GROUNDHOGS!

[lil jake]

ive shot them and caught one by the tail in a snare trap. i killed it with an axe.    i took it back to the house... skinned it... and my dad thru it in the smoker... it was awesome.

[Chris Shelton]

I consider myself the local groundhog expert around here.  I had to stop trapping them because I was doing too good, I have to have something to keep me busy in the summer, and if I got rid of them all, that wouldnt be any fun.  Ive killed 2 with my 22lr at 300 yards.  Took one down with a judo to the skull, he died instantly.  However with that said I would probably not try it again.  I often have thunderbolts 100 grains with a muzzy grasshopper behind the shaft, that way if I miss I wont loose the arrow, and that seems to work fine, still good penetration.  If you penetrate 2 inches that would be like a foot into a deer.  It will do damage.  I personally like to use old 2 blade magnus stingers, they zip right through them with my 55# take down.  If they are really a problem you should consider other methods.  Such as trapping, or a rifle.  But if there is no rush or anything to get rid of them, they will definatly give you a run for your money:)

[Chris Shelton]

p.s the small ones are tasty, and if you can get a bigger one skinned then that meat is fine too.  But their skin can be as thick if not thicker than deer hide!!!

[Red Beastmaster]

Sometimes my initial shot pins them against the side of the hole or they just need a finishing shot. In that case I'll use a steel blunt to the head from close range. Otherwise it won't be long until they gnawl or break your first arrow.

[Uncle Buck]

they can be good eating. My grandfather loved to cook ones taken in alfalfa fields. toss them in a crock pot along with the ususal vegatables. take off the excess fat and the glands

[ISP 5353]

A sharp broadhead or a .44 SWC.

[TooManyHobbies]

I've only shot one, and a field point wasn't even close to being enough. I almost got him when the arrow got snagged going into the hole, but it slipped out and chucky was gone.
broadheads only.

[LookMomNoSights]

Hmmmm.   I have some old Zwickey Eskimos Id chance.  How do they taste?  Never heard of anyone eating the destructive little suckers.... and figured myself they would taste something like coyote?!  Salt and pepper or not,  the one (or more?) that is dangerously close to my septic better know how to limbo and real fast.  Would POC hold up on my rotisserie?  

[Don Stokes]

The only one I've shot waddled under my deer stand and took two big broadheads in the vitals to kill, and he chewed up the arrows anyhow. I was planning to eat him until I smelled him. No thanks! Must have been a rank old boar.

[LookMomNoSights]

Seems they chew through arrows too huh.  Maybe I'll make up a half dozen 2117's ....see if they chew through that!

[BOWMARKS]

Be carefull as said one tough critter!! I once shot one with a 357 mag. hit it right center in the chest it came after me like a wild bull. I never backed up so quickly and pulling the trigger so fast in my life. It took two more hits to stop it! Whew what a rush I grew very carefull after that.      

[Friend]

KY goundcarp do not like large snuffers.

[Conan 1883]

Here's a couple pics of what a 125 grain Snuffer out a 47# Firefly will do when you're bored during bow season and know that these little guys are taking a toll on a farmer's plot of beans during the summer months!
 

[LookMomNoSights]

Hey thanks a bunch for all the info!  Seems people like to shoot these little guys . . . and I didnt think Id get much response with the thread!  Thanks for the pics too!  Im hoping to be posting some myself after this weekend,  we'll see!  Ive heard of a whistle made for calling these guys too buy the way.  Its supposed to bring them right out of the hole and keep their attention?  Anyone ever use one?  Heard its tricky though,  as some whistles say "Hey come check this out!"  and other pitches say "Keep down ....he's on the field edge with his recurve and a quiver full of razor sharp Zwickeys!"  :D

[Doc Nock]

Some guy in PA made a brass call that sounded like a kid's plastic toy bird whistle with a plunger that goes in and out. I could never quite get the hang of it or the run of notes.

I did learn after listening to their website sound bite (nope, don't have name of product or website anymore)that some of the sounds I heard out in the field I thought were birds were really groundhogs.  Interesting stuff...

In fencerows, it's hard to see them and not hard for them to see you. I'm sure it was operator error...but I found more success just sneaking along downwind of treelines, hedgerows, and brush lines... close enounters of the 3rd kind!

[tkytrac]

Some good info here.  Groundhogs are indeed tough.  I have had them charge me just walking near their dens.  Taken them w/ all manor of weapons.  A sharp broadhead w/ some older aluminum arrows I don't mind losing is what I use.  A hit critter isn't able to shred it as fast as cedar and if he makes it to the hole, a bent or lost shaft is going to be the result.

[FlintRiverKen]

Here in N AL we have a few whistle pigs and we're seeing more around our homesite on the mtnside. Still trying to pattern them- you go a long time without seeing any, then they're everywhere. Wanting to slow grill one with lots of hickory.

-from Wikip ____________
In most areas, groundhogs hibernate from October to March or April, but in more temperate areas, they may hibernate as little as 3 months. To survive the winter, they are at their maximum weight shortly before entering hibernation.

As birth of the young approaches in April or May, the male leaves the den. One litter is produced annually, usually containing 2–6 blind, hairless and helpless young. Young groundhogs are weaned and ready to seek their own dens at five to six weeks of age.
_____________________________

 I don't want to harvest a sow that's still suckling piglets so it looks like late summer/early fall is best time to try for some.

[DW Dyer]

I didn't have any luck with turkeys the other day, but managed to take a woodchuck at about ten yards. They are tough, but the broadhead I was using did the trick.

[hawkeye n pa]

They are edible.  And have done so.

Bowhunting groundhogs is a good testing place for new heads you might want to big game hunt with.  Other than that sharpen up the cheap and used broadheads.  I use pdf? weight so they are all the same.

[Onions]

I made the mistake of shooting one with a Hex Blunt. The arrow bounced right off. The 'chuck just stood there, like nothing happened!
I then put a WW right through him.
Stick with broadheads! They are tough critters.

chris <><