Problem Solving

Is It Legal to Kill a Groundhog?

Yes, in all five places we read, and in most of them on almost any day. Pennsylvania's 2026-27 groundhog season is closed only on Christmas Day. Virginia names the groundhog a nuisance species, and New York treats it as unprotected. What stops most backyard owners is not the wildlife law. It is the rule on where a gun may be fired.

Yes, in all five places we read. Pennsylvania's groundhog season runs every day of 2026-27 except December 25. Virginia has a continuous open season on private land. New York lets owners take one that is injuring their property "in any manner." Ohio needs no written permission. Ontario lets you act when one is damaging your property.

The calendar is rarely the problem. The gun is. Pennsylvania bars firing within 150 yards of anyone else's occupied house without that person's permission. New York sets the line at 500 feet. On a suburban lot, that usually rules out a firearm.

We read each place in its own rule text or on its wildlife agency's page. Smaller burrowers have their own page, is it legal to kill chipmunks, and so do raccoons, on is it legal to kill a raccoon.

What a groundhog is, and the words the rules use#

A groundhog and a woodchuck are the same animal, Marmota monax. Virginia's wildlife agency calls it "a large heavy-bodied rodent," 20 to 27 inches long and 5 to 10 pounds. It is in the squirrel family. Its burrows run 25 to 30 feet long and two to five feet deep. The rules use both names. Pennsylvania's season list says "WOODCHUCK (GROUNDHOG)." Virginia's rule says "Woodchuck (Marmota monax)." Ohio writes "woodchucks or groundhogs." So search your own state's rules for both words.

Four more terms decide the answer.

• Take means more than kill. Pennsylvania's Game Commission defines it as "to harass, pursue, hunt for, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, possess, or collect" wildlife, as quoted by Penn State. A rule that lets you take a groundhog covers the trap as well as the gun.
• Nuisance species is a legal label in Virginia. It covers a short list in the state code plus any species the wildlife board adds by regulation. It leaves out animals "classified as game or fur-bearing animals." The board has added the groundhog.
• Unprotected wildlife is New York's term for every wild animal the law does not protect by name. Its definition is one line: "all wildlife which is not 'protected wildlife'."
• Safety zone is Pennsylvania's word for the area around a building where you may not shoot. It is "the area within 150 yards around" any occupied house, barn or school playground.

The rules we read#

For a backyard, the "When you may kill one" column settles the wildlife question. The gun question comes later on this page.

All five allow it. None of the five says where you may fire a gun to do it.

Why the answers online disagree#

Two answers circulate. One says groundhogs are game animals in Pennsylvania, so you need a season. The other says they are pests, so you can shoot one whenever you like. Each is half right, and the half each one misses is the same.

The first is right that Pennsylvania runs a season. But the 2026-27 season covers 364 days with no limit, so the season almost never stops anyone. Virginia goes further and drops the season idea entirely. Its hunting rules say "Continuous open season on private lands."

The second is right about the calendar and wrong about the place. No wildlife rule we read lets anyone fire a gun near houses. That is a separate body of law, and it is stricter. So "any time" is close to true. "Anywhere" is not.

Does a groundhog under a feeder count as damage?#

It matters less than for other animals. Virginia's open season needs no damage. Ohio's rule, as far as we read it, sets no damage test. Pennsylvania's season makes damage irrelevant on every day but one. That leaves New York, Ontario and Pennsylvania on Christmas Day.

• Pennsylvania (outside the season): "personal property, other than an agricultural crop, is being destroyed or damaged."
• New York: the animal "is injuring their property or has become a nuisance thereon."
• Ontario: the province's page says "if the animal is causing damage to your property."

Birdseed eaten off the ground is a weak fit for "damage" in any of them. New York's "nuisance" is wider, and the law does not define it. A burrow fits far better. Virginia's agency lists what groundhogs damage: crops and gardens, "burrow holes and dirt mounds," and trees they gnaw or claw. A burrow under a shed or deck is a clear case. Chipmunk burrows raise the same question; see burrows, patios and foundations.

One groundhog walked through the rules#

Take a suburban yard in Pennsylvania. Suppose a groundhog has dug under the shed and grazes on the seed below the feeder. Suppose the nearest neighbor's house is 40 yards from where the owner would stand. That distance is chosen for the example. Here is what the rules ask, in order.

1. Is it in season? Yes, on any day of 2026-27 except December 25. There is no limit.
2. Is it damaging property? If the burrow is undermining the shed, 141.3 also lifts protection, for the owner, "in a humane and lawful manner."
3. Can the owner shoot? The owner is the "lawful occupant" of their own house, so their own zone does not bind them. The neighbor's zone does. 150 yards is 450 feet, and 40 yards is well inside it. The statute bars firing "for any reason" within someone else's zone. The one exception is "the specific advance permission of the lawful occupant."
4. Who has to agree? Every occupied house within 150 yards of the spot has its own zone. On a suburban street that can be a dozen houses. Each occupant would have to say yes first.
5. What about a bow? For properly licensed bow and crossbow hunters the zone shrinks to 50 yards around a house. At 40 yards the neighbor's house still blocks it.
6. And the town? Penn State adds that the discharge of firearms "may be regulated by municipality. Check your local ordinances."

So in this yard the season says yes and the gun says no. Now change one fact. Move the same yard to Ohio, and suppose the owner uses a cage trap instead.

1. Permission: none needed. Paragraph (E)(4) lists woodchucks among animals that need no written permission to kill.
2. Checking: the trap must be checked, and any animal removed, "once every calendar day," under (C)(1).
3. The clock: a person who is not licensed may not hold it "longer than twenty-four hours from the time of capture," under (A)(5).
4. The outcome: woodchucks "may be released or may be euthanized," under (E)(3)(c). Release onto anyone's land needs that landowner's permission.
5. Help: a neighbor may help but may not charge a fee unless licensed, and a trap in the neighbor's yard needs the neighbor's permission.

The trap route fits a suburban lot in a way the gun route does not.

Where you may fire is the real limit#

Every rule above answers whether you may take a groundhog. None of them says you may fire a gun in your neighborhood. These are the discharge rules we read.

Pennsylvania's rule, 34 Pa.C.S. 2505, is the one walked through above. It reaches anyone "other than the lawful occupant."

New York's rule, ECL 11-0931(4), bars a firearm within 500 feet of an occupied "dwelling house," farm building, school, church or other listed building. For a long bow the distance is 150 feet, and for a crossbow 250 feet. The exemption has a catch. The owner, family, employees and guests may fire near their own house. But nothing in the rule "shall be deemed to authorize such persons to discharge a firearm within five hundred feet" of "any other dwelling house." So there is no consent route for a neighbor's house.

Ohio's rule, Revised Code 2923.162, bars firing on "ground appurtenant to" an "inhabited dwelling," meaning the yard that goes with a house. It also bars firing on "the property of another." An owner firing on their "own enclosure" is exempt from that part. Firing "upon or over a public road or highway" is a first-degree misdemeanor. It becomes a felony if it created "a substantial risk of physical harm to any person."

Virginia's Code 15.2-1209 lets a county ban outdoor shooting in areas "so heavily populated as to make such conduct dangerous." The wildlife agency says to check city or county rules, because "local ordinances are usually more restrictive than state laws." How to find your own town's rules is under municipal and county ordinances.

Pennsylvania: a season of 364 days#

The Game Commission gave final approval to the 2026-27 seasons on April 11, 2026. The line reads: "WOODCHUCK (GROUNDHOG): July 1-Dec. 24 and Dec. 26-June 30, 2027. No limit." The season was "approved to remain open during the firearms deer season." Sundays are included.

Outside the season, the damage rule applies. 58 Pa. Code 141.3 removes protection from most wildlife "when personal property, other than an agricultural crop, is being destroyed or damaged." Big game, migratory birds and endangered species are left out. Only the owner or person in charge may act. The animal "may not be retained alive, sold or given away," and goes to the Commission if an officer calls for it. Subsection (b)(3) adds: "Wildlife taken alive may be relocated to a natural setting unless otherwise restricted or prohibited."

Penn State's landowner guide (updated August 31, 2016) has a table of lawful methods. For woodchucks it marks habitat changes, frightening, fumigants, live capture and shooting as lawful. Repellents, toxicants and kill trapping are not marked lawful. It also says: "Generally, live ammunition may only be fired during hunting season or under permit." For groundhogs, the season covers almost every day. The feeder side of the region is on bird feeding in the Northeast.

Virginia: a nuisance species#

Virginia's rule is 4VAC15-20-160, last amended effective January 1, 2026. "The board hereby designates the following species as nuisance species." The mammals are the house mouse, Norway rat, black rat, coyote, feral hog, nutria and "Woodchuck (Marmota monax)."

The Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) puts it plainly: "A kill permit from DWR is not required." It lists the groundhog as a "Nuisance Species" with a "continuous open season." Its hunting rules say the open season is on private land. On National Forest and DWR lands, the season is shorter.

Landowners need no license on their own land. Code 29.1-301(A) exempts "landowners, their spouses, their children and grandchildren," and the landowner's parents. The exemption covers hunting and trapping "within the boundaries of their own lands." The same DWR page sets the limit on a live one: "It is illegal in Virginia to trap and relocate an animal to another area." More on the region: bird feeding in the Southeast.

New York: unprotected, any manner#

New York's law never names the woodchuck, and that is the point. Its list of "small game" in ECL 11-0103 leaves woodchucks out. "Protected wildlife" means game, protected birds and insects, and listed species. Everything else is unprotected. Cornell's pest management program lists woodchucks among New York's unprotected mammals.

ECL 11-0523 has clauses for skunks, raccoons and squirrels, but none for woodchucks. They fall under subdivision 1. Owners, lessees and their families "actually occupying or cultivating lands" may take "unprotected wildlife other than birds." The test is that it "is injuring their property or has become a nuisance thereon." That "may be done in any manner." It applies "notwithstanding any provision of the Fish and Wildlife Law" or "the Penal Law or any other law." Subdivision 8 says no license or permit is needed.

The live animal is the limit. Cornell: "An unprotected animal can be released on the same property where it was captured or must be killed and buried or cremated."

The gun is harder to call. The 500-foot rule sits in the Fish and Wildlife Law, and 11-0523(1) applies "notwithstanding" that law. We found no agency page or court ruling that reads the two together. Cornell says owners may take unprotected species as long as other laws are not broken. Its examples include "firearm discharge ordinances." Plan on the 500 feet. Regional feeding: the Northeast.

Ohio: no permission, 24 hours#

Ohio's nuisance wild animal rule, Admin. Code 1501:31-15-03, took effect January 1, 2024. Killing a nuisance animal that cannot be live-trapped usually takes written permission from the Division of Wildlife. But "No such written permission is required to kill or use lethal means of control" for the animals in (E)(4). "Woodchucks" is item (m).

Paragraph (H)(6) has trap rules written for woodchucks alone:

• No body-gripping trap with a jaw spread over seven inches.
• A body-gripping trap must sit within three feet of "the hole, or structure the woodchuck is inhabiting."
• For anyone unlicensed, a body-gripping trap over five inches needs an enclosure "which prohibits other animals from getting into the trap from the outside."
• Snares need a relaxing lock and a stop.

The general limits from the worked example still apply. No one unlicensed may sell or give away a live one. An animal too injured to function normally must be euthanized, not released. Regional feeding: the Midwest.

Ontario: in none of the schedules#

Ontario sorts its wildlife into 11 schedules under O. Reg. 669/98. Five list furbearers and game. Six list specially protected species. The woodchuck is on none of them.

So the province's general rule decides. Its guidance page was updated December 15, 2025. "You don't need a permit to scare away, capture and relocate or kill most wild animals, if the animal is causing damage to your property." Only some species have their own rules: endangered species, moose, deer, elk, black bear, wolves and coyotes.

The conditions are the same as for any animal. Release a live one "within 1 kilometre of where they were captured" and "within 24 hours," and onto private land only with the landowner's permission. Take no more "than is necessary to protect your property." Stay on your own land, and "follow all municipal by-laws." Killing is "a last resort." You "must not cause unnecessary suffering."

Only certain people may act for you, such as a licensed trapper or your immediate family. A wildlife removal business may capture and release but not kill. Feeder by-laws in Canadian towns are on are bird feeders illegal in Canada.

Moving it instead#

A live trap feels like the gentle way out, but moving the animal is often the harder road. The table above has each place's rule, and Virginia bans it outright. The rules for other animals are on squirrel relocation laws. A trap on the ground also catches other animals, ground-feeding birds included, which is why Ohio wants an enclosure around larger woodchuck traps. Check any trap daily; the same problem comes up with house sparrow traps.

What works without killing anything#

Before removing any animal, Ontario says to "remove food attractants." Its list names "bird feed/seed." A groundhog under a feeder is eating what reached the ground. A catch tray from ground feeders and catch trays and a mix from no-mess and hull-free blends take that away. The cleanup routine is in seed mess, hulls and dead grass.

For a garden, Virginia's agency gives the fence. Make it at least three feet high. Sink it one to two feet underground, since groundhogs dig. If they climb, add a one-foot extension at the top, bent outward at 90 degrees. Clear fallen fruit around trees.

Spilled seed draws rats and mice too, covered on rodents under bird feeders, and some cities fine a feeder that does; see bird feeder rat ordinances. One timing clue: Virginia's agency says groundhogs are seen "in the early morning or late afternoon" in warm months. They hibernate from October to February. Seed that vanishes overnight, or in midwinter, points to another animal; the diagnosis is in my feeder empties overnight.

Where this page stops applying#

This page reads four states and one province, not fifty states and thirteen provinces and territories. Other places differ. Search your wildlife agency's site for "nuisance wildlife" or "woodchuck" before you act. Pennsylvania's dates are for 2026-27 only. Ontario we read through the province's guidance page and its schedules, not the Act itself. We did not read Ohio's definition of "nuisance wild animal." No source we found settles whether New York's 500-foot rule binds a taking under 11-0523. We did not check how each place treats air guns. Nothing here covers humane methods, which traps suit the job, or hunting licenses beyond Virginia's landowner rule. If an animal is stumbling, foaming at the mouth or aggressive, Virginia's agency says to call your local health department, since those are "signs of rabies." This is a reading of statutes, regulations and agency guidance, not legal advice.