Woodchucks

[Pitchman1968]

3 Months ago I posted my problem about cottontail rabbits ravaging my vegetable garden, I received several ideas on how to control them. Thanks to all who sent me ideas. Now, the problem is woodchucks. Although I got rid of 2 of them during the summer, I knew that others were lurking around in the New England stone fence line that parallels the back side of the garden. Over the last 3 weeks, I have seen 3 small woodchucks "scoping out" the garden as their food source for the 2018 growing season. How do I get rid these varmints? Hav-a-Heart traps don't work for me, and I take a big risk when I shoot them because of my state's gun laws regarding did-charging a firearm in a semi-populated area. Any success stories will be greatly appreciated.

[JEBar]

years ago we had a garden that covered a bit over an acre .... deer, rabbits and various other small critters made it a point to enjoy the veggies before we could get to them .... we totally resolved the problem by stringing an electric fence around the garden .... as I remember, the lowest wire was about 2" off the ground, a second 6" or so higher, the third about 20" off the ground, and the last a little over 3' high .... I bought a serious fence controller that was capable of serious voltage .... that fence stopped all critter intrusions except for moles and voles

[daytime dave]

I'll second Mr. Bar's advice about electric fencing. I too had a woodchuck issue in my suburban garden. A firearm was too much noise and the neighbors too close. I used a pellet gun in .22 caliber and that did the trick. You have to hit them in the head, preferably an ear shot. It has to be a good pellet gun and one with an internal baffle system cuts the noise pretty well.

The pellet gun requires you to monitor for the problem. The electric fence is always on guard unless there is a power outage. If I had it to do again and didn't have both options, I'd go with the fence.

[Pitchman1968]

Thanks Fellas, I will explore the electric fencing option.

[Henry88]

Green environmentally friendly solution > adopt a cat from the humane society

[daytime dave]

I dunno about the size of the chucks in FLa, but up here, you'd need a BIG cat.

[Henry88]

Yeah , LOL we don't have them here, but the name doesn't exactly conjure images of a cape buffalo, or other formidable creature.

[Squatch]

Henry88 they can be formidable! BIG teeth and claws.

You pretty much have to kill them to get rid of them. It's very hard to fence them out of anywhere because they dig well indeed.

Some years my Golden Boy gets called into use.
http://henryrifleforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=801

[BigAl52]

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood.

[JEBar]

that's easy for you to say ..

[BigAl52]

Oh come on Jim. A woodchuck would chuck all the wood he could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood.