The Accurate Reloading Forums
Woodchucks, where are they?
27 March 2018, 21:26
Savage_99Woodchucks, where are they?
Where are the woodchucks?
I did't see many last year?
I used to shoot hundreds in a summer. Now none.
What has happened?
27 March 2018, 21:30
Ole Miss GuyI live on Lookout Mnt in Alabama and I now seldom see any. Ten years ago they were a nuisance in gardens. Now we have armadillos, so go figure. Woodchucks were better to have around.
27 March 2018, 22:09
Kevin RohrerI wonder if the increasing number of coyotes has anything to do with it.
I just retired and have finished building a new groundhog rifle, so I will see how many groundhogs are out there this summer.
Member:
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27 March 2018, 22:38
p dog shooterChanges in the area in my area we have lost thousands of former farm felids.
It has all grown back to woods.
27 March 2018, 23:50
Savage_99quote:
Originally posted by Kevin Rohrer:
I wonder if the increasing number of coyotes has anything to do with it.
I just retired and have finished building a new groundhog rifle, so I will see how many groundhogs are out there this summer.
The coyotes here in the Northeast are the only thing 'new' to the area. It must be that.
28 March 2018, 08:52
twilliBack east we lost most of the fields and hedge rows. Coyotes also do a number on them.
01 April 2018, 19:21
WV HitmanThe answer in WV is easy. Groundhogs are gone for two reasos.
#1- me. I've taken 13,100 as of 12/30/17. Did over 500 a year for 8 years, but I protected my areas and did not shoot them out. There was massive numbers of groundhogs.
#2 Coyotes. They have devastated the population. Seeing groundhogs in open fields, as I did for 40 years, is now a thing of the past. Coyotes have wiped them all out. Now the only reliable places to find 'hogs is fence lines, old barns and houses, and inhabited houses. They use these areas because more protection is available here.
Trying to hunt coyotes in WV is close to impossible, They are just too smart. Trapping has been the only consistent way to get them. Local counties have contests with rewards to control them Each year less than 50 are killed in very large counties.
The golden age of groundhog hunting is gone. What a shame.
Larry Rogers
01 April 2018, 23:01
richjLast year for the first time in my life i saw a woodchuck along the Long Island expressway way out east.
02 April 2018, 02:28
TCLouisI would think many of them could be found the scat of the ever growing coyote population.
Many more people shooting hundreds every summer and the breeding stock base is gone also.
Funny how population dynamics work.
Don't limit your challenges . . .
Challenge your limits
02 April 2018, 09:05
SLVFXquote:
Originally posted by WV Hitman:
The answer in WV is easy. Groundhogs are gone for two reasos.
#1- me. I've taken 13,100 as of 12/30/17. Did over 500 a year for 8 years, but I protected my areas and did not shoot them out. There was massive numbers of groundhogs.
#2 Coyotes. They have devastated the population. Seeing groundhogs in open fields, as I did for 40 years, is now a thing of the past. Coyotes have wiped them all out. Now the only reliable places to find 'hogs is fence lines, old barns and houses, and inhabited houses. They use these areas because more protection is available here.
Trying to hunt coyotes in WV is close to impossible, They are just too smart. Trapping has been the only consistent way to get them. Local counties have contests with rewards to control them Each year less than 50 are killed in very large counties.
The golden age of groundhog hunting is gone. What a shame.
Nice job Doc, Were all 13K handgunned?
03 April 2018, 16:42
OTTOMATICHere in East Tn. not only the ground hogs have disappeared but the turkeys are going also.
They need to put a bounty on coyotes.
Cats have nine lives. Which makes them ideal for experimentation...
04 April 2018, 04:15
WV HitmanSLVFX, I was dumb in my younger years and took a few hundred chucks with my rifles. I got rid of all of them. Don't own a rifle. Don't need one. So that leaves around 12,500 with handguns.
I have six handguns that have taken close to or over 1000 groundhogs each. I love it!!
Larry Rogers
14 April 2018, 19:35
JustinL01I would say the coyotes in PA are the reason for their decline. I used to kill over 100 per summer by going for a walk after work a few times a week. Now- I’m lucky if I kill 10 all summer. I sure do miss them, that was a lot of fun in the summertime.
I heal fast and don't scar.
17 April 2018, 03:45
alleyyooperI also think the coyotes have did a major number on the whistle pigs.
You know the coyote population is big when you can set up and call in 2 coyotes and shhoot them both and have a 3d come in just 5 minutes later.
Today is is rare we cvan not call in a coyote. A week ago a friend and I got 11 of them in 12 hours over all includeing travel time.
For a real time I suppose you could times 11 by 30 minutes our set times.
Is sure a lot of fun whacking coyotes, puts CA CHING in our pockets too.
Learn to sew holes, streach.
Al
Garden View Apiaries where the view is as sweet as the honey.
19 April 2018, 04:49
Grizzly Adamsquote:
I used to shoot hundreds in a summer. Now none.
A Clue ?
Grizz
Indeed, no human being has yet lived under conditions which, considering the prevailing climates of the past, can be regarded as normal. John E Pfeiffer, The Emergence of Man
Those who can't skin, can hold a leg. Abraham Lincoln
Only one war at a time. Abe Again.
19 April 2018, 06:59
swampshooterSame here. The coyotes are getting them.
velocity is like a new car, always losing value.
BC is like diamonds, holding value forever.
20 April 2018, 01:23
OTTOMATICI was driving thru Town this morning and a woodchuck ran across the street in front of me from one house to another. NEVER , EVER saw one or signs of one in town. Perhaps they are adapting.
Cats have nine lives. Which makes them ideal for experimentation...
26 May 2018, 01:09
OTTOMATICKinda unbelievable : A mother woodchuck & 2 young ones has moved under the chicken house.
I try to get some pics. kinda amazing a there are 4 dogs here & 3 cats. About 50 yards from my cabin
Cats have nine lives. Which makes them ideal for experimentation...
09 June 2018, 14:24
REDTAILW.V. Hitman Hi DOC. you sent me some Information back in the Late 90's About Information for my T/C SUPER 14 In the Rem 223, I Still use that gun for Varmint Hunting & often look through the Paperwork, that you sent me on your Handgun Hunting Loads etc Good to see that your still at it as I am after all of these years etc.
11 June 2018, 05:49
alleyyooperChange to shooting coyotes instead.
Al
Garden View Apiaries where the view is as sweet as the honey.
12 June 2018, 04:15
Hipshootquote:
Originally posted by OTTOMATIC:
I was driving thru Town this morning and a woodchuck ran across the street in front of me from one house to another. NEVER , EVER saw one or signs of one in town. Perhaps they are adapting.
KNOW WHY?------They wanted to get to the other side !
Hip
' chucks were originally a forest animal so you should find them there .
What's the story with the huge coyoteXwolf creatures ??
12 June 2018, 07:03
REDTAILHere in NYS Woodchucks have dwindled down due to the Coyote's & Foxes feasting on them So the Sport of Hunting is not as it was here for them like it was say 10 years ago, Most Guys here have Started Hunting the Coyotes & Foxes to help the Deer population also etc.