Killin' Groundhogs

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ansehnlich1

ansehnlich1

Retired Hearth.com Member
Dec 5, 2006
1,601
Adams County, PA
I'll be frank right up front, I don't want this thread to deteriorate into a blathering argument about animal rights and stuff.

What I am looking for is real life experience in how to guarantee a groundhog will come out of the hole so I can kill it with my 12 guage.

I'm not lookin' for trappin' methods, poison methods, and/or any other input whatsoever.

I only want to know if you have a sure fire, guaranteed way to get the nasty critter up out of the hole so he's subjected to the withering fire of the 12 guage.

period!

No PETA or animal rights posts/comments needed.

thanks.
 
This isn't really an animal rights post but I had a buddy who used to live-trap groundhogs because they got into his garden and ate all his lettuce. I asked him what he did with the critters when he caught them and he said he released them up in Barton Hills (the fancy and exclusive part of town). Quote: "I wanted them to live the good life."
Chip
 
If you live in the country and the holes are on your property get your your local honey dipper to come over with a fresh load of POO and fill the hole . Better have a bunch of guys with guns and buckshot (reaches out further in case you miss the first time ). And have your video camera rollin it can get pretty wild!!!!!!!!! Ground pigs hate POO !
 
I'm not sure how I'll approach this. I have a .22 rifle, and I could spend the afternoon waitin' for the varmint to come out, I've almost snuck on him once or twice, but they got this keen eyesight, I even think he takes cues from, or can interpret, the warning call of certain birds in the woods, alerting him to hit the hole when I am getting near, hence the reason I'd like to smoke him out somehow and just pepper him with the 12 guage.

thanks for you ideas thus far.
 
What about the old standard cherry sized smoke bomb? Maybe we're thinking too hard. I still like the Rodenator, not sure how that would work on hogs, but sure looks like fun. LP or C02 may work also I bet, heavier than air, don't be lighting a smoke with the LP, may have problems doing the same with the C02. Get rid of his air, he'll come up to breath. So much for the PETA fans I guess. 22 with a scope and a tree stand in the early AM (nada afternoon, daybreak man!), some good chow outside the hole for a few days before to lure, problem fixed.
 
GotzTheHotz said:
One of these should do the trick....

http://www.rodenator.com/
Click to expand...

Holy crap! It's a friggin Fuel Air Explosive! Sweeeeet.
"Delivers a precise combination of air and propane" ... very nice. Didn't we deliver precise combinations of air and fuel on a bunch of caves in Afghanistan? Wonderful stuff those FAEs...

Back on topic though, we don't have Groundhogs here, but I've had luck with flooding mole burrows with a hose, and then dispatching the wet ones when they surface. Interesting choice on the 12 gauge, I'd recommend something along the lines of a Mini-14 Ranch Rifle, but whatever suits your taste...

You might also have luck by tossing a road flare or two down there.

-- MW
 
My problem isn't with Gophers it is with Moles.
I have tried the traps that spear them...they don't work.
I have tried poison...that doesn't work.

The only shure-fire method that has worked for me is waiting by the hole, where I see a fresh dig then I take a fish-spear and gigg them.
The first time I got one I could not believe how big they were!
This was no small rodent mole...they were huge with freaky feet.
 
The only things that I've had luck with moles have been traps and a product called Talprid. Don't bother with the grub killer, they eat 90%+ earthworms by the way. Ugly suckers to say the least!
 
I have had good luck from a secure sniper position 100+yards away with my deer rifle. Laying on top of a knoll on a sunny spring day waiting for a ground hog to appear is not a bad way to spend some time. Do not fall to sleep though..... never happened to me"honest".
 
I was able to send the moles away by using a liberal dose of diazanon on the entire yard. Killed all grubs, insects, worms, whatever and they picked up shop and went to the neighbors. He followed my lead and sent the moles on down the line. Now that diazanon is no longer made (I have a stockpile) you'll need to find a substitute insecticide.
 
We used to catch critters by using a have a heart trap and then when they were trapped we would take the .22 barrel and poke at them until they tried to bight it and then BANG pull the trigger and your rid of him.
 
Mike Wilson said:
Interesting choice on the 12 gauge, I'd recommend something along the lines of a Mini-14 Ranch Rifle, but whatever suits your taste...
-- MW
Click to expand...

Well, I've found the 12 gauge effective at relatively close range :), you see, part of my problem is the varmints are dug in at the top of a steep bank, and it's hard for me to sneak up on 'em without one neighbors house being in the line of fire. There's also a golf course 500 yards away and I gotta be absolutely certain rifle shots don't go airborne.

I did get one a couple weeks ago with my .22, he was just up a bit out of his hole, made for an easy burial.

As far as flooding the hole with water, I've never tried it, it'd take quite a bit of water to fill a groundhog burrow, we ain't talkin' mole here, we're talkin' an animal that would give a decent sized dog a good fight.

I like the flare idea, light that baby and shove down there as far as I can, hmmmmm
 
ansehnlich1 said:
Well, I've found the 12 gauge effective at relatively close range :), you see, part of my problem is the varmints are dug in at the top of a steep bank, and it's hard for me to sneak up on 'em without one neighbors house being in the line of fire. There's also a golf course 500 yards away and I gotta be absolutely certain rifle shots don't go airborne.

I did get one a couple weeks ago with my .22, he was just up a bit out of his hole, made for an easy burial.

As far as flooding the hole with water, I've never tried it, it'd take quite a bit of water to fill a groundhog burrow, we ain't talkin' mole here, we're talkin' an animal that would give a decent sized dog a good fight.

I like the flare idea, light that baby and shove down there as far as I can, hmmmmm
Click to expand...

I am getting a mental picture of your situation which is simply hysterical... neighbors, golf course, ground hogs... this scenario has some major league humor potential here!

Hey, what about going down to the local pharmaceutical store and picking up a tank of CO2. Cover up whatever holes you can see, drop a hose in there, and let the little buggars go for that nice, comfortable, long sleep in the ground... and odds are they'll never know it. Car exhaust as an alternative?

Just thinking of ideas...

-- Mike

 

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yeah Mike, you got the picture now, caddyshack pic looks just like me, haha. Really, I ain't kiddin' about the dang golf course, and the neighbors house, for real. I mean, I live on 4.5 acres, in the country, but I'm real safe when it comes to shootin' ya see.

I like some of the ideas here, I'm wonderin' if I take the ford diesel down there and try and pump some diesel exhaust down the hole, whaddya'll think?

Otherwise, I'm likely going to try the flare method, I just like that idea and wanna try it ya see.

lastly, I'll go up a tree and wait for it to get hot in the hole, they gotta come out for fresh air sometime right?
 
Groundhogs are people, too!!

Back before it was considered a bad idea to use Freon for anything but an air conditioner, I would have suggested unloading a couple of cans down the hole. It's much heavier than air and expands like crazy, blocking out oxygen. Nowadays, I would try a corrugated metal pipe on the tractor's exhaust and trickle a little motor oil into the intake for extra effect. I call this the Kevorkian method of pest control. Never tried it, but should be effective; try it at your own risk.

BTW, does anybody realise that those cans of "compressed air" they sell at Office Depot are nothing more than R134a that you would use in your car? They have been adding a "bittering" agent to them now to discourage the kids from huffing them. Ironically, I could lose my license and be fined $10,000 for willfully discharging refrigerant to the atmosphere, but you can buy it by the carload at Staples! Not suggesting anything here, though...

Anonymous
 
Careful with that combination, anseh! Nasty,nasty, nasty, a couple whiffs and you're in the ER at the least, worst is the hog wins and you're dead. I like the get rid of the O2 ideas, and I'd tried the flare deal too just because. Good luck!
 
GotzTheHotz said:
Careful with that combination, anseh! Nasty,nasty, nasty, a couple whiffs and you're in the ER at the least, worst is the hog wins and you're dead. I like the get rid of the O2 ideas, and I'd tried the flare deal too just because. Good luck!
Click to expand...

yaya, alright, I can't stand the thought of a groundhog dancin' round my dead body.......

I'm gonna just shoot the critters, just gotta hone my stalkin' skills a bit.
 
Try "Revenge Rodent Smoke Bombs". Available at most farm stores. This is not a poison. The smoke actuallys suffocates animals by consuming the oxygen in their tunnels
 
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