RE: woodchuck/gopher as tablefare
I don't know about eating them, but I have a ball with'em.
Take a small, ultra lite fishing pole, set the rod, reel by a chair, open the bail and take the line to a goffer hole 30-40 yards away. nuce the hole, and put something behind the hole so you know where it is. Go sit down with a beer, and wait, when he sticks his head out,, set the nuce.
Works well with woodchucks, ground squirls, and the like, but up the equp. on the bigger animals.