Woodchuck bait?

[Dave Shepard]

Ok, different style guns. Mine are filled from a SCBA tank. The Impact will send a pellet through 1.25" dry white oak.

[moosehunter]

Horse feed makes great woodchuck bait.
mh

[WV Sawmiller]

   I'll second that. When I first got here I did not have a barn and bought and tarped a bunch of hay. I threw a couple of bags of sweet feed on the hay under the tarp and the woodchucks found it and cut into and scattered it everywhere. 

   I'm still convinced OGH is not having a groundhog problem due to the nocturnal visit pattern.

[Dave Shepard]

We get bigger things than woodchucks coming for grain.



 

[JJ]

@Old Greenhorn 

Do you think it could be a bunny attacking your tree?  They are nocturnal and diggers.  Maybe try a carrot instead of tuna :D

        JJ

[Old Greenhorn]

Looks like I am gonna have to put a surf and turf buffet out there. ;D I figured out my camera problem, no hits last night beyond me passing by, Supposed to be a rain out tomorrow, but I am not seeing that on the radar, so I will try to get the trap setup. but with no traffic I don't expect much. Not enough damage for a bear, might be a bunny. I think it was attracted by the scent of the fertilizer pellets that came in tree bundle, or the stuff I added.
 I will keep you all in the loop when something happens.

[bodagocreek2]

Just caught a woodchuck this  morning, It took up residence under my porch. Used a apple cut in four pieces and some lettuce in a wire live trap. Needless to say it will never see it's shadow again.

[farmfromkansas]

Do you have badgers in that part of the country?  I am having a terrible time with badgers on my farm.  Going to have to figure out a way to get  rid of them.  Was looking at Utube to figure out a way to get rid of rats, and made a trap, caught no rats, but it was tough on the possum population.  Something was eating my rat bait, guess it is possum candy.

[Old Greenhorn]

No badgers here, those guys are nasty and can wreak havoc. Rats are really tough, at my last house/shop I had a rat problem (next door to a restaurant that closed). I would try to shoot them out the shop window with plastic slugs out of a .357.  They were SO fast that they would hear the trigger click and be gone before the hammer fell.

[SwampDonkey]

I haven't seen Pudgy Joe up around the house in weeks, but took a walk a few days ago under the yellow birch grove behind the house. He has a mound there that would fill a good sized tractor bucket, so he has tunnels under there. He was sitting on top of his big mound like a big fat king. :D :D

[Old Greenhorn]

BINGO! Now I know WHAT it is.

Garden bandit identified - YouTube 

All I haver to do is put some bait in that trap and we can drop him off at a more luxurious habitat. ;D But you know this guy isn't alone.

[farmfromkansas]

Young neighbor showed me a video of a guy feeding coons on his deck, could count 25 fat coons, he was taking a big pack of hot dogs and giving one at a time to the coons, must have been a 50 pack. I have seen a couple armadillos on my farm, so they are moving north.  Otherwise only ones I have seen before were along the side of the road driving south.

[JJ]

OGH,
You need a bigger cage trap..

        JJ

[21incher]

I found it was illegal to relocate animals off of your property in NY. They must be dealt with according to the DEC regulations https://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/81531.html#:~:text=It%20is%20illegal%20for%20you,Wildlife%20Control%20Operator%20(NWCO) Looks like if raccoons are a nuisance they can be killed and buried but not moved. NY has some crazy laws.

[btulloh]

Can't relocate them here in VA either. Doesn't seem so crazy really. I just relocate them downward and cover them up. Or just let the buzzards have them. Like Josey Wales said, "buzzards gotta eat, same as the worms".

[gspren]

Years ago I threw groundhogs, coons, etc in the woods and they stayed there till they rotted or a dog, fox, coyote drug them off. Now I put them out in the open and the buzzards get there in a few hours and usually a few eagles show up and chase the buzzards off, fun to watch.

[Old Greenhorn]

Yes, NY has stupid laws and some that make sense but everyone ignores them. It's illegal to shoot other people, buy sell and use street drugs, but hose laws don't seem to make much difference it still happens. I will figure out a way to make this work within the laws of common sense and basic thinking. They can go worry about the city morons that come up here and feed the bears on the back porch because they look cute.
 Yeah, I might need a bigger box, but we will see.

[cutterboy]

I found it was illegal to relocate animals off of your property in NY. 

Massachusetts too. It's really not a bad law but it is completely ignored. People in town trap woodchucks and rabbits and chipmunks and release them on my farm. They think the animals will be happy here and they are until they meet the old farmer with his .22 ;D

[mike_belben]

The secret to live traps is setting up multiples.  Some early bird is always getting in the trap and preventing you from catching the late show critter youre after, when using a single trap. 

[Old Greenhorn]

Yeah, I'm gonna need a bigger trap.

Tree Killer - YouTube

Guess I should have fenced around it quicker.

[WV Sawmiller]

Tom,

   Help me understand this. Are you saying deer in New York are devious enough they come eat freshly planted fruit trees then dig holes around the base of the tree to throw suspicion off on their woodland neighbors? :D :D

[Old Greenhorn]

Well it might be one of those street savvy city deer that have moved here since COVID. I wouldn't put anything past them, but in this case I think I have created an attractive nuisance. ;D

[Kindlinmaker]

Old Greenhorn - You must have different wood chucks on that side of the river.  The chucks on this side are very considerate and don't require relocation.  They just seem to pack their little bags and move on when they encounter us and learn they are are unwanted guests........That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I am old enough to have lived around old farmers who grew up working teams.  What a hate they had for anything that dug a hole.  My dirt bike riding privileges on more than one farm were dependent on the absence of any chucks.  Shoot em, trap em, give the dogs a workout, run em down with a bike - whatever it took.  And in true depression era "waste nothing" ethic, more than one of the associated farm ladies would put them up in brine for 6 months or so and find a use for them.

I worked for one farmer who had 2 hooks mounted on every tractor which held a pitch fork.  He was as deadly as a harpoon fisherman on a bow pulpit with those forks.

Now, we also have a method for dealing with your new discovery of a possible deer problem.  Our car insurance premiums attest to our process but we never seem to win or get ahead on this battle.  Not a recommended solution.  For being such small deer, they sure sure can cause a bunch of damage.

[Old Greenhorn]

I am going to need a MUCH bigger trap. ;D

I am going to need a much bigger trap. - YouTube

[JJ]

I think just attach a chain link gate, for trap door on end of your porch. 
Maybe chasing that racoon who had his fist full of hotdogs (the stolen bait)..