metalbender
Veteran Member
No shooting allowed in the area? Here in Saskatchewan gopher shooting has been a summer pastime for many years. Used to go shoot at farms, 3-400 in a day was a good day.
Pocket Gopher Control
- Thread starter LindenBruce
- Start date
ericm979
Super Member
Our gophers are very shy about going out of their burrows. You can watch for hours and see nothing but the mound getting higher, if that. Shooting them would not be effective.
Poison is a bad idea because it will also poison the predators that eat gophers.
When I set cinch traps I leave the mound or run open. That seems to annoy the gopher who comes to close it up, if it's an active run. It certainly does not discourage them from checking it out.
Poison is a bad idea because it will also poison the predators that eat gophers.
When I set cinch traps I leave the mound or run open. That seems to annoy the gopher who comes to close it up, if it's an active run. It certainly does not discourage them from checking it out.
Torvy
Super Member
Opa's farm we had 3 type of gophers. Striped, flicker tail, and pocket. Pocket gophers, iirc, are more nocturnal, so it is hard to shoot them unless you have night vision.
We had fun popping the others with his old pump .22. Pocket gophers he got by trapping. Sometimes he would flood them out. Opa had a way of finding the entrance to the burrows. Seemed like magic when we were kids.
We had fun popping the others with his old pump .22. Pocket gophers he got by trapping. Sometimes he would flood them out. Opa had a way of finding the entrance to the burrows. Seemed like magic when we were kids.
Not EXACTLY sure what your 'pocket gopher' is. But: Woodchucks are susceptable to .223 Hornady. We have moles and voles that occasionally dig tunnels in the lawn. I take out my FLIR thermal camera at night and look for the hot spots. Then a 'frog spear' tends to discourage any further tunneling activity. When put on display on a fence post, a RedTailed hawk, buzzard, or Golden Eagle seems to appreciate the offering.
Torvy
Super Member
Technically, Stripers and Flicker tails are ground squirrels.
deserteagle71
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Nevada gophers must be different - they are completely nocturnal. Never see one out and about during the day.
Are you talking ground squirrels maybe? This is what one of our gophers looks like. This one was almost black but most are a grey/tan color.
Last edited:
the old grind
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Gas cartridges & vehicle exhaust don't do well in dry porous soils because of rapid dissipation. If soil is more dense, putting dry ice in entrances works for most all burrowing rodents. For nocturnally active pests place it during mornings and get 'em while they're sleeping. If pets won't nose into them (raccoons will, "gotcha!") Conibear 110s are great for ground squirrels, 160s for ground hogs. Place near entrances with bait on the trigger wires or across holes w/o.
Anchor bushel baskets, wash tubs, or five gal buckets over your surface-set traps to keep fido and fluffy from getting nipped. I've caught skunks, 'possum, feral cats, muskrats (one last week), red squirrels, chippies, and raccoon in the two traps-sizes I mentioned with appropriate sets. run you line daily and stake traps that predator might purloin when hauling you catch off to be eaten somewhere under cover
btw, when setting tunnel traps for moles I wire 'em loosely together in pairs to set facing opposite directions between mounds not knowing which way traffic goes. My best day was a double with an adult and a juvenile. When what you're doing doesn't seem to work right away, keep at it. Trapping requires patience and learning as you go.
Anchor bushel baskets, wash tubs, or five gal buckets over your surface-set traps to keep fido and fluffy from getting nipped. I've caught skunks, 'possum, feral cats, muskrats (one last week), red squirrels, chippies, and raccoon in the two traps-sizes I mentioned with appropriate sets. run you line daily and stake traps that predator might purloin when hauling you catch off to be eaten somewhere under cover
btw, when setting tunnel traps for moles I wire 'em loosely together in pairs to set facing opposite directions between mounds not knowing which way traffic goes. My best day was a double with an adult and a juvenile. When what you're doing doesn't seem to work right away, keep at it. Trapping requires patience and learning as you go.
OP
LindenBruce
Gold Member
Ok thanks guys. I have several Macabee traps I will try out. I usually have good success at flooding them out and my dog munches them down from there. I can't use baits or poisons due to my pets. I will try running a propane weed torch into a hole to see if that will flush them out.
The gopher are the common pocket gopher. Not squirrels. B.
The gopher are the common pocket gopher. Not squirrels. B.
Torvy
Super Member
True gophers like that are apparently nocturnal.
Fun fact: the University of Minnesota gopher mascot is actually a Striped ground squirrel.
@zzvyb6 That type of hardware is a bit much for a gopher. .22 lr is plenty. Heck, .177 air rifle will get them. .223 or .22-250 is more for Prairie Dogs put where I grew up.
Egon
Epic Contributor
Try a vacuum truck. Works well!