For some reason (unknown to me) my old standby Ground Hog bait is not working this year. Anyone have any ideas as to a good one??

Yes I do. It's called a two-door Comstock cage and it requires no bait. You can use it at active holes, where they are getting under fences, and even funnel them in on runways. I have never caught more woodchucks with anything else. Signed, Kirk DeKalb (maybe not)

Well I still catch more with bait than with out so My suggestion would be give a few bait makers a call and see what they have. there are a few on here.

* NHChris, Mr. Jonesie lives in NJ and I'm going to take a stab at this, but I'm willing to bet that he would love to sell you some woodchuck bait and ship it to you very quickly. ( Take my word for it, his bait is pretty good )

well I was thinking of Bob J LOL

I have good luck with Granny Smith apples ground into the back of a cage trap if I cant posi set them.

Priceless!

I have had a lot of success with Bob Jamisons formula #2.

You could use a rock as bait in a comstock...and catch a bunch.

Dave, quit telling them about our secret rock bait.

Can't top any of this stuff. I used to use apples for bait, regular Macs. Did quite well with them really. I think if I said anything now someone would say, we know already, I'm gonna puke. I still bring apples, but now I eat them.

I went shopping for a camper yesterday evening..while wating for the owner to show...I was rummaging around my truck bed and found a Granny Smith...GONE ! in a clinch Cheetos come out along with the grape jelly and peanut butter...it all works.... LOL..

Slightly OT but I get few ghog calls down here but like foolin w/ em.

ADC trappers, some of my friends, and myself have had good success with moldy cantaloupe. I also just got some lure for them, but I have yet to try it out.

when it comes to ground hogs, the time of year and the groundhog itself, all plays a role in baits and if they work or not. Here are a few things to think about.

First and foremost is the groundhog hungry? chances are no. oh sure when it come out of the den after a full night or in all day, it wants to eat, but really does it have to? Naw. think of it this way, you and your wife or husband or other, go out to dinner. do you just say bring me something to the server or do you look at the menu and pick, you pick and some times even when a person is real hungry, it still takes them forever to figure out what they want. That hog comes out of the den and there is a all you can eat and all you can pick from in front of them. clover, broad leave and narrow leaf grasses, flowers, fruit trees, hay, those lettuce looking things that grow in my yard that I have know idea what they are. anywho. you got the point, next look at the cage what is it? well it is a negative. they may not be afraid of it, but it is something that just appeared and has your stink on and around it. plus what ever else was in it. I also hear guys say My traps are clean, ok maybe, when you first put it down, but overnight the coon walked around it.. the grinner, the Dog or coyote came by and took a leak on it. the homeowner that has been chasing, throwing things, and just plain being a problem to the groundhog has walked around the trap 30 times trying to figure out what you are doing so they can do the same thing and not pay!!!!!!

I believe that a bait must be presented to the animal, to give it a reason to go into a trap. taste, smell and enticing. and also add sight attraction.
I have to give Pawpaw a kudo's as on one of the ground hog shows we did together, he told of using fake flowers as a sight attraction. so I try it, well I will tell ya it works. I put a lure on them that smell like either flowers, or apple or peach and hang them in the back of the trap.

I am writing an article right now for Eric on baiting, so just in case he uses it, I don't want to give too much here. But I am a firm believer that a professional adc man or woman needs to be able to do method wise whatever it takes. to not put himself into a rut as this is the only thing I do mind set. there are time for the force, and there are times for the bait.

I'm sure Ron makes a good lure and I'm going to buy some of it.
Also I am going to call Greg Smith from tomahawk and have him bring some Comstocks to furtakers to save shipping. Besides making the trap the smartest thing Jim ever did was getting a quality American company like to mass produce his idea. My grand children don't believe it but sharing sometimes makes more.
My main go to is Jamesons formula one, I take a chunk of it and add glycerin to make a trailing scent or he makes a very good one of those also. I will add some canelope, or cabbage sometimes a silk flower for eye appeal. When I do catch a ground hog I will save the droppings for future hogs.
My favorite if I am in a situation that allows if I am lucky enough to see him out I walk him to a hole then sit about 15 ft. from the hole with a suppressed M&P 22 pistol and within 1 minute he sticks his head out to look around. Well you know the rest.

Hey Dave K., Brooker uses silk flowers; do you think if we added a bouquet of roses to our rocks, that we would have more success?

I think "Jonesie" has something here. I had a pet hog and that thing eat about anything, LOVED Mayonnaise, you put it on anything and he would eat it. He also liked cereal anyting sweat.

Tom T, my dad raised hogs and they would eat absolutely everything, including the fence that kept them in. But, if I ever get a pet hog call, I will surely remember Mayonnaise.

Wink - Are you trying to attract a critter(s) to the trap? Or, are you setting a trap where the targeted animal will fall into it?

If you are trying to attract critters to the trap, then silk flowers would probably work much better than a rock. Usually, we do use bait...so a customer thinks we are doing something. It's hard for people to look at an empty trap and think that it is working.