Groundhog hunting tips?

They like fence rows and wind breaks. Normally see them 10 to 15 yds out. But I have also had them in the middle of a field denning in a small hill. I'll scan the fields looking for fresh dirt.

Definitely check big field's I'm sure you will find them there grazing. If you do not see any just walk the field and check for burrow's

I have a number of burrows on my property, and I actually go out and put sprinkler flags next to all the holes, and mark the newest/freshest holes with a different color. It makes it very easy to scan the field when you know where all the holes are before hand.. Then just go out, sit for a bit, so they get used to you being there, then shoot, shoot, shoot...

I've gotten better year by year. I started camping out at dawn by an active hole. That was boring and not too productive. In my experience I found they were not early risers, or had an exit from another hole. I then began walking and searching out holes. The holes were usually located close to a food source, In the case of a nursery they liked the salad bowl stuff, hastas, rhododendrums, and small flowery bushes. The deer resilient plants, they did not burrow near, nor did they burrow or travel near ever greens,(christmas trees) and privet (hedges) I found an access road that ran along the property line that had debris, fallen trees, and overgrown wild vegetation was a perfect spot for them to return to, and bed down at dusk. This roadway provided constant targets, the only variable was how fast they moved across it. On another part was tall red oak canopy and rhododendrums growing under the trees. This area had many active holes. It has 3 tree stands, and is used for deer during the various seasons. those tree stands produced 15 in 8 days in June shooting from 30 minutes to a little more than an hour per day (dusk) A dozen more were taken in the fall from the same spot. On the farms with vast fields look for the out buildings, debris and fallen trees, they will make that area home then travel to the fields Last years winter was miserable, and I got my first on May 8th. It's been in the 50's for a few days now, think this is going to be an early run

As far as habitat the above posters have mentioned all the usual places to find groundhogs. The tree nursery I used to work at had a big groundhog problem. For some reason they would chew off all the bark from the base of all young trees within about 30 foot of their dens. Basically I think they were marking their territory. I went about sticking orange survey flags near the entrance of their den holes but not too near as they would chew them off. The best time for them and me to go after them was in the evening after I got off work and they started their evening feeding. It was also most like a game of golf as I would make the circuit going from flagged hole to hole. The good thing for me was the nursery had plenty of foliage to hide my approach. If a groundhog did see me approaching and dive in it hole I would sometimes sit and wait for him to reappear. Usually if it did not come out in about 15 to 30 minutes I would move on and make the circuit. Many times though they would poke their heads out and with the accuracy of my PCP's it was lights out. Sometimes I would be as lucky to shoot up to eight in an evening and in about three years took out about 250 groundhogs. Another point if you take a groundhog from a den don't be surprised if another one moves in after two to three days or so. I was either using my Talon SS .22 cal with 24 fpe or Career .22 with 34 fpe. I was using the Beeman Kodiak pellet at 21.12 grains and taking only head shots out to about 35 to 40 yards. While groundhogs can be out any time of the day the evening was best for me. And point of being well hidden from the groundhog was key to my success. Bill