Odd groundhog behavior??

[Mobuck]

Thinking back, I remembered a trick that worked at least a few times. The primary den hole came up in an open space of the shed floor. I laid a cocked connibear 330 (a bit of overkill but it's what I had) over the 10-12" diameter hole with a sheet of newspaper gently placed on top and a bit of the loose shed floor dirt around the edge to prevent wind from blowing the paper away. Caught 3 in just a few days including a huge, grizzled specimen. Apparently, the newspaper covering prevented the animals from seeing the trap's trigger wires as they tried to push the covering aside.

 

[contender]

I use a 160 double spring Conibear all the time on groundhogs. Even the biggest ones get killed in it. In NC,, that's the biggest Conibear I can set on dry land. Anything bigger has to be in water. I use the 330's for beavers.

I place the trap in the opening where they travel in & out. I drive stakes through the spring eye holes. I make it where the trap is rigid, and can't move, EXCEPT the trigger wires, and the way it needs to fire. I use the stakes & small twigs to make it rigid.
Next, I place upright sticks in between the compressed spring wires to where the biggest opening is the square hole of the trap. All it takes is one or two per side.
I also make sure there isn't a way for the g-hog to go around, over or under the trap.

I assume they look at the trigger wires as "just little twigs" and ignore them. I'll get a picture in the next day or two to show what one looks like. I have a couple of jobs where I have some traps out for them.

 

[Mobuck]

Yeah, MO has regs about setting the bigger conibears on dry land too but this being inside a building changes things--at least from my perspective. Moot point as all my 330's are gone now.

 

[volshooter]

I've hunted wistle pigs for 50+ years. They are very tough critters. And dadgum fine eating, yep I'm from the south. I've never heard of other hogs dragging them into a hole, interesting.
But, I do collect them asap as any game I intend to eat.
Many years ago, while quail hunting, our bird dog got between a ground hog and his hole. Dog attacked and hog responded. Dog's nose was almost torn off. He never hunted again. Did sire some fine pups. As said they are tough. I hit one in the head at 10 feet with a .22 short once. Good shot, sob snorted, backed up and ran off.
I realize in a lot of places they are pest. But they are good eating properly handled and cooked. Great in stews.

 

[Ranger]

Long, long ago... in an attempt to eliminate some grandhogs that were wiping out the soybeans in one field, a couple kids who shall remain anonymous set a snare in the trail through the weeds between the groundhog hole and the field edge and staked it down real well.

And caught a real hog. We don't have wild hogs around here. Neighbor had a hog get out of lot about a mile away and it found it's way to that trail and stuck it's nose through the snare. Don't remember much about it now other than it was a big pain trying to get the hog settled down and the snare off. Totally ruined the snare. I think that was last time those kids ever did that.

 

[jmca]

Over the years, I have seen Groundhogs up in trees! Berries or Apples. One time I watched a little Collie dog run up an Apple tree in hot pursuit. Lady said, "OH, those two do that all the time. Neither ever catches the other!"

 

[Mobuck]

FWIW I may have cleaned them out. I scuffled up the loose dirt around the hole a few days back and there are no fresh tracks/activity apparent. There may be other entry holes that I didn't find so not 100% sure. We'll be back there to finish building a corral soon and have the equipment out of the shed making it easier to search for other digging.