Long ago when I was kid, my great uncle (long since deceased) was using 30-06 on groundhogs that were eating his garden. I thought it was a good idea. You didn’t have wounded ones running back into their holes like if you shot them with a .22. He sold produce, so the were eating his profits.
I was helping out a farm in Tinton Falls NJ, ran across a woodchuck that had five furrows across its head.
Seems someone taged it at close range with a .22lr and it lived to tell the tale.
Left an impression on me.
I suggested the guy use a shotgun slug next time.
My buddy’s mom freaked out about the extermination of the ‘cute woodchucks’.