I have an interesting case where a groundhog has made a burrow under a deck with no real visible paths of ingress or egress. The homeowner pulled up some boards to show me. They filled it in with rocks only to have the rocks dug back out. I'm thinking of putting a 220 over the hole. Has anyone ever tried this and how did you secure it?

I'm thinking it may be a skunk in there as well. I'll set up a camera to check it out before I put a conibear over it.

Have not used a body grip per your question but I have caught a grey fox, a possum, a skunk and a groundhog in a foot hold trap in the same hole in the span of a week.

The groundhog was the only critter the LO had seen using the hole.

I plan on taking up a board tomorrow and setting up a trail camera. If I don't see a skunk for a few days, I'll set a 160 or 220 over the hole. Thanks

Not a good practice using a conibear against a house or very close to a home. If it is a skunk and it discharges some essence when captured it could be a bad deal for you. That is just one scenario. The size of the hole can reveal at times what is occupying it.

If you cannot set baited cage traps at or near its pathway you can block it down. Use some cardboard sections or boards to force the animal to go where you want. Or put a trail cam in front of or along the deck at the best angle and see where it is traveling. They use the same route daily unless harassed. GHogs are relatively easy to trap.

Double door blind set. As said before make him go where you want him to. Nose cone or fence

If a groundhog a bodygrip,foothold or snare will take it at the hole.
They will take skunk too but like said there is a chance of spraying.
If a skunk they are easy to cage and safe to move when covered.

If you have room to set a 220, you have room for a cage trap. If you exclude around the deck, you don’t have to know where it’s leaving. The animal will leave through the spot you left open for the trap.

so you said no sign
in the next you said sign

stick a cage in the area with no sign that the homeowner found for you

Any recommendations for a good cage trap for groundhogs?

We use mostly Safeguard traps pro model with rear release doors. 11" x 12" x 30" is our workhorse traps for adults and the 7" x 8" x 24" for juveniles and skunks. Covers for all sizes are used for all set ups. Reasonably priced, should last a lifetime. We also use Comstock traps in certain applications. They all work well.

Lure / Bait / gland lure is a sure catch with a clean trap in the Safeguards and other clean well-built traps. We save several traps for Ghog use only.

Tomahawks are good traps also, but we don't have any. Once we tooled up years ago, we haven't really needed to replace many traps. Minor maintenance or adjustments at times but that is normal with any equipment.

Even the havajunk traps will hold a groundhog.

Woodchucks aren’t going to tear traps up. Just about anything will work. We use double door Comstock’s on a positive set at the hole. 9x11x30 works well. The large swing panel will do a good job too. I find them harder to set though.

I use a 160 in a box. Open ended box, and he must crawl through to leave the hole. works perfect every time.

The problem with coni's over a hole is when expecting multiple catches. I typically use 3-5 cages surrounding the burrow, positive set. No bait or lure.

Thanks for all the good advice and guidance. I opted for my Comstock 9x11x30 flushmount door. I had to dig quite a bit and get it wedged in but after about 4 hours Phil was waiting for me.

Excellent! Simple, but effective!

Body grips over holes are illegal in my state.

As my wife describes me (sometimes)

Run into this often enough. I use sheet metal to cover the perimeter in little more than a couple of minutes, sheets of aluminum 12x32, larger or smaller, then use 18 inch T bar stakes angled ageists them to keep them solid, just enough so they stay in place. Leave an opening wide enough for a double door 9x 11 Comstock cage trap, 18, 24, 30 or 36 long will work.

A 220 might catch the neighbors dog and not work out well at all.