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

I have been fighting a losing battle against hordes of pocket gophers in my hay field. Last year I trapped over a hundred of the little beggars. These are not the ground squirrels that come out and play. No, these guys burrow and make mounds and won't come out to play, so firearms are pretty much useless.

I have been watching mounds pop up all over the place and formulating my battle plan. The traps I have been using are OK, but it takes a long time to find the tunnel, then set the trap, then check it, then re-set the percentage that are buried. Here is a picture of the kind of trap I have been using.


I only have a half dozen of these and they are up to around $14 per now. So here is the new plan.

I have a Kawasaki KDX200, which is a two stroke dirt bike. I got a piece of hose that fits pretty snug into the tailpipe. I also have a Yamaha WR426 4 stroke but it's tail pipe runs much hotter, hot enough to melt the hose, and I doubt it puts out the CO that a two stroke generates. The plan is to park the bike by a hole, find the tunnel, put the hose in, let the bike idle, and gas the little buggars. Anyone have any experience with this? Was it effective? How long do you need to gas them?

Thanks!

How big are the holes? Do they have a second entrance? If so, gassing them may not do much good. Maybe use a garden hose, then be ready with some snake shot when they exit the flooded tunnels. Or maybe get a pet ferret? YMMV

There are multiple "entrances" but they are all blocked with mounds of dirt. They hate open holes because that is how snakes can get in and eat them. Most holes are around 3" in diameter. And dragging a hose around over 8 acres is not really practical.

Ever try smoke bombs?



http://www.homedepot.com/p/AMDRO-Gopher-Gasser-6-Pack-100508233/203031283

I've had the best luck with wooden box traps. However, it's a trick to find the hole and it takes time.

My grandpa used to run a hose off the car exhaust down the hole.

CO sinks so it should work, definitely worth a try.

If you have a tractor, or access to one - google "Burrow Builder"
We use one that builds burrows, and dribbles poisoned grain in the tunnels built. When a gopher runs into the fake burrow, he'll find poisoned grain within just a few feet, and never surface again.
We've not eliminated them, but controlled them enough that cutting hay is MUCH easier.

I have spent all of my sixty years on an Idaho farm, and spent much of that time battling gophers in corrugated alfalfa fields.

A few goghers can cost many tons of hay when they make irrigation difficult to impossible.

My favorite way to kill goghers is a good heeler dog, or presently a jack russel. Run irrigation water into a burrow. The dog will get the little bastard when he comes out for air.

Second choice: Phos-toxin. This is aluminum-phosphide pellets which in the presence of water vapor produce Phosgene gas. It is a restricted use pesticide and requires an applicator's permit to purchase.

Third choice: traps I grew up watching Dad set Victor leg grab traps. That is more art than science, and I never had much success with them despite years of coaching from Dad.

I prefer the spring clench trap similar to the one you pictured, but with out the steel pan. I will open a burrow and set a trap both directions.

My Grandma used the traps like you showed with much success.

Dad, in his later years came to prefer the Con-a-bear.

Fourth choice: When one comes across the enevitable PIA gopher which repeatedly buries the trap, I have used the sulfer dioxide smoke bombs with some success, if I can isolate the gogher to a limited portion of his burrow system.

Last resort: google gophernator. A device which feeds a mixture of propane and oxygen into the burrow and then remotely detonates it.

This must be done with some discretion. It is a bit uncomfortable to trigger the ignitor if you happen to be standing a straddle of the burrow. And it should only be used in the total absence of flammable fuels. One does not want to burn up several hundred acres of his neighbors wheat field or house, barns, and implements.

I do remember my Dad and Grandparents laughing at neighbors seen running a hose from the tractor exhaust into a gopher burrow.

Furnish the traps and offer a flat rate fee to and industrious youngster. Works well in this neighborhood.

I've never seen a trap like you pictured. I always used the McAbee type of trap. Always had a dozen or so hanging in the barn.
However, I don't think trapping will ever get you ahead of them at this point if you really have enough of a problem to where they are causing production loss.
So at this point, your only economical solution would be to go after them by mechanical means with the use of a gopher bait applicator such as this.
http://www.inventiveagproducts.com

Usually in hay growing areas there are custom applicators that will evaluate the problem and apply bait as needed.

the only practical control if you got much acreage is a gopher getter machine like Mark Shubert and Kenlguy mentioned .....run that thru the field about every 30 to 50 feet (spring and fall) and you will get them under control


trapping will work , but it takes alot of time and manpower

Second best answer:

Everyone enjoys a good BOOM!

Third best answer:

Better than playing video games!

But the first best answer is go ALL caddy shack on the little bastards!

They can really raise hell with a flood irrigated field but sprinklers have largely solved that part of the problem.

I've had the best luck with the red box traps. However, it takes time to locate the hole to set them, more time than a farmer usually has to spare. A 2' piece of thin rod to use as a probe helps a lot finding the burrow.

We had gophers pretty bad in the pastures when I was a kid. Started out using Victor gopher traps, in an attempt to control them. It helped, but it didnt get them all, by no means.

Then we started using poison seeds. Had a tool that the seeds went in the handle, pointed on the end (so you could stick it in the ground and find the tunnel). Once you found the tunnel, you twisted a lever on the top of the handle and a pre-measured amount of seeds were discharged. This is how we finally got them under control.

The same man that made the 'T' tool for dispensing the seeds, made a dispenser that fit a tractors 3 pt. hitch. You went around you fields, and then thru them every 50' or so, laying poison seeds underground. They say this worked pretty good.

We never got one of the 3 pt hitch contraptions... Dad said us boys had plenty of time after school to run the traps and put out seeds with the 'T' handle.

Introducing the GS-2000

[video:youtube]9DR2ixa6sP4[/video]

We have a different brand than this one but they work basically the same. Two neighbors and I went in and bought it together at the time it was only about $700 or so. Three point mounted gopher killing.

flex pipe works better than hose.

Okie,
I just looked up the Verminator and found this description. I'd never heard of these before.



Ferocious little buggers. Ha!

Fur that never gets dirty... There's got to be a market for that.