Varminting in this region?

[trickg]

When I remember back to some of the best times I have had shooting, I think back to the days when my Dad and I would drive out into the middle of a big piece of pasture ground on a good warm day in Southwest Nebraska and we'd depopulate a prairie dog town as best as we could over the course of the afternoon. Is there anything like that to be had in this region?

I've heard of people who go woodchucking, but I don't know anything about that, nor would I even know where I could go to do it.

Does anyone on the board here have any experience with varminting in this region?

 

[Numidian]

Find a farmer who has a ground hog problem... Thats about all you're gonna find in this area...

 

[BusDriver]

Mole hunting in your backyard with an air rifle .

 

[trickg]

Find a farmer who has a ground hog problem... Thats about all you're gonna find in this area...

What exactly constitutes a groud hog problem? (By the way, ground hogs and woodchucks are the same thing, right?) How many animals are we talking? When we'd go out to the prairie dog towns, it wasn't unusual to rack up 50-80 kills between the two of us - that's a good day's shooting!

 

[BusDriver]

Groundhog Problem: is when those pesky fellas are digging holes everywhere . Woodchuck/groundhog one in the same . I don't hunt chucks in MD in fact I don't hunt in MD at all . To crowded for me . I go to my secret place in another state .

 

[trickg]

Groundhog Problem: is when those pesky fellas are digging holes everywhere . Woodchuck/groundhog one in the same . I don't hunt chucks in MD in fact I don't hunt in MD at all . To crowded for me . I go to my secret place in another state .

See - that's a problem for me out here. There really isn't much (if any) of that kind of thing to be had in or around Baltimore. I've heard some guys talking about doing out by Winchester, VA (groundhog hunting) but you have to know someone, and I relly don't know anyone who owns land around here. A friend of a good friend of mine owns a farm somewhere around Deale and we have talked about getting together and doing some shooting, but we haven't done it yet.

Again, I'm just looking to recreate some of what I experienced with my Dad for me and my son. I think he'd enjoy it.

 

[13mogul]

Got squirrels?

 

[E.Shell]

Groundhogs and woodchucks are the same thing and are basically eastern marmots.

Now is a good time to look for them because vegetation and crops are low, they're cleaning out their holes and the fresh dirt is easy to spot.

Most farmers are very eager to control them, because they reproduce rapidly and can cause quite a bit of damage.

Finding someplace to safely shoot them can be a challenge, due to the human population and urban sprawl, and you have to be prepared to adapt to conditions. I hunt them with everything from a suppressed .22 to a heavy long range rifle. Even a .410 shotgun can be handy when dealing with requests to kill them around outbuildings.

My suggestion would be to go west of Baltimore and start cruising the back roads and look for them in the fields. When you see a few, stop and ask permission to hunt. I typically have copies of my driver's license, hunting license, hunter safety card and business card on one sheet of paper and hand that to the farmer when I ask. Hunting groundhogs and being a responsible guest has opened many doors for me and I have access to more deer hunting areas than I have time to hunt.

Ask the farmer what he wants done with the carcasses. Many of them will take a young one if you offer to clean it for them (like cleaning a rabbit with a tougher hide). They're not bad eating if you get a very young one, just have a distinctive taste that some folks like and others don't. I don't care for them myself. Just as many farmers will say to either just leave them for the buzzards or to stuff them back into the hole. Just don't leave a mess if you expect to get invited back.

Once you get permission, you might also ask what to do if you see a coyote. They're in season all year and considered terrible pests, but some farmers don't want them killed. This is because the coyotes they have now that may not be bothering stock are always replaced when eliminated. When the territory becomes available, new one move in and the new ones may bother the livestock.

Groundhog hunting is not the high volume one sees in PD hunting, and unless one stumbles into an area especially thick with them, a half-dozen per spot is a very good haul. I usually try to shoot several before moving from my spot, because the shots scare them far less than someone moving around the field on foot. My best year thus far has been 121 in a summer, hunting them every other weekend in several counties.

 

[trickg]

Got squirrels?

Oh, squirrels I've got in abundance - the only problem is that it would offend my daughter's tender sensibilities if I started wacking squirrels with a pellet gun in the back yard.

It seems to me that the midwest and southern midwest would be ideal for someone with a hankering for varmint shooting for fun and recreation.

 

[trickg]

Ed - fantastic! I didn't know you were into varminting - just accurate HP rifle shooting, although the two do kind of go hand in hand.

Someone told me recently that the dog town Dad and I used to frequent is no more - apparently the old guy who owned the property passed away, the ground was sold, and the new owner has decided to poison the PDs that were there, which I see as a bit of a bad practice. It's true that poisoning will kill off the population, but scavengers eat the poisoned dogs, and then they in turn become sick or die.

I'll have to get in touch with the guy I know who owns the farm ground - even if there are no chucks to be had, it would still give me a chance to get some of my rifles out and working.

 

[mdjamesd]

I'm trying to work my way into it. Trying to meet as many horse owners as possible.

 

[VNVGUNNER]

I shoot groundhogs on two large farms here on the shore. One right on rt 50 in Parsonsburg near Bart's house and one off Sixtyfoot rd. Farmers hate them suckers.

groundhog wacker

 

[BeltBuckle]

Anybody on the Shore whack nutria? Talk about a pest! They are responsible for loss of much of the coastal grasslands waterfowl love; the resulting erosion increases Bay turbidity, suppressing the submerged grasses blue crabs breed in, and everybody wants them gone. I've heard there is good nutria whacking available, often from canoes etc., on the lower Shore but have not yet had a chance to check it out myself. sounds like it could be a most enjoyable form of community service...

 

[trickg]

How about varmint rifles? I see that VNVGUNNER is using an accurized AR - not a bad choice IMO, although I think I'd like a bolt gun. Right now my varmint gun is a Mauser 98 sporter topped with an old Redfield 3x9x40, but I'm looking at the Howa 1500 Thumbhole varminter - probably in .223, although they also offer it in .204 Ruger.

 

[E.Shell]

Nutria? I used to give them a fit with my archery gear (they're kinda stupid to be too much sport with anything else):

 

[novus collectus]

I don't know if it was you e-shell, but someone posted pics a lot like that with a whole bunch of ones they tagged a few years ago on the Eastern Shore. Looked like they had a crapload of fun doing it.

By the way, if you want a challenge with them, try hunting them with a Ruger LCP maybe?

 

[Diesel Kinevel]

I shoot Groundhogs in Mont. Co. usually this time all the way up till early bow season. I use a .22 mag and a bull barreled .223

 

[mdjamesd]

I currently use my 10/22, hey it works out to ~150 yards I'm looking into a 17HMR, eventhough, I'd really love a 204 ruger, might just get a 204 upper and have a field day

 

[Fustercluck]

I hunt 'hogs all Spring and Summer long out here on the shore. As VNV said, farmers hate them, and I just scout by car for fresh digging signs and then approach the property owner. Have gotten many a free meal from farmers over the years, as I have found almost all to be happy someone will kill them off. Having a plat map that shows who owns the property helps as well, and they can be found at the county courthouse. I have used anything from AR's to a .308 Jarrett beanfield rifle to take them. When I lived in Central Ohio, I hunted with an Endocrinologist who was a total gun nut. He would bring out M1's, fully automatic HK assault rifles, and all kinds of other crazy shit to shoot them with. If you shoot them early in the day, leave a couple carcasses around for the crows to nibble on and then shoot them as well.
For this season, I purchased a suppressor for my AR, in the hopes that the shooting doesn't spook the horses at one of my favorite spots.
It helps if you can find a field that has both fresh digging and a little bit of a swale, so you can look down on the 'hogs and not have to worry about the bullets carrying a distance beyond the targets. Not always easy to accomplish out here on the shore, but there is plenty of terrain like that up in Talbot county.
Shooting hogs is a blast. I have one property I frequent that I can hunt them along a diked-in marsh near the mouth of the Nanticoke River(they destroy dikes), where I can fish as the tide comes in and shoot from the boat when the opportunity presents itself.
It is a total blast.

 

[HarEngSer]

Nutria? I used to give them a fit with my archery gear (they're kinda stupid to be too much sport with anything else):

Nutria good for anything other than fun?