Weird question about WoodChuck psychology???

[Tommie]

 

[357Mag]

OK, right off, I'll say this is a weird thought, but it's not my fault - blame MrMajestic, and his thread, "New trick for Chucks,H

OK, right off, I'll say this is a weird thought, but it's not my fault - blame MrMajestic, and his thread, "New trick for Chucks, maybe?"bean

Here's my thought. Dogs can be very territorial. When I was younger (in my mischievous teens), I discovered that if you made a cardboard cutout of a dog (sideways profile) and put it 50 or 100 feet from a house with a defensive dog, it would make the defensive dog think it's home might be under threat, and they will go nutz to defend their terrtory... (Don't ask me how I know that, but you just had to be there at the time).groundhog

Have any of you guys seen woodchucks do defensive behavior when they saw another woodchuck near it's home territory?

Here's what I was thinking... If you had a cardboard cutout of a standing woodchuck, a BIG ONE... and you stood it somewhere that a difficult 'chuck was holed up, that maybe when the chuck saw it's enemy, it would also stand tall to defend it''s home territory... and keep standing there, being bad assed until it got clobbered by a few grains of copper, zink, and lead.

Any thoughts??

All -

Have seen video of " Soybenus Digestus " behavior inside the den, during mating seaseginninon.
The den had been configured w/ a one-way mirror along one wall ( Purdue or Indiana University ).
While a sow and boar were doin' their thing, a second male entered the den; lookin' for love.
The already occupied male made no fuss at all, and upon realizing his mistake..... the late arriving male simply left to try another den.

I have seen farmers plant and make use of a " sucker " patch..... a strip of soybeans deliberately placed along a groundhog trouble zone. It means giving up some small amount of acreage, when the patch is placed along a field of some other crop/plant, such as wheat or corn. But, when the farmer himself, his kids, or some lucky groundhoggers work the trouble area diligently; the zone can be calmed down for while.

Have also seen farmers that keep grassy access lanes to fields mowed, especially along ditch banks.
In the early Spriing, ditch banks are sometimes burned off, to provide a decent tgart towards keeping grass and weed under control. Mowing the access lanes is performed thereafter as-necessary. When such lanes are immediately adjacent to a ditch bank, it is fairly common to encounter groundhog holes right within the traffic area that is mowed. When groundhogs stand up in such holes soon after mowing has been accomplished, they do genuinely seem suprised at how tall they have suddenly become !


With regards,
357Mag

 

[troupe]

I grew up hunting groundhogs. I do miss it something terrible. Not many hogs here in eastern NC to speak of. I have had some of my most memorable outings with my great, late Dad. walking many miles through the clover fields in W.Va. Life long memories that I will always cherish. I would love to find a place to go back to so I could shoot some groundhogs. Some day.

 

[Webster]

The original post was 11years ago.

 

[lazyMlazyK]

I wonder if the guy ever made the decoy, and how it turned out?

 

[Bocephus]

OK, right off, I'll say this is a weird thought, but it's not my fault - blame MrMajestic, and his thread, "New trick for Chucks, maybe?"

Here's my thought. Dogs can be very territorial. When I was younger (in my mischievous teens), I discovered that if you made a cardboard cutout of a dog (sideways profile) and put it 50 or 100 feet from a house with a defensive dog, it would make the defensive dog think it's home might be under threat, and they will go nutz to defend their terrtory... (Don't ask me how I know that, but you just had to be there at the time).

Have any of you guys seen woodchucks do defensive behavior when they saw another woodchuck near it's home territory?

Here's what I was thinking... If you had a cardboard cutout of a standing woodchuck, a BIG ONE... and you stood it somewhere that a difficult 'chuck was holed up, that maybe when the chuck saw it's enemy, it would also stand tall to defend it''s home territory... and keep standing there, being bad assed until it got clobbered by a few grains of copper, zink, and lead.

Any thoughts??

Dunno, but it sounds like it might have been a possiblity before the coyotes eradicated our local population. But those sneaky sob's might have used this very scam to pull that off!
Keep us posted.

 

[Tommie]

I wonder if the guy ever made the decoy, and how it turned out?

Dunno, but it sounds like it might have been a possiblity before the coyotes eradicated our local population. But those sneaky sob's might have used this very scam to pull that off!
Keep us posted.

In the 11 years since this post, the OP was banned from this forum for abusive behavior. Not likely you’ll ever get a reply.

 

[Bocephus]

In the 11 years since this post, the OP was banned from this forum for abusive behavior. Not likely you’ll ever get a reply.

Thanks for the update. Reply was in haste. Should have been more attentive.

 

[trader steve]

Get them a smart phone and leave by there den and call them when you want to shoot them.

 

[Bill K]

Try or test it out and let us know, what reaction you get.

 

[bline]

I have never witnessed any type of territorial behavior in all of woodchuckdom that I am personally aware of. That does not mean that it does not take place; just means I have not seen any.
But as a former dedicated woodchuck shooter I have a story about one that I would like to share.

About 10 years ago while out on a woodchuck shooting mission at a farm in the Bernville, PA area I spooked one of them while hiking from my car to a favorite shooting spot. It was a rather large beastie that was in some tall alfalfa that I was walking through and he surprised me as much as I surprised him and he bolted toward my car and so even though I hated that piece of junk car, I did not hazard a shot and the chuck ran under the vehicle. I assumed it exited the other side and made for it's home. Assumed is the operative word there. Anyhow after a time (full disclosure - I do not recall if I got any shooting this day so I can not regale you with mythical 300 yard head shots) I went back to the car, got in and cranked the starter only to hear a tremendous amount of thumping from under the hood as the engine attempted to turn over. I will refrain from relating the exact thoughts that ran through my head and were verbalized as they would probably get me banned and anyhow, I assume there are children who might read this. As I got out of the car to lift up the hood that woodchuck darted from under the engine compartment clearly missing some patches of fur and obviously in a state of demoralization. It was clear to me that it had decided to climb up onto the engine and was maybe in the fan belt or fan itself when I hit the starter. Actually, I felt rather sorry for the chuck because I don't like to see any animal suffer and it may have taken some pretty heavy injuries; I mean, there was a LOT of banging from under that hood when I tried to start the car and the chuck did not look to energetic as it made its escape. I only wish that the chuck had caused fatal damage to the car thus giving me good cause to get another, and hopefully better, replacement. True story.

 

[Bojo]

Guy I hunted with for a couple of seasons used to prop up the first dead chuck of the day on a stick.
guy swore that the “leaner” made the other chuck more comfortable.