....anyone have recipes for them? my neck of the woods is thick with them, and i'm wondering if they make good eating.

I've eaten one, when I was a kid. Wasn't bad and considering my mom could burn water, probably gormet food in the hands of someone who knows what they are doing.

As I recall she cooked it in the oven, in a turkey roasting pan. Tasted like a big rabbit.

I've wanted to try them but in WI they are protected! I'd cook them quartered in a crock pot with potatoes, carrots, onions, a cream soup and whatever else you'd like. Salt and pepper to taste. I'd imagine they would be very good. Might have too sneak one in. :D

I've been told that it's a greasy meat and that if you were to cook it, the best way would be to bake it in a brown paper bag. reasoning was that the paper bag would absorb the grease and seal in the juices. Never tried one though I have shot a great many of them. When I was growing up on my grandparents place they were considered a nuisance and I was allowed to shoot them.

That seems surprising to me. They just eat grass don't they? Plus aren't they a rodent like a squirrel? Now my interest is peaked. I'm going to have to take one now! :D I've been told that it's a greasy meat and that if you were to cook it, the best way would be to bake it in a brown paper bag. reasoning was that the paper bag would absorb the grease and seal in the juices. Never tried one though I have shot a great many of them. When I was growing up on my grandparents place they were considered a nuisance and I was allowed to shoot them.

I'm going home during the Thanksgiving holiday. When I visit my friends who eat such delicacies, I will be sure to ask them.

I don't think I'd eat groundhog. How many of you here would eat ground squirrel?

I was brought up with the "if you kill it, you will eat it" belief. I really can't see a groundhog as being bad. It's now become a quest to get one and eat it. Anyone here eat a raccoon?

We need to get some of our Southern friends here into this discussion - groundhog, racoon, 'possum, nutria, etc. Think they have ways of cooking them all! :D

I was brought up with the "if you kill it, you will eat it" belief. I really can't see a groundhog as being bad. It's now become a quest to get one and eat it. Anyone here eat a raccoon?
Back in the stone ages my grandfather was president of the Chester County Coon Hunters Assn. and Coon suppers were a part of the program. I remember them as a little strong chewy and greasy at the same time! I was just a kid and pretty picky about my food and will eat any good PA Dutch cooking but can do without the Coons.

I've never eaten (neither shot) a coon before, but I've killed a many groundhog on my grandparents place. I've killed and eaten a many squirrel as well. I'm hoping to get in some rabbit hunting with my father when I go home for Thanksgiving. I'm going to find out how it is and if possible sit down and have a bit of it with some of the old-timers back home.

With the exception of groundhogs and crows, we were always taught if you kill it, you eat it. And for the most part we lived by that motto. I intend on making an exception to that rule and harvesting a black bear this season. I have no intention of eating it but I do have several friends who've made it clear that if I do harvest one they want it to eat.

If you take a black bear by all means eat it. It's all in the cleaning. Remove any and all "fat." We had a bear roast last winter cooked side x side with a beef roast. The bear was far superior to the beef. I couldn't believe it myself. It was sweet and succulent. It was delicious. Don't pass it up.I've never eaten (neither shot) a coon before, but I've killed a many groundhog on my grandparents place. I've killed and eaten a many squirrel as well. I'm hoping to get in some rabbit hunting with my father when I go home for Thanksgiving. I'm going to find out how it is and if possible sit down and have a bit of it with some of the old-timers back home.

With the exception of groundhogs and crows, we were always taught if you kill it, you eat it. And for the most part we lived by that motto. I intend on making an exception to that rule and harvesting a black bear this season. I have no intention of eating it but I do have several friends who've made it clear that if I do harvest one they want it to eat.

I have eaten them and they are great if cooked properly. It is important to get the hide off them ASAP and to remove ALL the fat.

Kudu40

....anyone have recipes for them? my neck of the woods is thick with them, and i'm wondering if they make good eating.

I was born and raised in the heart of groundhog land...PA famrlands. We would shoot groundhogs all summer for the farmers and take the young ones home to eat. The key is to keep the little guys. My grandma would soak them in milk over night and then put them in the slow cooker. Pretty good. And all they eat is soybeans, timothy, and sorgum so really its no different then eating a cow...Well almost. I would give anything to have them out here in KS like back home.

There is not as many as there used to be in Pa. since the coyotes population exploded. You can hunt all day and not see one in some places.

Kudu40


I was born and raised in the heart of groundhog land...PA famrlands. We would shoot groundhogs all summer for the farmers and take the young ones home to eat. The key is to keep the little guys. My grandma would soak them in milk over night and then put them in the slow cooker. Pretty good. And all they eat is soybeans, timothy, and sorgum so really its no different then eating a cow...Well almost. I would give anything to have them out here in KS like back home.

have eaten grounghogs fried like chicken, roasted,baked and barbecued. as airbourne said, get the young ones. the barbecue recipe is good. soak in hog in salt water overnight, drain and rinse. trim ALL fat. cook in pressure cooker until meat is falling off bone,usually 30 to 45 min after cooker has reached temp. remove hog from cooker, shred meat , warm in crockpot with favorite b-q sauce. makes great sandwiches. g-hogs eat grasses. have also shot them out of mulberry and crabapple trees. hope you enjoy

Can eat anything as long as you prepair it propperly. with the hod like everybody said REMOVE ALL FAT. Makes a great stew. or you can mix it in and have it fried with rabbits and squirrel.

I'd have to be real hungry and have a bad head cold before I would try to eat an oldsquaw.

Kudu40

Out here in Idaho they call them Rockchucks and their a member of the marmot family I believe. I shoot them with a 243 or the 204 Ruger and there's not much left to eat when hit with either one of those. Usually anything under a hundred yards is just a blue haze around the spot they were sitting. Think I'll stick to deer, elk, bear and beef.

I'm with you Bob - nothing exotic for this kid! :D

I've never ate one. I have heard it described as similar to the "best roast beef you've ever had". I wish I could speak to that, but I can't. Considering what they eat for a living, I can't doubt that it's true? How prepared and cooked must apply here as in all cooking.

They are called "groundhog" here mostly. "Woodchuck" works as well. They can cause a lot of damage to building foundations sometimes. That can be resolved with a .22 rimefire more often than not around here. I have one that has co-existed with me for all of four years with no trouble.

Another one that lived nearby took a "liking" to my good wife's flowers one year. That was one of the few times that I was "asked" to go hunting!

A landowner I know had trouble with them around his dirt floor "pole buildings" for a time. He was "real POed" and asked for help. I zapped them with a 6mm. Remington from inside 200 yards with varmit bullets. No food value too them. 60 grain hollow points at near 3500fps. is hard on edible meat.

The biggest that I ever shot was in town. It was in a kinda "grey area" that was in "city limits". I was on private property with permission to be there. (It's an odd area of zoning laws). A .22 rimfire rifle "Q"-tipped him/her at about 35 yards. Expired without a "wiggle". Lights off right now!
I froze it for the taxidermy man. Was about 30 to 35lbs. at a guess. I've lost track of him. No food value there either.

Gravey makes everthing taste good.

Cheezywan

I've never tried eating a grondhog but I have read that a half grown groundhog makes a darn good meal. Iv'e eaten raccoon that was made into BBQ and I couldn't tell the difference. I had a nurse friend years ago who said she attended the funeral of an old black man who was famous for selling his tasty BBQ and feeding the poor folks. She said raccoon and groundhog was in the recipe among other animals that people donated to him. The same woman told me she made a home nursing visit to an elderly black woman who had possums in her fenced back yard. When she asked her why the old woman told her that they were being raised for Thanksgiving.

The next young adult that I see is going to meet a 22 long rifle bullet. Onions,
carrots, and spuds. Can you tell that I have not ate? Slow cook.
Gravey is good with everything. I want that too.

Chezywan

The biggest that I ever shot was in town. It was in a kinda "grey area" that was in "city limits". I was on private property with permission to be there. (It's an odd area of zoning laws). A .22 rimfire rifle "Q"-tipped him/her at about 35 yards. Expired without a "wiggle". Lights off right now!
I froze it for the taxidermy man. Was about 30 to 35lbs. at a guess. I've lost track of him. No food value there either.

Gravey makes everthing taste good.

Cheezywan

You LOST TRACK OF HIM, Cheezywan?!! Did you pull a hunk out of the freezer and have an odd meal?!!:D

No Shawn. I did not eat that one. I lost track of the taxidermy guy. He was going to mount him for free(or cheap) just for practice. He has moved. I could likely find him if I wanted. Not worth the effort. I will ask him if I ever run into him though. That was a big hog for around here.

Cheezywan

Ah, I see, I was worried about you Cheezywan! A 30-35 lb-er is a nice big one. I've only seen one of those, shot by a friend here in our high desert, and it was a big bull. Absolutely stuffed on green grass. Looked like one of those day-old badgers you see along the road that got the tire treatment - but didn't pop - with 4 outstretched legs, and ready to pop if a fly landed on it.

Now if that didn't kill your appetite, I've heard that the native Indians ate the rockchucks when they could get them.

I'm not "hard up" for food Shawn. I eat well. Never ate groundhog before. I might enjoy it? I don't know how to cook it? I look here for instruction.
I suspect that groundhog/woodchuck/is good?

Cheezywan

Maybe try a mini luau like the Islanders do with pigs? Sure wouldn't take as long, and maybe a large dutch oven would work? Wouldn't get the ground and wrap (corn husks, burlap) steaming with the dutch oven though. Let us know if you try one Cheezywan, I'm curious. I'd have to pick my rifle and shots more carefully if I wanted to pursue this as a table fare though, and I would have to be careful who I told that I ate rockchuck, as I'm already viewed as a backwoods redneck.:D

Hey guys, groundhogs are good. Those young ones about half grown or less are friars. The older larger ones are a bit greasy, but that can be cured by boiling the joker until meat is tender, and excess fat is cooked out. I have killed and eaten many here in old KY. Like mentioned before they also make good BBQ. Coons are good as well, and need to be fixed the same as the Groundhog. We also call them whistle pigs, woodchucks, and some choice names. Sadly the coyotes came in the late 70's and early 80's. They have flourished, and the groundhogs are nearly extinct around here now days. I have seen many an opossum up inside a dead cows belly rummaging around, and I ain't eating one of those.

Ditto on the 'possum, georgeky!!!! :D

we've still got a good many groundhogs in my neck of the woods....I've never eaten one but I'll have to keep it in mind

we've still got a good many groundhogs in my neck of the woods....I've never eaten one but I'll have to keep it in mindWhen I lived in NYS I saw lots of hunters who would work the pastures for woodchucks(Marmota monax is part of the squirrel family Sciuridae I've eaten a lot of squirrels) to provide meat for their families.

Hi all I just want to let you know that if you remove the glandsfrom under the armpits and remove as much of the fat as you can you will find that it will be good eating.You can cook it in a crockpot and add what ever you want . Or debone and cut in small chuncks and fried it with rice and add soysouce for flavor. or you can find orther wild game ways of cooking. I do this with the following woodchuck,coon,beaver,muskrat,possum,rabbit,squire l. Beaver is the best very lean. Enjoy.

Yes, I must say that beaver is the best. But you have to stick with the most fresh and cleanest available.:D