# Groundhog numbers ??



## eyecatchum2 (Mar 30, 2010)

I have always shot groundhogs on several farms for over 20 yrs. The last 3-4 yrs. it is almost impossible to even see any groundhogs or signs of them in the hay fields I used to hunt, has anyone else noticed the lack of groundhogs where they hunt? I have a feeling the coyotes are putting a serious dent in the local population.


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## leupy (Feb 12, 2007)

There are still quite a few in the areas I hunt although not as many as when I first started hunting them. I am going to take credit for that though no credit to coyotes.


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## Skippy (Dec 2, 2009)

Sort of funny. The farmers who run cattle want the coyotes gone but the farmers who grain farm and make hay want you to leave the coyotes alone. Coyotes do take out numbers of woodchucks.
I trap some coyotes every year and I have to watch what I say around the different farms.


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## Evinrude58 (Apr 13, 2011)

Skippy, I would think it would be reversed. My sister has horses, her neighbor has a dairy farm and they want the groundhogs gone because they fear animals breaking legs.


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## tadluvadd (Feb 19, 2012)

along with groundhogs,think about how many rabbits and pheasants you see and pheasants hear crowing.oh and how long has it been since u seen a grouse or heard a grouse drum?i still see alot of turkey but they are not nearly as vocal as they used to be when i started hunting them.in fairness to the coyote though how many skunks,****,and fox do u see?i see tons. not nearly as many people hunt and trap as did when i was younger.i think its a combo of preditors.


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## Dragons4u (Jul 18, 2011)

Hey guys, been a while since I've visited the site, but was able to get around to it this evening after getting ready to actually go on vacation.
I read an article last summer, I can't remember where or who wrote it, but it was some biologist that was talking about groundhog numbers going down across the state for unknown reasons. In some areas they seem to have increased, but acrossed much of the state their numbers have fallen drastically.
I know the areas I usually hunt, we used to see tons and tons of whistle pigs, but the past two years we haven't seen a single one. However, in town where we never saw them, we now have them trying to burrow under houses.
Maybe they are just getting smarter and have come to realize, hey those dorks can't shoot in town.


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## Header (Apr 14, 2004)

I don't go out and ask for premiision to hunt farms, just don't have the time. It would be nice to seek out farmers with pig problems. I'll agree with the suburban pigs they have always been around. I've got two I'm dealing with at my house and have trapped 3 in the last month at another place. That neighbor says he has shot 12 this year in his front yard.


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## supercanoe (Jun 12, 2006)

They are way down around my house. I very rarely see ground hogs. I see more coyotes than ground hogs.


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## T-180 (Oct 18, 2005)

In open farm country most of the groundhogs have ended up coyote poop !! I do see maybe a few more this year, but the yotes have been hit fairly hard in the area. Used to just wait for the 1st cutting of hay to come off, then the beans & have a ball shooting. Now I hardly go on just hog shoots because it's a waste of time. Most of what we do now is when a farmer contacts us about them up around their buildings.


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