My husband and friends used to hunt them (with rifles). The farmers asked them to hunt on their property as the woodchucks ate a lot of their corn and other crops.
Heh.. yup it's true , it's a country thing..
To be honest I just shot three over the weekend. it's real fun sport and the woodchucks are considered a nuisance.Because in some rural areas they really are.
The varmint weapon of choice for a normal gentleman hunter is a bolt action medium to high power rifle with a highly accurat scope on it.set up similar to a sniper gun. mine happens to be chambered in a 308 calibre.
As for eating them , well I don't know about that..Ive heard some people do
Woodchuck hunting was one of my Dad's favorite past times back in the 50's. He and his buddy's would have a
running total and it would last all summer. Who would shoot the most? There was an African-American family just down the road who LOVED to be the receipients of his daily killings. If they weren't home, he'd stuff them in their mailbox. They looked forward to it. I remember fondly of my Grandmother telling me of these stories. My father died in 1965, shortly after serving in the army. He was only 31, but I bet he's probably shootin' chucks and pigeons, and RATS somewhere up in heaven (if they have them there?)
Another past time...shooting rats at night at the dump. Taught mom how to shoot, too. Second woman in Genesee Co. to obtain a pistol permit. Go Mom!
Shooting rats at the dump reminds me of scenes in the Sean Penn film about a fervent fan of the great Gypsy jazz musician, Django Reinhardt. The movie is "Sweet Lowdown" -- and I highly recommend it. And Gregory, love your description on the gentlemanly specifics of hunting varmints.
Eat them... YES only the baby ones after a few months there like chewing on leather. They cause thousands a dollars a year in damage to farm equipment, and almost any farmer will let you kill them.
I'm reminded of a sight (or was it a smell?) from my childhood. There was a fish hatchery near Scottsville called Cedar Springs. We used to go there as a family for picnics. There were fish tanks and runs as well as trails, a pond and bridges over brooks- neat place to roam around. The driveway leading to Cedar Springs was lined by a barbed wire fence, and the farmer who owned the property to the west shot woodchucks. This was all too evident, because he draped their carcasses over the barbed wire. I don't know if this was a talisman to ward off other woodchucks or some macabre sense of decoration. In any event, there must have been several seasons-worth of woodchuck remains in various stages of decay suspended from the top wire for a quarter-mile run of fence.
Wow thats a horrible childhood memory C.Barons..I don't know what else to say on that other than Your right to each there own indeed.
however it is more than minimal. It is actually a multi million dollar industry in the fact that every rifle manufacturer makes a special line of higher accuracy rifles for the sport of varmint hunting. As well as Rifle Scopes and Higher Accuracy Varmint Ammunition. because after all we are talking about shooting a moving target less than the the size of a watermellon and sometimes down in the weeds often at distances of 300 and 400 yards away,and farther (there is no limit)..Yes there sometimes are closer ones but the closer ones run off when you go to get your gun. try it sometime and you'll know what I mean.If your not good at distances and yardages,your not going to hit one.
Most of us good ol boys that do shoot them don't have to travel far. They are right outside our doors in the vast open fields that surround our property we just sort of pick up our gun shoot one and then go back to what we were doing...unless we see another one...It's very gratifying and kind of stress relieving when it all comes together . And did I say fun too.
...Wouldn't say it was horrible, although in summer heat it certainly had a smell only a maggot could live with. It was more of a curiosity, made me wonder what purpose was served by dozens of dead animals rotting on a barbed wire fence.
Not to belabor the issue, I see nothing wrong with eliminating animals that create a nuisance by raiding crops or causing damage to farm machinery. I've done my fair share of ridding my property of squirrels that have gnawed into my eaves and raccoons that intrude. Perhaps it's semantic: I didn't shoot them for sport.
CM to clarify something for you.....I know the practice of hangin carcasses on a fence is from wolves and coyotes and stray dogs that have bred with them, when they harassed livestock farmers would shoot them and hang the pelt or the whole corpse on the fencewire and it would discourage others from entering.
Sort of a no trespassing sign for wildlife, maybe this was why that farmer did that with the woodchucks.
Quote: Hey you danged woodchucks, quit chuckin my wood.
Woodchucks are good for nothing. My brother has to kill 4 or 5 every year - they come from the fields around him and try to burrow under his house and shed and barn. Not only do they destroy and eat crops, they leave BIG HOLES in the ground - good place to break a leg if you're not paying attention. The only good woodchuck is a dead woodchuck.
Mary there are lots of things in civilaztion that are "disturbing" but necessary.And yes there are less efficient non lethal methods of catching them. but once they are caught what would we do with them ? would we take them to someone else's land and let them go there..and sort of pass the buck onto someone else.That wouldn't really solve anything would it.And what would keep them from returning or from reproducing for that matter. the woochuck population is larger this year than it has been in the past and it needs to be reduced.
While concern for the woodchucks' well being is expected, I wonder if that same concern goes for other members of our rural animal population, in particular horses and cows.
Woodchucks leave massive and multiple holes. Animals can easily break a leg by stepping in one of these holes.
Should our farmers sacrifice their cattle and horses in order to 'save the woodchucks'?
My husband and friends used
My husband and friends used to hunt them (with rifles). The farmers asked them to hunt on their property as the woodchucks ate a lot of their corn and other crops.
Heh.. yup it's true , it's a
Heh.. yup it's true , it's a country thing..
To be honest I just shot three over the weekend. it's real fun sport and the woodchucks are considered a nuisance.Because in some rural areas they really are.
The varmint weapon of choice for a normal gentleman hunter is a bolt action medium to high power rifle with a highly accurat scope on it.set up similar to a sniper gun. mine happens to be chambered in a 308 calibre.
As for eating them , well I don't know about that..Ive heard some people do
Woodchuck hunting was one of
Woodchuck hunting was one of my Dad's favorite past times back in the 50's. He and his buddy's would have a
running total and it would last all summer. Who would shoot the most? There was an African-American family just down the road who LOVED to be the receipients of his daily killings. If they weren't home, he'd stuff them in their mailbox. They looked forward to it. I remember fondly of my Grandmother telling me of these stories. My father died in 1965, shortly after serving in the army. He was only 31, but I bet he's probably shootin' chucks and pigeons, and RATS somewhere up in heaven (if they have them there?)
Another past time...shooting rats at night at the dump. Taught mom how to shoot, too. Second woman in Genesee Co. to obtain a pistol permit. Go Mom!
Oh the 'hunting' stories we
Oh the 'hunting' stories we could tell while living in a family full of hunters - both men and women!
Shooting rats at the dump
Shooting rats at the dump reminds me of scenes in the Sean Penn film about a fervent fan of the great Gypsy jazz musician, Django Reinhardt. The movie is "Sweet Lowdown" -- and I highly recommend it. And Gregory, love your description on the gentlemanly specifics of hunting varmints.
Eat them... YES only the baby
Eat them... YES only the baby ones after a few months there like chewing on leather. They cause thousands a dollars a year in damage to farm equipment, and almost any farmer will let you kill them.
Lol..
Lol..
I'm reminded of a sight (or
I'm reminded of a sight (or was it a smell?) from my childhood. There was a fish hatchery near Scottsville called Cedar Springs. We used to go there as a family for picnics. There were fish tanks and runs as well as trails, a pond and bridges over brooks- neat place to roam around. The driveway leading to Cedar Springs was lined by a barbed wire fence, and the farmer who owned the property to the west shot woodchucks. This was all too evident, because he draped their carcasses over the barbed wire. I don't know if this was a talisman to ward off other woodchucks or some macabre sense of decoration. In any event, there must have been several seasons-worth of woodchuck remains in various stages of decay suspended from the top wire for a quarter-mile run of fence.
Wow thats a horrible
Wow thats a horrible childhood memory C.Barons..I don't know what else to say on that other than Your right to each there own indeed.
however it is more than minimal. It is actually a multi million dollar industry in the fact that every rifle manufacturer makes a special line of higher accuracy rifles for the sport of varmint hunting. As well as Rifle Scopes and Higher Accuracy Varmint Ammunition. because after all we are talking about shooting a moving target less than the the size of a watermellon and sometimes down in the weeds often at distances of 300 and 400 yards away,and farther (there is no limit)..Yes there sometimes are closer ones but the closer ones run off when you go to get your gun. try it sometime and you'll know what I mean.If your not good at distances and yardages,your not going to hit one.
Most of us good ol boys that do shoot them don't have to travel far. They are right outside our doors in the vast open fields that surround our property we just sort of pick up our gun shoot one and then go back to what we were doing...unless we see another one...It's very gratifying and kind of stress relieving when it all comes together . And did I say fun too.
...Wouldn't say it was
...Wouldn't say it was horrible, although in summer heat it certainly had a smell only a maggot could live with. It was more of a curiosity, made me wonder what purpose was served by dozens of dead animals rotting on a barbed wire fence.
Not to belabor the issue, I see nothing wrong with eliminating animals that create a nuisance by raiding crops or causing damage to farm machinery. I've done my fair share of ridding my property of squirrels that have gnawed into my eaves and raccoons that intrude. Perhaps it's semantic: I didn't shoot them for sport.
CM to clarify something for
CM to clarify something for you.....I know the practice of hangin carcasses on a fence is from wolves and coyotes and stray dogs that have bred with them, when they harassed livestock farmers would shoot them and hang the pelt or the whole corpse on the fencewire and it would discourage others from entering.
Sort of a no trespassing sign for wildlife, maybe this was why that farmer did that with the woodchucks.
Quote: Hey you danged woodchucks, quit chuckin my wood.
Woodchucks are good for
Woodchucks are good for nothing. My brother has to kill 4 or 5 every year - they come from the fields around him and try to burrow under his house and shed and barn. Not only do they destroy and eat crops, they leave BIG HOLES in the ground - good place to break a leg if you're not paying attention. The only good woodchuck is a dead woodchuck.
Its fun? I find that
Its fun? I find that disturbing...there are nonlethal methods out there...less fun tho...wow...ya all eat rodent?
Mary there are lots of things
Mary there are lots of things in civilaztion that are "disturbing" but necessary.And yes there are less efficient non lethal methods of catching them. but once they are caught what would we do with them ? would we take them to someone else's land and let them go there..and sort of pass the buck onto someone else.That wouldn't really solve anything would it.And what would keep them from returning or from reproducing for that matter. the woochuck population is larger this year than it has been in the past and it needs to be reduced.
While concern for the
While concern for the woodchucks' well being is expected, I wonder if that same concern goes for other members of our rural animal population, in particular horses and cows.
Woodchucks leave massive and multiple holes. Animals can easily break a leg by stepping in one of these holes.
Should our farmers sacrifice their cattle and horses in order to 'save the woodchucks'?