Mangy groundhog or shedding?


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I shot this critter Sunday morning in a field up at my deer camp. It was very heavy and was male. Look at how half of his fur is normal and his front half looks almost shaved.

What do you think?

The .22mag Remington 32gr VMax bullet works great on these critters. Using a Rossi single shot rifle.

heartshotchuck.jpg

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hhmmmm....I dont know if its mange, but something dont look right there. Ive never seen one like that. We got a few around our woodpiles and none of em look like that. I dont really know if they shed or not, but either way that looks a bit excessive and it seems to be somewhat concentrated to be shedding.

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Yuck!!! That thing looks disgusting. I wouldn't even touch it.

I don't believe they shed, and it really doesn't look like mange unless that is some kind of early stages or something. Mange usually has matted down hair with obvious scabby looking material. At any rate, I think you probably did him a favor by shooting him.

Doc

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Yup...this chuck was a pest. Making holes all over my field and he had a burrow under my storage shed which always drew flies. Good riddance.

BTW...my son Joe nailed one a little while ago with his Mathews DXT here at our house:). Must have gotten to close to the mater plants. He will most likely post about it tomorrow. His looks nothing like mine does.

The boy is deadly with that bow ;)

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Dang Anthony, looks like a beaver! Just how big do those things get?

When I picked it up I was very surprised how heavy it was. I betcha it was a good 5 lbs or better. This was up at deer camp, our summer place 2 counties north. They go unhunted until I/we get there and they get large and fat. Nothing the .22mag can't handle:).

This is the one my son Joe nailed yesterday in our yard. He put a Slick trick right through it at 30 yards.

Hey until there is better stuff to hunt...these critters help keep our eyes sharp.

We are blessed with the HUGE chunk of woods that backs up to our yard and we have a ball with the critters:shifty:.

The kart in the background is the urban deer removal kart...aka Kart of Death. Lots of deer have taken rides in it:clown:

joes09chuck001.jpg

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Its not mange, Mange is a mite that gets under the skin, it does not cause the fur to fall out and blister, the constant itching causes the critters to chew there fur off, the blisters are scabs or frostbit usually, mange is usually the back end first,[were its notacable anyway,easiest to chew the fur off] you will see the fur will be yellowish tone from the mite under the skin!

I have shot lots of coyotes,fox and a couple beavers this spring that look like that, the guard hair is all off, the deer do the same thing, kind of late but I would say prob just shedding,[i do not know much about them but if any other animal we have here I would say its loosing its winter fur!]

Just my opinion!!

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  • 12 years later...
7 hours ago, Tragicbeauty said:

That’s Crazy to each their own I could NEVER UNLESS it had rabies I own three groundhogs and they are the sweetest things ever they don’t mess up anything of mine they are hand fed and everything 

Well Sue, groundhogs are quite destructive.  We have a few around here, they leave holes behind that can break legs of our cows or horses, not to mention the damage done to the pastures.  Like you say though you each their own.

Interesting choice for a first post on a hunting site. 

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