When I was a kid we use to ground hog hunt with dogs and a shovel. We would take my uncles dogs. Blackie a small squirrel hunting dog that would flat hunt anything and was tough as leather. And Rover a husky built plot hound that was lacking in hunting skills but would tear up coons,possums,and ground hogs if he could get to them. Well blackie would sniff around the holes til she found one then we would start digging. We would have to hold Blackie back while we dug to keep from hitting him. We finally dig down close and let Blackie loose. She get down there and fight and pull the ground hog out then Rover would dive in and finish it off. Old blackie sure would get excited when we would get the shovels and tell her to get in the truck.