Duke #220 traps. My neighbor a few doors down has been keeping them under control with two of these. Get the setting tool if you like your hands. http://www.amazon.com/Duke-Double-S...id=1437700903&sr=8-6&keywords=woodchuck+traps
I used a golf cart once... Didn't make a lot of noise. Pellet pistols work at very close range too. Not to hard to get within 4-5 feet of the bastards either. Just send them scurrying for their hole and stand on the blind side. Within 2-3 minutes they will usually poke their head out to check if the coast is clear. Pow! Nighty nite Chucky.
I've never tried hanging around their hole. I used to have a family that lived under my shed, anytime I was outside they'd run for their hole so it took about an entire summer of me randomly sneaking around the house and shooting them from 50 yards away if I happened to spot them before they saw me. I'll try your method if they ever show back up.
Roll up a ball of old baler twine and stuff it as far down their hole as you can. They need to get out but like the smell and taste of the old sisal twine. They get all bound up in the stuff and choke themselves off.
Knocked out more than a couple of them like that. They used to hang out under the pump house on the golf course and would often duck into the end of a bunker drain for cover. If we were appropriately armed, all we had to do was wait a couple minutes for them to pop back out. Works well from a short distance with a .22(iron sights) too. Of course, after a few weeks into the season, we knew where they would be at various times of the day and since they were on a golf course, they were used to people. You could walk/drive up within 30 yards of them and they wouldn't blink. If the course wasn't busy, you could walk out to wherever you had a good line of sight and pop 'em. Knock half a dozen of the little varmints out in an evening and they would start to show some respect. Repeat as they get bold again.
A few weeks ago my daughter calls me on the way home, she says, someone left you a present in the yard. I got home and there was a big fat dead ground hog, belly up in the middle of the yard. And someone looking quite proud of themselves.
Well its been about a week since I've seen the last fur ball... So hopefully they are gone for a while till another group moves in.
