ground hog hunting in north central ohio

[hogpatrol]

I'd say urban sprawl - human overpopulation - is the no. 1 destroyer of groundhogs and their favored habitat. Ethanol/corn demand also is causing what was idle CRP acreage to be plowed under, but it's not being rotated to beans every other year, from what I've seen. No doubt coyotes are taking some 'hogs in some areas and I've seen their scat around some holes (might be a territorial thing), but they are mostly nocturnal and dusk hunters; I've only ever witnessed one coyote eating one of my previously-shot groundhogs.
North Central OH's Mike Groff seems to have the balance between shooting/preserving 'hog stock and appeasing farmers figured out; also, his numbers don't seem to vary much year-to-year. www.ncovarmintexpress.com and click on the 'hog.

On some of my groundhog acreage, as soon as fresh dirt shows, the holes are being gas bombed. End of "problem" for the farmers.

 

[Bangs OH]

I agree. Those coyotes can't be eating that many chucks during the day. And there has been a very sharp decline in the chuck population but the coyote population has been about the same. At least in my area. What does Mike Groff charge?

Not sure what he charges. At one time he worked at the Mansfield Chevy dealer and I hoped to cross paths with him there and pick his brain, but I've switched truck brands since.

 

[WyleWD]

Bad in Delaware County NY too. They used to be everywhere. The past 10-15 years they are very very few. Everyone blames the coyotes. I have my doubts the coyotes are the main reason.

As much as I've doubted that the yotes are the main reason, it is sure a powerful coincidence that as soon as coyotes move into an area, soon afterwards the chuck population has went down.... not just here but read the claims of others in different parts of the country and it seems to be a pattern. Where I grew up, one never saw a coyote, when I first started seeing them in the late 1990's it wasn't 3 years till the chucks were almost ALL gone there. Deer population REALLY took a hit too.

Lastly, about a month ago I was shooting chucks on a late season farm and took about an hour talking to the farmer. He asked that I NOT shoot anymore coyotes..... it seems that while he has been cutting alfalfa he has witnessed multiple coyotes following his mower/ conditioner and laying in wait outside holes with pups in them on almost every time he has mowed his alfalfa. He is pleased that the coyotes are keeping the chucks thinned out too.

So now I have to share one of my favorite farms with the coyotes..... Really???? : That is going to be tough to do. :-[ How embarrassing. WD

 

[CatShooter]

So now I have to share one of my favorite farms with the coyotes..... Really???? : That is going to be tough to do. :-[ How embarrassing. WD

Yo' career as a chuck shooter has done gone to the dogs!

I am convinced that it is coyotes. They are so brazen here in Connecticut that they jump back yard fences and run off with pet poodles in their mouth... and chucks are about to be listed as an endangered species in my state.

About 4 years ago, I went on a 9 day vacation to Vermont. A lot of Vermont is hilly and mountainous - but the north end by the big lake is open pasture land with a lot of possibilities of 1,000+ shots on woodchucks - and I used to shoot there some 30 years ago.

So, for this trip, I threw a 40XB/SS .220 Swift and a 40XB/ss 6mmRem in the truck.

When we got there and "I went scouting, there were no woodchucks to be seen. On every dairy farm were large pens with calves in them... but the odd thing was that the pens had heavy chicken wire over the tops of the pens. The farmers told me that it was to keep coyotes out - the calves couldn't be let out for a year, or they would be doggie lunch.

So I am convinced that our gift from the south west has wrecked the chuck populations in the north east.

 

[Nomad47]

Dang, Wayne. Is that in Knox County where the farmer asked you not to shoot the yotes?
I see one to three each summer as I hunt chucks. Sounds like I might be seeing more soon. This one was about to dine on one of my chuck kills when he got lead poisoning.

 

[WyleWD]

Bill, yes it was. And to be accurate about it, he TOLD me not to shoot em. I started to remind him he has a whole field full of cows less than a quarter of a mile away that will have calves this spring, but didn't want to debate the issue with him as he was very stern. I guess he hasn't chatted with the fellow north of town that lost 3 or 4 calves a couple springs ago to coyotes. I'll be seeing him again soon for coffee and maybe by then he will be a little more open minded. : WD

 

[LitLBoy]

One of the Ohio wild life papers had an article a couple years back, They set up trail cams in front of two yote dens in the spring. One female killed 17 fawns in a month to feed her pups, the other one killed 30 in the same time period. I live in Muskingum Co. (SW edge) I'd say our deer herd is down 75% from 5-10 years ago. I've heard 20-25 gun shots this year during the deer gun season, the whole season, 10 years ago I would have heard that many in the first 1/2 hour of the season. Ground hogs --- you got to be kidding, I might see 4-5 the whole summer. Turkey hunters in this area are just as likely to call in a yote as a turkey. We used to have several flocks of turkey with 30-40 birds each, now if I see 3-4 birds I call it a flock.
Gave up hog hunting and shoot long range steel at Rayners and Briar Rabbit now, only way to get off more than 6 rds. in a summer.

 

[waterfwlr]

Maybe they are eating a bunch of chucks, but neither I or the farmers I spoke to are seeing it. If woodchucks were nocturnal it would make more sense. These chuck holes out in the middle of a field, very close to a fairly busy road can't be getting hit in broad daylight. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think the main reason for the decline is something else. I hope once they get put on the endangered list that they research why.

 

[Mr rodent]

Well I have been seeing plenty of ground hogs in my area, We also have plenty yotes I am sure some of the pups are getting caught by owls,redtails and yotes.
But there is no shortage of hogs around here.

 

[Bangs OH]

Bill, yes it was. And to be accurate about it, he TOLD me not to shoot em. I started to remind him he has a whole field full of cows less than a quarter of a mile away that will have calves this spring, but didn't want to debate the issue with him as he was very stern. I guess he hasn't chatted with the fellow north of town that lost 3 or 4 calves a couple springs ago to coyotes. I'll be seeing him again soon for coffee and maybe by then he will be a little more open minded. : WD

If that was dairy farmer G--------h, or some of the others in Eastern Knox who hold those beliefs, good luck. Or, maybe wait a few years until the 'yotes get so numerous and brazen they start eating the calves as they're being born, before they hit the ground, and those modern-day farmers will be begging for someone to shoot coyotes. Pretty sure this old Knox Co. farm kid's late dad would have put "coyote extermination" on my long list of chores if any 'yotes had existed here back then (common sense apparently did).

 

[Nomad47]

I always ask my farm landowners what they want shot in addition to groundhogs. Most tell me coyotes, raccoons, and black headed buzzards are to be shot. Several have asked me to shoot deer as well, but I decline. After I told one farmer I couldn't shoot deer, he told me I was more than welcome to shoot any "long legged white-tailed groundhogs" I saw eating his beans or alfalfa.

 

[Nomad47]

I'll go along with the nocturnal reasoning. There are likely a few chucks that get caught by coyotes but I would see more 'yotes (with all the time I spend in the fields) if woodchucks were high on their menu.
Gassing and conibear traps account for a lot of the groundhog decline.

I was late getting to Ohio last summer due to granddaughter graduations in NC. So I soybean sprouting time. One of my farmers told me he and his brother trapped over 75 before I got there.

 

[WyleWD]

Gassing and conibear traps account for a lot of the groundhog decline.

I was late getting to Ohio last summer due to granddaughter graduations in NC. So I soybean sprouting time. One of my farmers told me he and his brother trapped over 75 before I got there.

Right there are among 3 of the highest reasons for the lower numbers, Bill. Also, Ever seen one of these work??? http://www.rodentblaster.com/

It is real easy to tell if one has been used..... especially if it was an extensive burrow and the operator got a little over zealous with the amount of time propane is dispensed. Am really surprised that someone hasn't been seriously hurt or neutered with one of these things

Personally, I think Ashland county north of Ashland has way more chucks than Knox county but it is a heck of a drive from here. WD

 

[LitLBoy]

Enjoy the chuck hunting while you still have it in north central Ohio, but I guarantee that when the yote population gets large enough the chucks will be gone. When I moved to this part of the county 15 yr. ago I asked the farmer-rancher (600acre) to hunt chucks. He said sure hunt all you want, but you won't shoot any. Really? He says that's Buddys job , pointing to a husky mix farm dog that's missing a hind leg, farmer says Buddy won't let one live on the place. I never ever saw one chuck on that farm in all the years I've been here and I drive by it almost every day. That's just one crippled up old dog, what do you think a pack of 6-12 yotes roaming the country side can do. And they will hunt in the day time.

 

[sheepman]

Yes I hunt around Jeromesville I use 20,22,6 ppc with weaver fine dot scopes

 

[1shot]

I'm right in the middle of Ashland, Shelby and Mansfield.
Lloyd

 

[Nomad47]

Sounds like right in the middle of groundhog heaven, Lloyd.

 

[1shot]

You know I am Bill. ;D

 

[Nomad47]

Hmmm, maybe we could do a "home and home" next summer. You come shoot with me for a day and I will come shoot with you for a day.

 

[1shot]

Consider it a plan. Maybe we can post the most gruesome hits on here.
Lloyd