Three Chucks in Three Days

[Backyard Airgunner]

I’ve posted before about my wood chuck problems and how I’ve been slowly eliminating them.  The problem is I see them but I’m rarely able to get a shot because they run as soon as they see me come home and never come out again.  Well this week has been quite different one for me. 

While outside setting up my canvas tent to dry out from our camping trip last weekend I saw one of the wood chucks, but he saw me and took off hiding under the shed.  Got the tent up with the help of my three boys and went inside to eat dinner.  As soon as we were done I took a look and there out front were one of the little buggers.  Ran downstairs, got the condor and pellets and slowly opened the front door.  Hesaw me and took off for the shed, but as they sometimes do he stopped right by the opening watching me.  Then another one showed up too.   They where both just sitting there right by the shed and didn't go under.

One shot 45 yards out and it was feet up in the air instantly. 



I know he's a little guy but for me its about pest removal.   I know I will never get them all but it won't stop me from trying.  That’s three down in three days which is a record for me.  There’s still one more out there but I know I won’t get him tonight as I won’t be home till late.  Oh well, three in three days is pretty "dang" good for me. 

[Mole2017]

Nice work. What caught my eye though was your tent--a canvas tent? I haven't seen a canvas tent since I was kid on our family camping trips. Gawdy colors, big fat aluminum poles. Of course, we were a big enough family that it was like the circus coming to town when we set up that big long one, a second smaller (still 3 or 4 person sized, I think), and the screen tent.

[only1harry]

Good shooting and pic Jeremy!  You will get hooked shooting them and will be looking for more all the time

[Backyard Airgunner]

Mole:  Funny you would mention a circus.  I get many comments about my tent and people like to call it a circus tent.  See the photo below, which is from the past weekend.  Oh and it only has one pole, okay two poles but it has lots and lots of stakes.  16ft. diameter canvas tent, weighing in around 40-50 pounds perfect tent for a family with three boys.  Canvas doesn't rip like the newer fabrics.



Harry:  I've been shooting chucks for a few years now, no where near as many as yourself though.  I wouldn't say I'm addicted its just whenever I see a wood chuck on my property I feel that its my duty to send it to the great beyond.

[BenjiHunter]

Nice shooting, Jeremy!

[shadow]

Great shooting and pics and another G-hog down . Ed

[only1harry]

Harry:  I've been shooting chucks for a few years now, no where near as many as yourself though.  I wouldn't say I'm addicted its just whenever I see a wood chuck on my property I feel that its my duty to send it to the great beyond.

Most people feel that way about G-hogs, even the ones that don't shoot them or hunt or do any pest control.  3 of my neighbors have asked me to shoot the G-hogs in their backyard over the years, and some surprised me because they feed squirrels and other critters, some of which I consider vermin.  It's something about a 10 pound animal living on their property that doesn't make too many people comfortable, and if it does, it's only until the G-hog starts digging under their foundation, and then they want them gone or dead.  I just tell them to give it a few weeks and they will move under my shed, and most of the time they do, so I just wait until they come to my property from theirs.  G-hogs will often move when they can't find other G-hogs in the area because someone is shooting them (like me) or they fall prey to predators.  G-hogs like being near each other and not have to go far to mate in the Spring.  In their search for their species they can spend a few days in an abandoned burrow at a property a couple of houses down waiting to see if any G-hogs show up.  If none do, they take off again a few days later to continue their search, and eventually settle down near an active burrow.

So sometimes when I get a G-hog that has moved under my toolshed or a pregnant female, I leave them alone for a little while and sometimes it pays off.  They attract other G-hogs in the area and next thing I know I have 2 or 3 active burrows out of the 20 or so in my backyard, and naturally I start seeing different G-hogs.  Then I get to work   The hard part for me is not shooting them right away and wait to see how it plays out. 

If they visit late in the season like late August and September I usually shoot them as soon as I get the opportunity because usually they are young ones born earlier in the year that will hang out for a couple of days and leave, or they are just looking for a winter den.  So I do it a little different than most people.  I don't shoot right away knowing what I know about them all these years, and in doing so I guess I also practice a little bit of conservation.  I have "lost" a few of them that just took off after a couple of days.  I watched one G-hog a couple of years ago leave my shed at 6:30am to go on sniffing several houses in the neighborhood (for other G-hogs) until he was at the end of the street (only 3 houses down) and I couldn't see him any longer.  He never returned.  This has happened a few times, but it guarantees their survival and also my constant shooting of them year after year when they return or their offspring eventually come this way.

Harry

[Lmgunner13]

Good shooting! Just curious but how much wood do they actually chuck?