Groundhog (woodchuck)

Scientific name: Marmota monax

How weight is recorded: Whole weight

Field notes

Appearance

Stocky, robust rodent with a grizzled brown to reddish-brown coat and dark legs and feet. Adults are readily distinguished by their compact, squat body profile, small rounded ears, and large curved front incisors visible when mouth is open.

Size and weight

Adults weigh 1.4–2.7 kg (females typically smaller than males). Body length averages 40–67 cm including a short 10–15 cm tail.

Habitat

Groundhogs occupy open woodlands, field edges, pastures, and meadows with well-drained soil. They prefer areas with nearby burrow systems and require access to herbaceous vegetation and soft soil for digging.

Distribution

Found across eastern and central North America from the Great Lakes and New England south through the Appalachians to Alabama. They favor agricultural borders and forest edges across their range.

Diet

Primarily herbivorous, feeding on clover, alfalfa, grasses, and garden vegetables in spring and summer; shifts to bark, buds, and woody browse in fall and early season.

Behaviour

Diurnal and crepuscular, most active in early morning and late afternoon. Solitary and territorial; move between burrow systems and feeding areas, leaving well-worn trails. Highly alert and quick to retreat to burrows when threatened.

Hunting tips

Look for well-defined burrow entrances often 10–15 cm in diameter with mounded soil and worn grass trails leading to feeding areas. Fresh droppings and clipped vegetation are reliable sign; approach from downwind using terrain folds and tree lines. Early morning glassing of meadow edges yields sighting opportunities; stalk slowly toward feeding animals, keeping low to use natural cover.

Whole weight

This species is logged by whole weight — the animal weighed entire, as taken.

Where it is hunted

Listed as huntable in 2 countries in Huntify.

Names in other languages

These field notes are general species knowledge, not legal advice. Always check the current seasons, quotas and firearm rules where you hunt.