GROUNDHOGS,easy to catch?

[NEPISIGUIT]

I trap a lot of groundhogs in my nusiance control work. Earlier in the year i have no problem with their capture.Come August and September they take much longer to capture.Anyone else have this problem? Could it possibly be the type of bait used or this the nature of the beast.

[Smitty]

applesauce cheap stuff in single serving cups.....dollar general!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;D

[mt]

I got 26 last month in box traps with apples I picked off of the trees myself. Price was right and they worked.

Mark

[NEPISIGUIT]

thanks guys I will give the apple- sauce a try next year. let you know how it worked.

[stevesnyder]

With connis or snares you dont need the groundhogs to be hungry or go for baits. I personally use them wherever I can--have had quite a few weeks with catches of 50-60 with them-steve

[lynxcat]

I average OVER 25/day....best day is 66....bait??? NAAAA....120's or #1's...

[bobwendt]

lynx, you must have dinky weak groundhogs where you live. the eastern ones eat 120s and #1s for dinner. serious, westerns must be a smaller variety. strictly 220s and #2 traps here(indiana)

[DaveLyons]

220's if I can.

Then again you just can't use a kill trap all the time. Try a nose cone and a doubledoor trap and wrap you trap in black plastic or a live trap cover.

[Mike Barcaskey]

I believe lynxcat is talking about marmots, the western version of the groundhog. They run about 1/2 the size.

[Bob Jameson]

Groundhogs at times need a variety of offerings to be enticed into a cage trap. A good commercial bait used with eye appeal, hog gland lure and a few drops of food trailing scent leading into the trap mouth will catch all your hogs year round as long as they are still actively foraging and cold weather has not set in to cause them to den for short periods of time.

Fall hogs are more focused on aggressive feeding and accumulating body fat. Some really at times are not interested in common presentations when presented in a cage trap situation since they can be cautious and leary at times of anything newly placed at the den mouth area..Most hogs are feeding on greens primarily or other available vegetation with some fruits if they are close.

Live trapping hogs can be very challenging for some but if you do your part with the bait , eye appeal and scent application you will not find it to be difficult and will catch them at will when you must. It is then just a waiting game. Like trapping all species there is a learning curve when live trapping hogs cmmercially.
I have found at times that some hogs have a couple of prepared den sites they have dug for hibernation purposes. I assume it is to ensure that they will have a denning site come winter. I am sure there are cases in the fall when other animals may lay claim to a den site when it is vacant by another animal. Another hog, coon, opossum, skunk etc.

In this case I would think depending on their aggression mode, some just leave it and go to the other den without incident. Some will likely attempt to regain the den site they dug from the invader others may just leave it. Therefore the relocation of this animal to an alternate den site may cause your target hog to only visit the vicinity of the other den site on occasion. Therefore the daily routine that you thought that hog had going past your traps is no longer that frequent.

In the event I suspect a den may be vacant due to a relocation or a fatality due to roadkill,domestic dog kill or neighbor shooting it, I stuff a couple of cheap plastic shopping bags into the burrow and monitor after a few days and see if the bags have been disturbed. This will tell you if the den is at least still active and what your next course of action is going to be.