Ground Hogs (aka Wood Chucks) Digging in Pole Barn

[PAGUY]

PAGUY--How does the snare thing work and how do you set it up?[/QUOTE]

Check out you tube video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsFb6rQGpkE

I bought mine from PCS Harvester catalog that advertises in FUR-FISH-GAME magazine. Attach mine to fence post and loop it where groundhog enters yard.

 

[Jim Timber]

These are a whole bunch cheaper and ready to go: Amazon.com: Ausable 5 ft. 3/32 Coyote Snare with Washer Lock & Wire Swivel End 1 Dozen: Patio, Lawn & Garden

 

[the old grind]

That's a nice all-purpose snare, also good for fox and coyotes anyywhere in the Midwest but uh .. MI rolleyes during regular seasons (licensed) and for nuisance trapping. It's 'relaxing' lock will spare your catch, and targets must be er' 'dispatched', in trapping terms. btw: I have an account with PCS Outdoors and they've been super to deal with from day one.

I'd set a 4" loop with the bottom 4-6" above ground in a runway, loosely framed by a few small twigs or stiff shafts of dried grass to guide a chuck's head to the center of a well-traveled path (grass matted daily) or entrance hole. Plan on having a hefty pellet gun or rim-fire handy when you check your set. If both front feet get thru'/into a snare, your catch may be all the less likely to stand still for a clubbing. btw: The 'Conibear' I mentioned in a previous post can be set similarly and takes no prisoners.

Oh, sorry to get carried away about another er' hobby, but this season was the most un-fulfilling in a good while. Warm nights just didn't happen so coons didn't 'run', and frozen ground since deer season makes setting leg-holds an extra chore (broke one shovel). Fur buyers insulted us over a slim take of foxes and fewer coyotes despite continuing demand in Russia and the far East. Maybe I'll just 'set' for vs shoot the next 'groundchuck' I see to make up for it. (sigh ...)

 

[Jim Timber]

I personally use a cam lock snare, but that link's the first one that came up which shows the un-aware that snares are cheaper to buy ready made than they are to make from hardware store cable.

I get a dozen from Scheel's for around $20 with the nicer hardware and no shipping. Cabela's has also started carrying some trapping essentials.

We got so much snow, so early, and then mind-numbing relentless cold - the critters weren't even coming out of their holes. The only coon I got was during rifle season of Deer - second week of November!

I have a blooming red fox population that's on a rebound from a collapse a few years back. Once they've gotten the mice back under control, I'll have some nice pelts to harvest. For the time being, they've got work to do, and I want a bigger population before I start thinning them out.

 

[Blstr88]

Back a car/truck/tractor up towards an opening, put a tube/pipe (something that can handle the heat, not plastic) on your exhaust pipe and put the other end in an opening to their tunnels...little guys will fall asleep and never wake up. So sad...

 

[PAGUY]

Jim Timber - I see you are from Brainerd, MN. I have a website that has live cams about a guy named James that feeds wildlife (deer, fox, squirrels, crows, chipmunks, an occasional hawk that thins the pigeons, all kinds of birds and skunks.

I enjoy watching the inner actions of the deer families. Those older Doe can be pretty mean to younger deer. I watched the progress of the antler development from head bumps to shed velvet on the bucks. Neat site. :thumbsup:

 

[the old grind]

Jim, MI snare rules make things complicated, cattle-proof (fox-proof) vs deer-proof stops, 285lb breakaway, extra inline swivel, and lotsa wire replaced as coons and coyotes will still mangle it with all that bling and a relaxing lock. It can be tough to hide the extra hardware (clumsy lock, 285lb j-hook) and otherwise we'd be using micro locks or Sure-Locks. (Gotta go to 'Snare Shop' for the tapered 'twist-on' support collars vs typical 'whammy'.) All that said, I still say the specs of those you linked are a very versatile config and would work for me if they were legal here. (grumble...)

btw: My 10 and a 20 across the road produced 5 reds and 2 grays last year vs 1 coyote and far more fox tracks again this season, so IMO our local fox boom isn't over. I blame my pard's wintergreen tobacco spit for wisin' up tip-toeing canines that skirted our lines. Trapping is part science and part art so one won't get all the dos and don'ts right away, but it gets more fun every year.

Ground hogs are second only to muskrats for ease of trapping, so would be a great way to get a feel for it as a hobby or tool. At least one wouldn't have to skin/fleche/stretch the rascals. Most states allow year-round nuisance trapping, and the 'hours' you'd put in are often more convenient than 'spot & stalk' with a .22 or .410. tog

 

[Jim Timber]

I'm not the guy you're watching make videos. My video's are only for the muzzle devices I sell and feature full auto AR15's (I only have two video's online at the moment).

That's too bad about the MI trapping laws being overbearing like that. We can snare yotes year round, as they're not regulated, but we do have some restrictions about how high up the loop can be and how big it can be to keep from snagging bambi.

I only use dog-proof traps for coon right now, because I don't want to risk an accidental fox catch with a ground set, and our coon have been well trained to avoid a bucket if they see one. They'll scoop around the 220's if you don't block them out (I tried wood), and if you do then you'll just get skunks. Our mice are so bad, they'll clean out a DP trap in a few hours, even with a rock on top of it (they'll get it off!).

Since my trap covers were ineffective this year, I got a squirrel, mouse, and chipmunk in my DP sets.

 

[LouieJunior]

I have captured and killed four now -- from my pole barn. The last one took four .22 shots to kill -- and he was in the cage. I'm not sure shooting them is the best way. I plan on the diesel therapy mentioned above -- especially since there aren't any more .22 Long Rifle rounds available at the stores anymore.

 

[whistlepig]

Great question. Does longitude matter? Apparently groundhogs/woodchucks are also called land beavers and whistle pigs.

We can advance science by conducting a survey to determine how the common name of Marmota monax differs by region. I will start.

I have lived a year or more in NC, SC, VA, and MD and have always heard "groundhog."

Steve

Living on the Ohio/Kentucky border we all know where we came from by speak. Crawdad/Mudbug, whistlepig/groundhog, chimney/chimbley, lacks/likes, y'all/everyone, green'un means it's the color green. I know when I am talking to someone from Kentucky. And the folks from Kentucky know when they are speaking to someone from Ohio. Instantly.