Growing up on a 78-acre farm in central Pennsylvania, there was never a shortage of woodchucks. Burrows littered the tree-lined fence rows bordering rolling fields of cash crops that supplemented our family income. Seemingly, in every tucked away corner of soybeans, a bare semi-circle of sheared vegetation revealed where the chubby grazers were doing their damage, and my father wasn’t pleased.
Recognizing my interest in hunting, and facing lost profits, he asked me to help thin the resident woodchuck population after school and during summer break. Obliging his request, my high-school buddy and I managed to shoot 63 ’chucks with our bows one year, and we learned a great deal about their habits in the process.
While a relatively common and unglamorous species, woodchucks offer ample hunting opportunities throughout the warmer months…
You're reading a preview of
Game & Fish East (Digital) - 1 Issue, April 2024