Fishing for GroundHogs

[Johnch]

This morning I was bored
So I loaded the Jon Boat in the truck and went Bass Fishing
I headed for a place I have permission to fish and hunt
Several dikes along the river have washed out allowing access for me and fish from the river to get into what used to be a farm field
But now it is a marsh with 4-6' deep areas

I was getting good numbers of Largemouth Bass and Crappie

About 9 AM I looked at the dike in front of me and saw a Groundhog come out of a hole and start feeding along the dike
Being by myself I had a gun of course :mrgreen:
Not looking for danger coming from the water ... BAD Move

I was 75 or so yards from the dike , so I raised the anchor and let what wind there was move me closer

At about 25' I PRAYED I would not miss LOL

I had my Glock 22 that I had put a extended 9 mm barrel installed
I am using a Vortex Venom on it so I can shoot a lot better

I had a 140 gr .357 dia flat nose cast bullet with surplus HP38
The bullet was based off of the Lee 358-158-RF without a crimp grove
The bullet was a sort of hard range lead , so it didn't expand

But 1 round through the shoulders at 25 feet still did the job

Later I got another groundhog
But that one I had to take a about 30 yard shot , that one was standing
Making a slightly larger target

Only bad part
I lost both cases into the water

Guess I will have to sort out a few extra FREE range pick up cases to add to the tumbler next time I load 9mm

John

[BigAlofPa.]

Cool nice shooting and a great story. I have sat for groundhogs in a tree. Never shot one from the water,

[CastingFool]

Never shot a woodchuck by the water, but I have shot a couple out of trees. They can really climb!

[reloader28]

I was expecting a totally different story.
We've fished for p dogs and picket pins but we actually use a fishing pole with a noose looped around the hole waiting for them to come out. When they come out of the hole you slowly tighten up the noose. If you try to "set" the hook like a fish you will never catch one.
Some of the best fun you can have is snagging one from his hole. If he goes down the hole you have a heluv a fight on your hands
:drinks:

[TCLouis]

Any fish?

[georgerkahn]

Years back we'd go to an International power dam park, and carefully place a lasso loop of mono-filament fishing line around each of four groundhog holes; stand the attached poles -- mostly with Garcia 300 reels -- against short tree branches stuck in ground to hold the rods -- sit back on brought lawn chairs... and wait. The 'hogs would always, so it seemed, very quickly stick their heads up and then down -- "the cue" -- to carefully grab attached pole, and wait (what sometimes seemed like forever) for the second appearance, where you'd yank as quickly and as hard as you might upon again seeing them! Roughly 1/2 the time, you'd "catch" a ground hog! A "fight" more than rivaling many of the sportfish I've had on the ends of my line -- groundhog fishing like this is pure joy! (When the 'hog was reeled in -- no closer than, say, ten feet -- the line would be cut. Catch and release :). Most time, they'd just stand there for a few minutes -- and then "waddle" off back to their hole. Some of my best memories are from ground-hogging. When I saw the OP -- it brought back fond memories...
geo

[bikerbeans]

I have a couple hundred pounds of mixed 9mm, 380 acp and 40 s&w range brass you are more than welcome to pick thur if you need some pistol brass to feed the fish.:-D.

BB

[Tatume]

Good going! Lots of fish and groundhogs to boot.

[Teddy (punchie)]

nice story thanks for sharing.

[GhostHawk]

I will never forget I was with dad at the farm. (farm flooded regularly so house was 4.5 miles away.)

I remember dad telling us stories of him snaring gophers with twine and patience. Having spotted a pair coming and going from a hole close to the Quonset went and found some twine. Made a nice loop, placed it well. ran the twine back to where I was sitting with my back leaning on the building.

First the nose, then the head, then 3/4's of it, then it was standing erect by the hole. I have a good jerk. One gopher lassoed. Then he landed on my crotch, circled the crown jewels twice and took off as there was slack in the twine.

Ya know I never tried to do that trick again. When I told the story to dad it was worth it to see him rolling on the ground in a mix of pain and pleasure.

"Your ok, did not get bite" No sir, I'm fine, just scared out of a years growth. OK then alls well that ends well.

Eventually I figured out back then they'd give a soft tug to set the loop. Play it back to within some 3 feet Then flip it up and over the top bringing it to earth with a life shattering blow without risking exposure to teeth and claws.

I was not that smart I guess.











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[jonp]

Nice shooting. Ever try to eat one?

[rancher1913]

they had a large colony around one of the places I used to work, we took to feeding them bits of tootsie rolls until they loved the stuff then started baiting fishing line with the tootsie rolls and casting it out in the middle of the colony, they would all run to get the treat and once one grabbed it, the fight was on.

[Tatume]

Nice shooting. Ever try to eat one?

It's hard to get past the smell when cleaning it, and then they're too greasy.

[ChristopherO]

It's hard to get past the smell when cleaning it, and then they're too greasy.

Young ones are ok, but still isn't what I call a delicacy. About 6 or 7 years ago I skinned one early in the year I shot that was living under the barn. Made up a pot of groundhog and noodles. My daughter and son in law stopped in and I offered dinner. After a bite or two my daughter asked, "Dad, what is this?" Upon confession she let me know that she knew it wasn't beef. Though my kids grew up eating much game meat, she wasn't impressed and passed on the rest of her meal. Actually, I wasn't either. My son in law, a city boy with not hunting or game meat background, ate all his and took the rest of the pot home.

[Ramguy]

Nice shooting. Ever try to eat one?
When I was on the job..... We used to get ground hogs in and around buildings/warehouses inside our city limits. I got asked, by the city, if I could do some "discreet" work. I had a suppressed 77/22 and with standard velocity T-22's, you could hear the firing pin strike. I went to the location and set up. I took 3 or 4 small ones and when I was done with my "chore" I picked them up so that they would not smell while rotting. I drove to a friends junk shop before dumping the bodies and was talking to the owner. He was a retired fireman. He said, "you clean em, I'll fix em" I did, he did, THEY WERE GREAT!!!! He put them in a broasting pan and cooked them low and slow. TENDER, wow. I think the only spices he used was some black pepper, little garlic and salt.

[country gent]

Ground hogs are curious creatures. When working ground you could work right up to them as long as you dint do any unusual things. A 125 hp diesel tractor bellowing didnt scare them as long as the routine didnt change. We always kept a firearm on the tractor for this reason. When one is down in the grass whistle and he will pop up to see what it was. THe live a catch basin tree stump or piece if concrete to lay on and sun themselves also.

[Wayne Smith]

Dad was always at war with them in Maine. He used Farmall tractors with wide front end and hitting a groundhog hole would break a front axel. He had the Marlin waffle top 336 30-30 that I now have, bought it from his hired man and put a 4 power scope on it. On the home farm where we lived he had put the ground in clover and hay for a few years and sold the hay to a fellow farmer. The hired man ran in one day at lunch and asked Dad where his rifle was, grabbed it and ran out. We waited for a shot but never heard one. A few minutes later the hired man came back and rather sheepishly said "I'm awful glad you put a scope on this - if you hadn't Mr. Whistler would have lost a battery. I looked at that ground hog through the scope and saw two little red ears on it - and I knew it wasn't a ground hog!"

[CastingFool]

I have cooked 3, maybe 4 of them. I didn't think they were bad at all.

[BigAlofPa.]

Crock pot the older ones.

[45workhorse]

I can see it now, bass and whistle pig stew!

[Johnch]

Nice shooting. Ever try to eat one?

Young ones are good eating
BUT come fall non are good to eat

I think they put on 2" of fat ... well at least 1"

And a 2 or 3 year old one would IMO take a week in the crock pot to not need a chainsaw to cut up

John