4wanderingeyes
5 year old buck +
Is this a groundhog? It is in my apple orchard. Will it destroy my apple trees? What is the best way to get rid of it?
What is this?
- Thread starter 4wanderingeyes
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sagittarius
5 year old buck +
May not bother apple trees, but it will enjoy eating most foodplots. Trap it or shoot it if you want.
j-bird
Moderator
Looks like a Whistle pig/woodchuck/groundhog to me. I am not sure if it will hurt your trees, but better safe than sorry. Carry a good shooting rifle with you when you visit the plot and approach very slowly...and bust his butt! I tend to see their activity to be higher in the mornings and evenings (cooler temps), but if the plot is in a wooded area it may not matter. If it's a female you may have a few more soon. They will play hell on a summer annual plot like soybeans, corn or cowpeas and the like. Just as a note of caution....they can climb trees. I have actually killed one while it was sunning itself all stretched out on a tree limb once sort of how a squirrel hugs a tree....I later found out that it's not that uncommon as they can get away from predators while getting a tan at the same time.
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
J-bird is right. They CAN climb trees. I've seen them go up trees at my approach, and resting out of harm's way like J-bird said. A .22 or .222 is the best option.
j-bird
Moderator
You just have to do everything you can to see it before it sees you.....once it sees you....game over.....it's gone! So use a rifle you are proficient with at some distance. They are pretty dense critters (similar to a coon) but 22 centerfire and above will certainly get the job done. I have taken them with a 22LR (little on the light side - I was actually squirrel hunting), 22-250 (I was after him specifically), 30-30 and a 308..... the larger calibers was when we had been deer hunting and saw a ground hog in a field. They are a target of opportunity here in farm country.....like yotes. I had a dog catch and kill one once.....again not advisable either! Dog was proud of himself, but paid a price.....the old saying "never corner something meaner than you comes to mind".
Boll Weevil
5 year old buck +
They can for sure put the hurt on soybeans. The area surrounding a den hole will often be beanless...I shoot everyone I can.
4wanderingeyes
5 year old buck +
I do have 3 dogs that do love to go for a walk with me when I go to work on food plots, or in the woods. One of them got into it with a porcupine last year, luckily the porcupine choose to go up a tree, rather then fight, because my dog had about 20 quills in its face, but barely breaking the skin.
4wanderingeyes, in WI woodchuck are actually "protected species" according to DNR hunting regulations. What ever you do with this varmint, keep quiet about it. I can not see the logic of the WI DNR listing this varmint as a "protected species". I have the 2017 hunting regulations right in front of me to confirm my statement.
So with that fact in mind, let's just say that I "saw" 8 of them at my farm and home last year. It could have been through a pair of binos. Or maybe through a Burris 4x12 scope that sits on my 22 magnum rifle. They tend to live under brush or wood piles on my land.
My first Rottweiler Nero cornered one under a pile of stacked beams in my pole building. He was locked in on this critter and would not listen to any commands I gave him. I had to put a leash on him and physically drag him out of the pole building. Not an easy thing to do with a 100 pound male Rottie when he had the woodchuck on his mind. He was not happy that I took him away from his play buddy.
So with that fact in mind, let's just say that I "saw" 8 of them at my farm and home last year. It could have been through a pair of binos. Or maybe through a Burris 4x12 scope that sits on my 22 magnum rifle. They tend to live under brush or wood piles on my land.
My first Rottweiler Nero cornered one under a pile of stacked beams in my pole building. He was locked in on this critter and would not listen to any commands I gave him. I had to put a leash on him and physically drag him out of the pole building. Not an easy thing to do with a 100 pound male Rottie when he had the woodchuck on his mind. He was not happy that I took him away from his play buddy.
I had one last year that dug holes under the dirt floor in my barn/pole shed behind my house. He was very elusive, but a turkey load caught up with him a week ago. Their holes can be very large and they create problems when they are around buildings or hidden in tall weeds.
Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
That's not a groundhog. It's a small bobcat.
MRBB
5 year old buck +
they will eat apples when they fall, but I have NEVER seen one climb a tree to get em, there NOT that good a climber
I have them in my yard often for 30+ yrs and plenty of fruit tree's here and NEVER seen one in my tree's yet, BUT have seen a few over the yrs climb a tree or two on some farms I worked/been on!
but climbing tree's is NOT the norm for them they prefer mostly wide open area's they can see danger cominga way's off and live in tunnels/dens, or under buildings, they can wreck heck on tunneling iunder buildings and sheds!
SO,they do dig and burrow holes in the ground and they can GO far under ground and wide
MANY farmers have LOTS of isue's with them causing cattle to break legs whe n they fall thru from the surface and its been known to tip over a few tractors too, when they also cave in under ground tunnls on side hills or??
SO yes they can damage your tree's if they dig too close to tree roots and or cause you grief with tunneling
some hard core folks do EAT em, I won't however
they can be trapped trather easy, both live trapped and relocated, and or, trapped and killed
or just shot, most states have very long and liberal seasons on them
COyotes LOVE to eat them, so, if it lives long if you leave it alone, odds are you have LOW coyote numbers in your area!
I have them in my yard often for 30+ yrs and plenty of fruit tree's here and NEVER seen one in my tree's yet, BUT have seen a few over the yrs climb a tree or two on some farms I worked/been on!
but climbing tree's is NOT the norm for them they prefer mostly wide open area's they can see danger cominga way's off and live in tunnels/dens, or under buildings, they can wreck heck on tunneling iunder buildings and sheds!
SO,they do dig and burrow holes in the ground and they can GO far under ground and wide
MANY farmers have LOTS of isue's with them causing cattle to break legs whe n they fall thru from the surface and its been known to tip over a few tractors too, when they also cave in under ground tunnls on side hills or??
SO yes they can damage your tree's if they dig too close to tree roots and or cause you grief with tunneling
some hard core folks do EAT em, I won't however
they can be trapped trather easy, both live trapped and relocated, and or, trapped and killed
or just shot, most states have very long and liberal seasons on them
COyotes LOVE to eat them, so, if it lives long if you leave it alone, odds are you have LOW coyote numbers in your area!
Knehrke
5 year old buck +
It's like Yanni/Laurel. You said it's a bobcat and now I can't unsee it. I think you're right.
4wanderingeyes
5 year old buck +
Here is a non zoomed in picture.
4wanderingeyes
5 year old buck +
There is a creek about 50 yards away that I see lots of bobcat tracks on in the winter, but I have never had pictures of one, or seen much for tracks away from the creek.
Will bobcats bother dogs? Or do they elude them?
Will bobcats bother dogs? Or do they elude them?
4wanderingeyes
5 year old buck +
My son said it is a monkey.
