camocolt
Junior Member
Let's Go....Mountaineers!
Posts: 53
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Post by camocolt on Feb 29, 2012 18:20:17 GMT -5
Just curious...what are some gun preferences for ground hog hunting??? I prefer a 223...
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Post by jsanders on Feb 29, 2012 18:57:43 GMT -5
Wood chuck hunting? Didn't realize there was such a thing. I say anything that goes boom.
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Post by bubbagill on Feb 29, 2012 21:43:15 GMT -5
Not sure of caliber, I have never hunted them but it is fairly common in my home town area. Heck I know guys who even eat them critters,ewyuck,lol. Naw just kidding they prolly aint that bad eating, I just aint had any yet.
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Post by Brian on Mar 1, 2012 0:37:39 GMT -5
I primarily use my Savage .223 but will shoot them with my .22s as well.
If you think about the diet of a groundhog, it seems like they would be pretty good to eat. All they eat is fresh grass and clover just like grassfed beef.
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Post by goosepondmonster on Mar 1, 2012 9:24:57 GMT -5
I ate groundhog once. If you had a piece without much BBQ sauce on it, well, it was pretty gamey.
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Post by jsanders on Mar 1, 2012 9:56:21 GMT -5
Tasted similar to rabbit when I had it. Boss caught it under the shop with a trap and I said I would try it, not bad at all. I'm sure the taste differs from season to season depending on what they have available to munch on.
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Post by B-rad on Mar 1, 2012 17:00:48 GMT -5
Me and a friend decided it would be a good idea to catch/hold one that was in a snare once, mean critters. ended up puttin it down with a .22. but I would think a .17 would be a real nice caliber if you were hunting them. or any small caliber really
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Post by Brian on Mar 1, 2012 17:16:19 GMT -5
the .17 always looks like a nice caliber but I could never justify paying what the ammo costs for one. Especially when a box of 525 .22 rounds is like 15 bucks.
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Post by Greenedog on Mar 1, 2012 23:55:28 GMT -5
I don't see as many groundhogs these days as I did growing up. Probably just because I'm not around that many pastures anymore. Seems like everyone raised cattle a long time ago, not so much anymore(at least around here.) My first thought for caliber was .22 in mag or hornet, but I'm sure the .223 works just fine.
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Post by hunterguy28 on Mar 2, 2012 19:53:20 GMT -5
Id say 17hmr, .223, .204, 22-250 ect.
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Post by Brian on Mar 3, 2012 2:29:59 GMT -5
Same here Troy. The groundhog population seems to be a lot smaller than it used to be. My dad hunted the same farm that I hunt as a kid and he used to shoot a ton of groundhogs. Now I'm lucky to even see a couple every summer. The last one I shot was in a tree. Maybe they took to the trees.
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Post by goosepondmonster on Mar 3, 2012 9:30:24 GMT -5
I watched a dog tree a ground hog once. I was amazed, because I had no idea they could even climb a tree.
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Post by Brian on Mar 3, 2012 17:38:42 GMT -5
I didn't either goose. I jumped it out of some brush and the next thing I knew it was 20 feet up a maple tree. I did not expect that.
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