Pocket Gopher sniping?

Im sure this all sounds a bit crazy but Im a single guy with alot of spare time and patience.

I am in the process of buying a new home very soon and I have learned the area I am moving to is infested with these nasty creatures.. I do plan on trapping them to keep the population down but for fun/humor I thought I would try shooting them as well. I have an extremely accurate 10/22 target rifle that I plan to use as my weapon.

I know very little about pocket gophers other than what I have read online and talked to people about in the last few day's. It doesnt sound like they show there faces above ground to often and when they do it's only for a few seconds. I did just read an article written by a man who has had great success shooting them close to dawn and dusk when they tend to get a little more brave. He shoots them with a shotgun from 10-15 feet away. Im hoping to "Snipe" them from my deck or kitchen patio door up to 50 yards away.

have any of you had any luck shooting gophers or is it a pointless thing to try?
any way of ''baiting" them to come above ground?
is it even possible to see the things 50 yards away with the naked eye?
any tips at all?
t
thank you , jon

Pocket gophers aren't really gophers.....they're moles.

When I lived in Southern California we were plagued with gophers. Once in a while you would see one stick it's head out but that was a rare event. If you have lots of time you probably could snipe a few. The most effective way to get them is to trap them and that is a kind of science. I had a buddy back then that trapped them when he was a kid in Minnesota. He showed me a few tricks that I would be glad to share if you are interested. I know that the names of these critters tend to be regional but in So. Cal we had both pocket gophers and moles. The moles dug furrows that were visible from above ground while with the gophers you couldn't see the furrows, only the holes where they surfaced.
Charlie

On occasion, we could unearth them with smoke or water. Then the red rider would ring its death knell.

Moles have a tunnel that's visible from on the ground surface.

Gopher's handiwork is only visible at it's mounds.

Shooting gophers is not very practical as they push dirt ahead of them and are barely visible when you are right on top of them.

Trapping is much better. There is a new system however. It employs a mixture of oxygen and propane mixed in fairly exact proportions and discharged into their tunnel system. You (obviously) have to get a good connection with their tunnels .... not always easy and after a good number of seconds ......... ignite it.

One area rancher sent so much gas mix down a gopher's tunnel and was standing right on top of the "mother lode" that upon ignition ........ the concussion broke his ankle.

Another gentleman injected a tunnel in his yard ........ unknown to him, gas went into the crawl space of his house.

He lives in another home these days.

Two fellows light off a 200,000 acre grass fire up in Canada with one of these devices.

I have one of these units borrowed from my cousin and I have burned the hair off from one of my arms last summer doing long runs on ground squirrel tunnels.

Sometimes, too much fun is dangerous!

Three 44s

...Be easier to just get you a few yard cat's..lol..

Just get a pair of Jack Russell terriers and a big shovel to fill in the holes behind them. ;D

when i was a kid on my grandparents farm in SW minnesota they had gophers all along the driveway. i remember laying there for hours with my ruger 10/22 waiting for them to poke there little heads out. I don't recall how many i killed but do remember it sure was a hell of alot of fun! so yes if a kid can do it it can be done

we used to trap them when I was a kid in minnesota late 40s early 50s the county you were in used to pay for the feet so we made a bit of spending money got better when we realized that the next county was paying for the feet on the opposite end and I had a buddy that lived there so we got paid for the gophers twice can't trust them damn kids they are easy to trap just dig down where the little round mound is find the tunnel and put a trap in then cover the hole with cardboard etc and put dirt on so all the light is blocked again then check daily Fred

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kslefty

Just get a pair of Jack Russell terriers and a big shovel to fill in the holes behind them. ;D

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Can somebody cross some Jack Russel's with Rottweilers and go and get Osama Bin Hiden?


Three 44s

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kslefty

Just get a pair of Jack Russell terriers and a big shovel to fill in the holes behind them. ;D

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Hilarious, and yet, completely true! ;D

if you happen to see them working they toss dirt out of the hole making a mound around 3/4 of the hole. shooting into the ground where the body is will get them. you have to time it with a dirt discharge.

there are 2 types of common gopher in MN. pocket and striped.
the striped gopher will act like a prairie dog, standing raised in the hole or come out and run around in daylight. If you have no pets to worry about a simple "pan" trap left out side the hole will catch the nosey little bugger. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...springtrap.jpg

the pocket gopher, so named for the external cheek pockets they carry food in. while excavating there tunnels is mostly nocturnal, some times you will notice daytime activity. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...phermounds.jpg
trapping is the fastest, safest way. You need to dig down to the T intersection on a fresh mound. the tunnel will angle slightly down about 8" away from the U shaped pile of dirt. dig the trap down slightly so it is level or lower slightly from the main run. if they run into it before getting caught they will bury it. and abandon the run. that is also the reason for the cover over your excavation. use dirt to bury the edges of your cover, letting no light in.
another trap that works is the Death clutch. [img width=600 height=450]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v675/gcidso123/gophertrap.jpg[/img] those you use a garden trawl to dig out the opening large enough to insert the trap and leave the hole open inviting them to come close it.
If you want to keep your traps remember to stake them good. New oily traps are no good. toss them in a bucket of mud and let them season a bit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F98feDFu4KI

poison control... http://www.extension.umn.edu/info-u/farming/BC588.html

http://www.gopherguide.com/

Take wooden dowel and place in mound of dirt.
1 hour before dark, take lawn chair and place 15 yds or so away from mound, with nothing in backround.
Then take a good hunting mag or reloading book and sit in chair, keeping an eye on dowel every now and then.
When dowel starts to move, pick up previously loaded m1 garand, and blast the hell out of him. Make sure backround is safe!!!
Make sure you have bandalero of extra enbloc clips,slung over shoulder and chest, just in case.
This not only takes care of your gophers, it also keeps the neighbors away!
This actually works, with moles and their tunnels, rather effectively, but does work once in awhile with gophers, and always keeps neighbors away.
If all else fails, hire Bill Murrey, goes by Carl, he is a greens keeper at Bushwood, the golf course.
;D