Worldwide Beekeeping

Sustainable Living => Homestead => Topic started by: brooksbeefarm on June 16, 2014, 09:30:54 pm

Title: Ground hogs
Post by: brooksbeefarm on June 16, 2014, 09:30:54 pm
I have a ground hog working my garden :o, not seen one around here in several years. I set a live trap baited with sliced apple and banana peel, but no luck so far. I seen him once and by the time i got my gun he was gone. >:( Anyone know a better bait for them? for some reason he has only bit some cantaloupe vines and sweet potato vines off even with the ground, but didn't eat them?? But he will eat some lead if i get a chance. ;D Jack
Title: Re: Ground hogs
Post by: Slowmodem on June 16, 2014, 10:43:47 pm
I have a ground hog working my garden :o, not seen one around here in several years. I set a live trap baited with sliced apple and banana peel, but no luck so far. I seen him once and by the time i got my gun he was gone. >:( Anyone know a better bait for them? for some reason he has only bit some cantaloupe vines and sweet potato vines off even with the ground, but didn't eat them?? But he will eat some lead if i get a chance. ;D Jack

I caught mine with a quarter of a head of cabbage.
Title: Re: Ground hogs
Post by: LazyBkpr on June 16, 2014, 10:58:24 pm
Yep, dad used lettus and cabbage to catch his nemesis this year.
Title: Re: Ground hogs
Post by: G3farms on June 17, 2014, 10:02:56 am
cabbage anchored to the trip pan with a little peanut butter.

Title: Re: Ground hogs
Post by: CpnObvious on June 17, 2014, 03:51:43 pm
Although I've never caught one to kill it (MURDERER!!!!  :laugh:), I typically have great luck with lettuce.  In Massachusetts it's illegal relocate wildlife.  For some reason it's more humane to drown them??? I've never killed one either.  I guess I'm one BA law-breaker!
Title: Re: Ground hogs
Post by: iddee on June 17, 2014, 03:56:14 pm
And the folks that live near where you release them wish you were in jail.
Title: Re: Ground hogs
Post by: CpnObvious on June 17, 2014, 04:40:09 pm
I will never say whether or not that's what's been done... but IF I were to ever do such a thing, the critters would have been released in one of the many, large state forrests in the area, no where near anyone's personal property. Moving a nuisance critter to a neighbor's property is just wrong. My morals may reside on a sliding scale, I do follow the right side of the right/wrong argument.
Title: Re: Ground hogs
Post by: Perry on June 17, 2014, 09:12:45 pm
I have a ground hog working my garden :o, not seen one around here in several years. I set a live trap baited with sliced apple and banana peel, but no luck so far. I seen him once and by the time i got my gun he was gone. >:( Anyone know a better bait for them? for some reason he has only bit some cantaloupe vines and sweet potato vines off even with the ground, but didn't eat them?? But he will eat some lead if i get a chance. ;D Jack

I would bait them with......cantaloupe vines and sweet potato vines. From what I've read they're a hit with groundhogs. :) ;D :D
Title: Re: Ground hogs
Post by: G3farms on June 17, 2014, 09:28:48 pm
HHHMMMM.........never thought about vines, might have to give that a try when they will not hit on anything else.

Good idea there Perry!

Title: Re: Ground hogs
Post by: brooksbeefarm on June 17, 2014, 10:54:38 pm
They don't eat the vines they just bite them off?/ If i catch the ground hog i have already got it spoken for, a neighbor told me he would rather have it than chicken, said they are cleaner about what they eat than cickens, i agree :). The 15 to 20 coons i will catch this year are going into a customer of ours freezer, said his family loves coon meat. Like grandma use to say, waste not, want not. So i'm in. :D Jack
Title: Re: Ground hogs
Post by: LazyBkpr on June 18, 2014, 09:18:01 am
Yep, I know a few folks that really like groundhog. Coon... not so much, but a fellow a couple towns over uses them to make really excellent dog food!!
Title: Re: Ground hogs
Post by: CpnObvious on June 18, 2014, 09:57:19 am
Lazy...

How, may I ask, do you know that the dog food is "really excellent"? :laugh:
Title: Re: Ground hogs
Post by: Perry on June 18, 2014, 09:29:03 pm
Lazy...

How, may I ask, do you know that the dog food is "really excellent"? :laugh:

 :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Title: Re: Ground hogs
Post by: LazyBkpr on June 18, 2014, 09:44:22 pm
Healthy dogs with shiny coats that can run all night long. No Diarrhea when switching to this food, and excellent weight gain even when being run hard night after night...    I won't go into details about giving my wife a bowl of it when she was in one of "those" moods.....  you know what they call a female dog?  Yeah, one of those moods.....    It was painful for the better part of a week....
Title: Re: Ground hogs
Post by: tmrschessie on June 30, 2014, 01:22:05 pm
A 160 body grip trap does the job. Tom
Title: Re: Ground hogs
Post by: lazy shooter on December 03, 2014, 08:40:35 am
I have never seen a ground hog in the wild.  I do not like coon for table fare, as the ones I have tasted were greasy, greasy and more greasy.

I live trap coons on my ranch.  I leave the live trap by my gate and one of my neighbors comes by and picks up the trap.  He then takes it home and replaces it the next day, minus the coon.  His family also loves the meat.  Like Jack said, it works for him and it work for me.
Title: Re: Ground hogs
Post by: iddee on December 03, 2014, 08:49:14 am
Lazy, pre-cook the meat til tender, then bake in stuffing with Irish and sweet potatoes, onions, carrots, and celery. Add a little sage. Try it once and you will never give another one away.
Title: Re: Ground hogs
Post by: Perry on December 03, 2014, 08:56:57 am
Ugh!
 :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Title: Re: Ground hogs
Post by: iddee on December 03, 2014, 09:13:34 am
Don't knock it if you ain't tried it.   :o   :P
Title: Re: Ground hogs
Post by: LazyBkpr on December 03, 2014, 09:23:05 am
I have had coon cooked multiple different ways, and still do not prefer it. I absolutely will never die of starvation if I have coon around, but it is not table fare by choice.   TO me it is a lot like Bear meat, edible, and way better than nothing, but if theres better available I will leave the coon meat for mixing into dog food.  Wood chuck, on the other hand comes much closer to being preferred table fare. Ranks right up there right below rabbit!
Title: Re: Ground hogs
Post by: Ray4852 on December 03, 2014, 09:50:31 am
There clean animals. I never had one for dinner. There a pain in the fanny when I get them in my garden. I trap them, Throw the trap and woodchuck in the pond.
Title: Re: Ground hogs
Post by: riverbee on December 03, 2014, 11:57:23 am
"Throw the trap and woodchuck in the pond."

LOL!!!!............
Title: Re: Ground hogs
Post by: brooksbeefarm on December 03, 2014, 12:53:23 pm
I grew up eating rabbit and squirrel meat, some coon and have ate groundhog (our hounds keep groundhogs thinned out) if we could beat the dogs to them ;D. When i learned to read and started to read about the animals i'd been eating (squirrels kin to the rat family :o) i kind of lost my taste for them :sad: (sometimes education can be bad) i'll still eat a young gray fried, but now i own my own beef farm and prefer a steak or humbuger over rat. :D Jack
Title: Re: Ground hogs
Post by: Ray4852 on December 03, 2014, 01:52:09 pm
How do you feed your cows. Its very expensive to feed with natural feed today. Cost of corn and grain is very expensive. I heard Our big beef farmers are using chemicals to fatten up their cows. I like wild turkey and pheasants. Cant beat home grown turkeys and chicken. High cost of corn stopped me from growing them.  Ethanol is killing us today.
Title: Re: Ground hogs
Post by: brooksbeefarm on December 03, 2014, 07:06:42 pm
Well, i don't keep more cattle than my farm can handle. They are on pasture and i buy salt mix and mineral feed, the cows are bred to calve in March and April and i wean in Dec. and Jan. the calves are the only thing i grain feed on a regular basis and of course the two i raise to butcher.. It is expensive, but what isn't now a day? Grain should be cheaper this winter, they had a bumper crop this year, i don't know if you've noticed, but beef prices are higher than i've ever seen it. After many years of hard work, luck, saving, and doing without, we have everything payed for,and now that we can show a profit and buy some things, We are getting to old to enjoy it. :) Don't think it would of happened without some divine help, we have been blessed. Jack
Title: Re: Ground hogs
Post by: rcannon on December 03, 2014, 07:59:29 pm
What's a ground hog?
Title: Re: Ground hogs
Post by: riverbee on December 03, 2014, 08:44:05 pm
wood chuck is what we call them rc........

Title: Re: Ground hogs
Post by: lazy shooter on December 03, 2014, 10:50:12 pm
I think my old Mexican neighbor lady cooks coon.  She had never cooked anything that I didn't like.  I will get her to cook one.  She will do it right.  My bride works full time as a school superintendent, so she limits her cooking time.

I'm going to give it a try Iddee.
Title: Re: Ground hogs
Post by: Alleyyooper on December 04, 2014, 06:54:57 am
People get these ideas in their head then some or all wild game is yuk yuk. People the world over eat canines(dog) yet when I grill up a bit of coyote and share it, it is liked till they are told it was coyote then it is puke city.
Ground hog, whistle pig, wood chuck are vegans and have some of the finest flavored meat of any wild game. Problems start in the way they are prepped, keep the skinning clean of hair and do not allow intestines to rupture on the meat.
Remove all fat and fatty glands.
Old ones cook low and slow to render them tender.

 :)  Al
Title: Re: Ground hogs
Post by: lazy shooter on December 04, 2014, 07:34:09 am
@Jack:

He is correct on many fronts.  Once you are old and everything is paid off, there is more money in the till.  A young friend of mine tell me "you old people have all the money," and I reply yes, and we have the arthritis and other slow-me-down issues that come with old age."

I have my calves contracted to a special company that sells only grass fed beef.  I keep a freezer stocked with beef for my family, including  two grown sons and their families.  Commercial cattle are fed so many steroids and antibiotics that some medical experts think that is the reason that many of our old, known antibiotics are losing their healing abilities.  I don't know that to be true.

The ground hog sounds like good table fare.  My wife is like Jack, in that after she learned a squirrel was a rodent she quit eating them.  I have an old pal in East Texas that kills me about 10 or 12 squirrels each year and freezes them in packages of two.  Occasionally, when I have the time, I fry them up and have cream gravy for breakfast.  It makes a very good breakfast for this old country boy.

I'm like Jack, when I say my evening prayers, I am always amazed at how much our merciful God has blessed such a sinner as me, and thank him for it.  I truly have gotten more I deserve out of life.

Title: Re: Ground hogs
Post by: Alleyyooper on December 04, 2014, 07:42:38 am
Warp bacon around squirrel pieces and bake. YUM.

 :)  Al
Title: Re: Ground hogs
Post by: rcannon on December 04, 2014, 07:52:10 pm
What's a wood chuck? Similar to a possum?
Title: Re: Ground hogs
Post by: brooksbeefarm on December 04, 2014, 08:13:58 pm
It's the furry animal they show on TV every Feb. 2 of the year to see if it seen it's shadow or not. ;D Jack
Title: Re: Ground hogs
Post by: lazy shooter on December 04, 2014, 08:58:28 pm
How much wood, would a wood chuck chuck, if a wood chuck could chuck wood.

That's my question about wood chucks.
Title: Re: Ground hogs
Post by: Retroguy on December 05, 2014, 01:59:06 am
How much wind could a wind break break if a wind break could break wind?

Back in the late '60s we gave some coon hunters permission to hunt on our property.  One morning they came in from a successful night and presented my Mom with a hind quarter of coon meat.  Mom asked how to cook it and they told her to treat it just like she would a piece of roast beef. 

A couple of days later I came home from school and Mom said, "I want your opinion on this," and she pulled the roasting pan out of the oven and showed me this stringy dried out looking piece of meat.

"Would you eat that?" she asked.  I said no so she put in a pork roast that she had for "back-up" and told me to take the coon meat out to our beagle, Herman.  I gave the coon meat to Herman who sniffed it, backed off, walked around it 3 or 4 times and then very gingerly took hold of a bone and carefully dragged it out in the middle of his dog patch and buried it.  He never did dig it up.