A girl at work talked about her cat chasing a ground hog up a tree. My imidiate resonse was SURE, Yah Right! and low and behold she brought me in the pictures she took. Well I was wrong and admit it.

Anyone else seen an eastern woodchuck actually climb a tree before?

Yes I have. Even shot one out of a tree.
Pretty weird until you actually see it once.

muck

Yes, once. I caught him coming down a tree, similar to this tree but on a bit more of an angle. I recall it well because I shot my only black woodchuck that same morning.

Quite a common thing although I've never seen one higher than 5-8 feet in the air.

I've seen juveniles up trees a few feet a fair number of times but a mature chuck, only on that one occasion, in 40 years but something like that may be a geographical trait. I've not hunted chucks in the Carolinas more than 2 or 3 times. Interesting.

YES THEY CAN CLIMB!!! I have seen them in trees before and shot several while they were sitting on top of wooden fence posts!! Those make for some good "acrobatics" when they are 4-5 feet above the ground and a 90grain PEP Win HP from a 25-06 does the deal!!! Looking forward to launching one with a 110 grain VMAX or 125 Speer TNT from the 300SAUM while elevated like that!!! GHD

Yea, fence posts are trees, ain't they!?

South West Virginia, eh? Sounds as though those southern chucks like their trees, alright.
and I thought I knew all there was to know about chucks!

Gidday Guys,

I've never seen a ground hog up a tree. Come to that I've never seen a ground hog full stop.

You guys seem to shoot a heap of them, so what do they taste like? Is it rabbit, hare, or more like a possum.

I eat all of these. I don't imaqgine it would be much like pork or cheveron.

Just wondering as they seem to be almost the most popular game in North America.

Happy Hunting

Hamish

The ones I've seen climbing trees have been in the Susquehanna Valley and Eastern N.C. The odd thing was that its only been in the early spring and they were climblin crabapple or apple trees, presumably to eat some part of the tree.

NBHunter: I hope someday to be able to head east and Hunt an Eastern Ground Hog. I have yet to have my "shootin irons" with me when I venture into Ground Hog country! So I can't comment on their climbing abilities.
But I have been Hunting Rock Chucks out west since I was 10 (48 years now) and I have shot several out of trees out here! Another "but" though! I have never seen one that high in a tree! The ones I have seen and shot have been about 6 to 8 feet off of the ground and most were in trees with a definite "lean" to them thus making it easier for the Rock Chucks to climb!
Rock Chucks are very adept at climbing though and I have seen them on top of stacks of Apple bin near orchards (15 to 20 feet off of the ground - and I don't know how they shinnied up those vertical sides of the bins!). I have also seen them on top of sheds, cabins, houses, log piles, mine equipment, bull dozers, fence posts, sage brush (these would be hard to climb by the way!), irrigation pivot wheels and other elevated places.
But the Rock Chucks really prefer (I think!) climbing up rocky cliffs and rock piles to gain elevation and to find a spot that ground based predators would have trouble getting at them while they "sun bathe".
Thanks for posting those unique photos! That Ground Hog can climb!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Hamish: I have eaten Rock Chucks on a couple of occassions. Both times the critters were barbequed.
Skin them after you gut them and then remove all the fatty tissue as it tastes bad once cooked. And then barbeque with a good sauce being applied til almost well done or crispy. They taste good in my mouth but are labor intensive to prepare as the fat MUST all be removed. A four or five year old male Rock Chuck (close relative of the Ground Hog) will have 2- 3 pounds of body fat included in its 11 to 12 pound live weight.
I have also tasted Cougar and Rattle Snake meat and enjoyed them as well.
Humans will eat about anything I have concluded!
VERY few folks eat the Rock Chucks - I am certain way less than 1% of harvested Rock Chucks are eaten by humans.
They are, though, all eaten by other Varmints and Birds of Prey when left in the field.
Long live New Zealand!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

N.S. Sherlock - That makes sense. The local chucks are taught as juveniles where they can find some seasonal goodies, just as higher animals might.

Varmint Guy - I've hunted rockchucks in the Bighorns, Wyo. What a ball those 2 weeks were.
We left from Gillette with 500 rounds and had to come back to load more. 1984, I think. We hit it right, in that they had a late spring blizzard (which killed off many a head of cattle and game) and the week of our arrival was the first sustained week of sunshine and good weather that spring (early June). The chucks were running all over the place!

As far as eating chucks, you are 100% correct in that every bit of fat must be removed. One might think creatures that eat such good stuff would be good table fare but ... I've read that very few Indian tribes in the Northeast made a habit of eating them.

Nickudu: I have a mounted and framed picture on the wall of my reloading room titled "Varmint Valhalla".
It shows my set up for high mountain Chucks in the foreground and an incredibly beautiful vista of Rock Chuck country in the background! My set up includes a Keb-Lab mat with my own style tri-pod front shooting rest and a rabbit ear rear rest. In the rest lies a Remington 40XB-KS single shot Varminter in caliber 220 Swift! The Rifle is scoped with a big Leupold variable. From that one set up spot I shot at high mountain Chucks from 200 to 550 yards distant!
Also in the photo are a pair of ultra quality 1964 vintage Bausch & Lomb 9x35 Zephyr (made in America) binoculars!
My all time favorite binoculars by the way.
Glorious and sublime is the only way to describe that timberline altitude Varminting experience!
Several years ago I chose not to divulge the location of that Hunt in any public forum as the high mountain Chuck populations are much more susceptible to Hunting pressure than most other Varmints!
I am happy you had such a great Hunt on your high mountain Chuck Safari!
Many happy returns.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Yes, I've seen a grundsow up an old apple tree. About 15' up and out on a bendy limb after a meal. At the time I thought it was the darndest thing. Now find out it's pretty common.

I thought the stew meat tasted kinda sweet, like black bear.

PA is Woodchuck City, USA. Probably the best eastern state for chucks. Some of the longest vistas imaginable. A writer named Nick Sisely peaked my interest in hunting there, western PA. I hooked up with the right guys, who taught me much. You're right about the stew meat. I think that's the way to go with chucks.

Hey, VarmintGuy .. if you scan that photo for me I won't hound about that hunting area!

Heck, not only can Ground Hogs climb trees....

If you ever saw the Movie Ground Hog Day, one was in a Pickup with Bill Murray and was driving the truck! Talented little guys aren't they???

Yeah, friend chuck will climb a tree, usually up to about 6 to 8 feet up, to sun himself. I shot one out of a tree a few years ago. They commonly climb fence posts for the same reason. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

I have never noticed one higher than 4 or 5 feet. But then again I usually dont look for them much higher.
This morning while bird hunting I watched one climb about 4' up then jump from about 3'

Young chucks are the best ones to eat, especially if shot properly with a .222. Better than cat! N.S.