Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Killing Idaho Pocket Gophers

I don't know which species we have in Idaho, but they're sure destructive little beasts. They can leave a pasture or field looking like a mine field. We have very few moles here but the gophers more than make up for them.

I have gotten a few packages of the smoke bombs to try out. I'll start on one corner with the smoke bombs them start on the other end with the dirt bike/hose method and do a little experiment.

I got out a for a little break yesterday afternoon in the foothills a few miles from my office. 3 for 3 on squirrels out to 150 yards with my Ruger #1V in .223 then my phone started ringing. When I use that rifle it seems to turn ground squirrels into bullet magnets!

The field in the video Okie posted was like a mogul field, and we bitch about woodchucks...

That field'd be a sight to see, an army of GS-2000's strewn about, jacked up on concrete blocks, all running simultaneously. LOL

I am away from home for awhile or I would take a picture of what I am trying to describe. It consists of three short pieces (about a foot each), and a tee fitting. You put bait poison into it, they eat the bait and go back underground and die. Here is a link to a similar set-up.

http://www.pesteducation.com/cdfiles/newmaster09/html/OutdoorVertPests_files/image036.jpg
Chances are your county agent has plans for these.

As far as the poison, I cannot remember the name of it, but it is a green colored bait and is more deadly than your normal rat/mouse poison, your local farm supply store should have it though.

I had the same problem with gophers (not ground squirrels), I built a bunch of these and put throughout the problem area near any where that was sign of gopher activity. It took a couple of years but I am gopher free now.

p.s. - I used 1-1/2 inch pvc rather that 4 inch as it shows in these plans.

drover

Had one in my yard last summer. He killed half my garden and one new sapling. Couldn't believe how much damage one animal could do. Trapped him first night, got lucky.

Trapped many of them on my grandparents farm when I was young. Once you get them knocked down you have to trap a few more each spring when they move around and reproduce.

We thought the best trap was the Death Clutch. Fits in the tunnel with minimal digging.

http://www.amazon.com/Gopher-Trap-Around-Children-Clutch/dp/B000UGTA14

Find the end mound, open the tunnel, and stick one of these in it. Cover the opening with grass and dirt or leave it open. Next day pull out a dead gopher and reset.

If there are some ambitious kids around offer them a bounty. My grandmother paid a quarter, but that was a long time ago.

Jerry