they do. Many groundhogs were dug in in the banks right along the highway, so they were off limits. Next week mid sixties we'll try again. Closest shot was 155, yards furthest 250 yards, most right at 200, 3 headshots easily identified were taken successfully at 200 yards. CZ 527 American in 17 Hornet, Hornady factory Superformance 15.5 grain NTX lead free at 3870 feet per second. Flattens them like a lightning bolt. Hawke 6x25x50 with long range illuminated dot, best scope for varmints I've ever seen.Over 100 for the 2022 season so far.The pile is last week about 10 or so.

All -

Modern large acreage farming brought with it the use of herbicides to control weeds. Farms fields became too large to " hand weed " a long time ago.

IMHO - The advent of " no till " farming, and more to the point.... the wide spread use of " burn down " chemicals that came with that... only added more chemicals to the large assortment herbicides already in-use for decades.

I don't image there'd be very many farmers that would delay the application of post-emergence herbicies, as a courtesy to groundhogs that would soon be all over soybeans in the 2 leaf stage. What I can imagine is that groundhogs in many locations are injesting, drinking in with their water; or even getting on their hair inordinate amounts of chemicals. This can't be good for them. One need only look @ the hazards of 2-4-D, or more recently.... the effects of " Roundup " on at least one living organism.

I did write both the Indiana and Ohio DNRs, to ask if any sort of study has been done, specifically on groundhogs.
Neither state has done so, and available funds to do one is of course a limiting factor. Declining GH populations were generally acknowledged, but at the same time; predation was not claimed to be the proven major factor either.
For groundhogs, things are tough all over.

However.... I'm not suggesting we quit shooting them.

Again, all IMHO.


With regards,
357Mag

 

[Old Hickory 45]

All -

Modern large acreage farming brought with it the use of herbicides to control weeds. Farms fields became too large to " hand weed " a long time ago.

IMHO - The advent of " no till " farming, and more to the point.... the wide spread use of " burn down " chemicals that came with that... only added more chemicals to the large assortment herbicides already in-use for decades.

I don't image there'd be very many farmers that would delay the application of post-emergence herbicies, as a courtesy to groundhogs that would soon be all over soybeans in the 2 leaf stage. What I can imagine is that groundhogs in many locations are injesting, drinking in with their water; or even getting on their hair inordinate amounts of chemicals. This can't be good for them. One need only look @ the hazards of 2-4-D, or more recently.... the effects of " Roundup " on at least one living organism.

I did write both the Indiana and Ohio DNRs, to ask if any sort of study has been done, specifically on groundhogs.
Neither state has done so, and available funds to do one is of course a limiting factor. Declining GH populations were generally acknowledged, but at the same time; predation was not claimed to be the proven major factor either.
For groundhogs, things are tough all over.

However.... I'm not suggesting we quit shooting them.

Again, all IMHO.


With regards,
357Mag

Well said, Mag! Field chemicals are killing off everything and the DNR knows it very well. And no, they will never invest in cause or effect of it pertaining to wildlife.

 

[ohlongarmisle]

I hunted the same 6-8 large farms for decades and the groundhog numbers appeared to remain constant. There was rarely anyone else interested in hunting hogs where I was. But over the last several years there was a slow and steady decline in the number of hogs and holes. I tend to think it is something environmental, but who knows?

I was in Mattituck, Cutchogue Long Island recently, on a 500 plus acre winery, I saw over 50 groundhogs in one day, alas no centrefire, or even 22 rifles can be used to hunt them, perhaps a super high powered air rifle.That area is absolutely overrun with big fat gh's.