Varminting in this region?

[guthook]

I dispatch the ground hogs in the fields by my house with a .22 magnum. I've had bad experiences with a standard .22lr not killing them quick enough and will not use it anymore.

The farmers DO hate these creatures. A GH hole can measure 16"-24" and can cause expensive damage to farm equipment and hobble livestock.

First time I saw a GH hole I couldn't believe it, it looked like a small bomb went off.

 

[E.Shell]

Nutria good for anything other than fun?

The hides are relatively poor here and there's no market for them. They were originally brought to North America for their fur but it was never really popular enough to create a market. The meat is red and strong smelling like muskrat, and I never though about eating one more than about three seconds. They do eat them down in Louisiana, where they also became feral and cause great damage to marshlands.

There's been a bounty on them off and on in Dorchester Co., dunno the current status. . .

 

[Jim Sr]

Nutria good for anything other than fun?

Feeding the birds!

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[E.Shell]

Mmmmm, turkey . . . . . . . buzzards.

 

[Jim Sr]

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.

Woodchuck and nutria are classified as “unprotected mammals.”​

Note: The woodchuck and nutria are classified as “unprotected mammals.” As such, a hunting license is not required to hunt woodchucks and nutria except in Baltimore and Frederick Counties.

Woodchucks and nutria may be hunted throughout the year, including on Sundays. Hunters must wear fluorescent orange while hunting woodchucks.

With the exception of nutria, hunting furbearers on Sunday is prohibited (also see Trapping Regulations on next page).

Download the Complete Guide to Hunting and Trapping in Maryland
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[mackie]

I hog hunt with a Marlin 22 bolt a ruger 10/22 a 870 12 gauge and a remington 700 in .22/250 the 4000 fps is hard to beat and if anyone saw me at frostbite i was making hits at 300

 

[Numidian]

I think I'm gonna have to do some nutria hunting this summer at my bro's place on the shore...he's right next to one of the WMA's...

You don't even need a hunting license to go after Nutria.... Plinking those bitches from a kayak should be cake

 

[E.Shell]

I think I'm gonna have to do some nutria hunting this summer at my bro's place on the shore...he's right next to one of the WMA's...

You don't even need a hunting license to go after Nutria.... Plinking those bitches from a kayak should be cake

We'd ride up the creek, then quietly float back down on the tide. It was very easy to get close to them, especially so in the winter, when they'd huddle on the bank and sleep in the sun. Another successful tactic was to quietly pole our way up into the small feeder creeks.

 

[mackie]

Nutria sounds interesting but I dont think they are in northern Cecil. My family farms keep me busy with hogs and I started shooting for my boss in Oxford.

 

[trickg]

I guess I had it pretty good growing up in SW Nebraska where shooting was concerned. A nice warm day in the spring, summer or fall where the wind wasn't blowing too hard was almost perfect conditions for a good prairie dog hunt. Where Dad and I would go was a small patch of sandhills - Sandhills are typically associated with the Nebraska Panhandle and north central part of the state, but there are a couple of small patches down by us as well. In any case, the dog towns were sprawled out among those, so we'd perch ourselves up on a hill so that we could view a large section at once.

His rifle was the Mauser .25-06 Sporter I currently own, and mine was the Sako L461 Vixen in .223 that my sister currently owns.

That's the kind of thing I'm looking for - something where I can shoot a gun that has plenty of zip and power, and something where targets are plentiful, but it doesn't look like I'm going to find that kind of thing out here without traveling a fair amount of distance. Where Dad and I would go was about 8-10 miles outside of town, so it was just a short jaunt to get out there.

 

[_JT_]

Nutria sounds interesting but I dont think they are in northern Cecil. My family farms keep me busy with hogs and I started shooting for my boss in Oxford.

by chance this isnt Mackie Marker is it?

 

[mackie]

Nope my name is Edgar

 

[boricuamaximus]

Nope my name is Edgar

I was thinking James Mackie. A good service buddy of mine that lived up near Pax.

 

[boothdoc]

My boy and I hunt woodchucks across the street from the house. We have a camo golf cart with a predator shooting chair set-up on it. Loads of fun, a fredercik county sheriff pulled us over last year for driving down the roda with the set-up to go hit a few other farms. I was driving, my 6yr old waas sitting shotgun with her pink cricket 22 and my boy had his Ar set-up in the plinking chair. He didn't give us a ticket because I had an orange triangle on my farm rig but he sure did laugh alot at us. I love country living.

 

[SVrider]

I dispatch the ground hogs in the fields by my house with a .22 magnum. I've had bad experiences with a standard .22lr not killing them quick enough and will not use it anymore.

The farmers DO hate these creatures. A GH hole can measure 16"-24" and can cause expensive damage to farm equipment and hobble livestock.

First time I saw a GH hole I couldn't believe it, it looked like a small bomb went off.

Nothing like picking off some g hogs in the back yard. We had the same problem with the .22lr, had to "finish off" the hog once as went back to examine him, dropped him on spot though, but you need a really good shot with the .22 to kill em. We have since bought a .17hmr, i have heard this is great for shooting hogs, we have yet to try it though. Its amazing what these marmots will dig out, we have thrown huge rocks, cement, chicken wire, and always dig out. So just shoot em

 

[cobra]

Back,well way back when I was 11years old. Had family who lived off Middle Town road with a few hundred acres. I used to go up on weekends with my dad and uncles wood chuck hunting. Uncle that owned the farm gave me a quarter for each one shot. My second gun was a Marlin bolt action 22 mag I used to shoot them. Work well. Can still remember walking thru the feilds along hedge rows looking for fresh dirt from recent digging.
When I would see one with just the top of his head sticking up from the borrow. I would whistle to make them stand up for a look around. Shooting ground hogs was the first hunting I ever did. What a blast it was back then.
Would love to still be able to have a place to hunt them now

 

[boothdoc]

My Son and I took out the golf cart yesterday and got two grounds and spotted at least 6 more future targets. oh yeah. I love shooting em

 

[wilcam47]

man i would love to go shoot a hog or ground hog/ nutria etc whatever...ive seen some ground hogs close to the road heading towards solomons but i think the cops/people would have a fit if i was to shoot one by the road...lol

 

[Jim Sr]

man i would love to go shoot a hog or ground hog/ nutria etc whatever...ive seen some ground hogs close to the road heading towards solomons but i think the cops/people would have a fit if i was to shoot one by the road...lol

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[wilcam47]

maaaaaaaan!! taunting me where can i shoot some???