I live in town and there are some ground hogs I would like to trap. I tried the live trap with no success last year.

I would love to just shoot them but in this day and age I don’t need the grief if someone complains.

Any suggestions for bait or technique to try would be appreciated.

Do you want to snuff the varmint? Or capture him?
My In-Laws lost several buildings on their farm when groundhogs dug around the building foundations causing them to collapse. Took me two years to finally eradicate all of them by gunfire. They were actually smart enough to hide immediately when they saw me with a rifle in my hands. If I had no rifle, they ignored me. It was my understanding during the Groundhog war that the ones that lived on the farm were all related as family and to be successful in getting rid of them you need to target Groundhog Zero. If the live trap does not work for you, I would look into a trained dog. I believed Dachshunds were used to dig out rodents. My other suggestion would be a high power airgun and scope.

Would CCi Quiet 22LR do the job?

The only air rifle I have is a .177 Crossman Venom. I doubt it would be enough.

Water trough deeper than trap is tall. Drop trap with critter in the water and let nature takes its course. . .

Just get some survival snares and some sort of lure and be done with them.

I had one in my garden last year
neighbors house was in the line of fire so I could not shoot the bastard

live trap,
cut up cantaloupe

and in 2 nights I had him


since I am in a semi rural area, I relocated him, (not enough are to shoot)

be aware, you may catch more than a ground hog,,

first night I caught a coon,

Conibear traps set near the holes.

Pest control companies will come out and set the live traps for you. It is not that expensive. Since you live in town, gunfire could lead to bigger issues. The companies will dispose of the creatures as well.

quote:

Originally posted by wcb6092:
Conibear traps set near the holes.

A #330 would do the trick.

We have had luck with med size Havaheart with whole corn as bait. They love it or you might get a squirrel, either are very tasty. You'll find the older ones are harder to trap. Chris

quote:

Originally posted by Hound Dog:
Water trough deeper than trap is tall. Drop trap with critter in the water and let nature takes its course. . .

A good friend of mine has resorted to this method following the trapping of a series of skunks. (And by "a series," I mean more than 70 in one particular summer.)

He can't shoot them (he's inside the town limits), the town won't admit it has a skunk problem, and Animal Control can't tackle the problem. He's "dispatched" so many skunks now that DNR has given him a freezer in which to store them so they can be picked up.

He said the first few were tough to handle, but after a while it becomes routine.

When I was a kid in the Midwest we used the old steel leg traps right at the entrance of the hole to catch them. .22 short finished the job. They were a major nuisance around farm buildings. I think those leg traps are illegal in many places and certainly are not humane. My Dad also set box traps for them but I don't think he ever caught a groundhog in one. I have never seen a groundhog here in Florida. We use a large Havahart trap nowadays here on the farm-have caught many possum, armadillo, and feral cats in it and take them for a long ride in the truck once caught. We always bait them with canned cat food which works well, I would think that bait would work for groundhogs.

Car exhaust piped in the hole is claimed to work, haven't tried it.

Also, some report good luck with lit road flairs stuffed down the holes. They produce sulfur gas and will kill anything if confined.

In both cases you need to find and cover all the holes to work. The smoke from the flairs can help with locating the holes. I have used the flairs, cut in half, on moles with some effect, but exventually more just come to take their place.

Two methods to make them move.
I’ve used this one and it works. Stuff lots of dog poop in each hole. Entrance and exit. A dog is their mortal enemy and even the dog poop scares them.
Neighbor swears by soaking a cloth with ammonia and stuffing in holes.
Mine were digging holes under my pool. I shoved the dog poop in and they left.

Conibear 110 works in my garden.

Had one constantly digging around the foundations and under the house but never could catch the sucker out, until my German Shpherd left the house And found us between he and his lair. My dog ate him up

Thanks for all the suggestions.

The Conibear 110 looks nice but I'm afraid of catching a neighborhood cat.

Going to try corn in the live trap. I have tried cantaloupe with no success.

If using a live trap, I've had good luck with uncooked potato. My cats, dog and chickens have no interest in it. It may take a few days but they find it.

Double Bubble chewing gum. My brother uses it and swears it works.

A cornered Groundhog is a pretty mean critter.