Rewrote large parts of this and wanted to repost - hope that's alright.
Gopher Hunting Tips and Techniques
Several years ago I was happily mowing the back yard on my riding mower when I hit a gopher mound. The blade of the mower hurled a small rock 25 yards through one of the windows of my sun room. The $600 repair bill caused me to declare war on the Evil Gopher Empire. When I started examining my yard (which encompasses several acres) and adjacent horse pastures closely I found dozens of gopher mounds and feed holes.
Since then I’ve spent a lot of time hunting gophers, testing several techniques and guns. For each of the approximately 150 exterminations I’ve logged the date, time, weather conditions (temperature and cloud cover), soil moisture level, and type (feed hole or mound) in order to determine what factors affect gopher behavior more than others. The goal is to utilize this information to optimize the time spent gopher hunting. These observations were made in Southern Oregon, so your mileage may vary. This article is aimed at compiling that information into useful tips and techniques for new gopher hunters.
THE QUARRY
I embarked upon a mission to rid my yard of the pesky creatures, which I knew little about. The first task was to identify my foe, which turned out to be a Western Pocket Gopher (Thomomys mazama). They come in various shades of brown, sometimes with black streaks. Around here they grow to about the size of a hot dog bun, although in the spring you may come across mouse size youngsters. And they dig – a lot. Their mounds are generally small crescent moons about the size of a neck pillow, but can occasionally grow much larger. They also create feed holes that allow access to the grass for food, and air holes. The experts say they come out at night and frolic in the grass, but I’ve never seen one more than an inch or two from his hole.
There is a documentary called “Super Mole” that runs on one of the DishNetwork High Definition channels once in a while. It provides a fascinating look at one of the cousins of the gopher, and provides some insight into their lives. They took X-rays of the mole while it was digging and it looked as if they were swimming through the soil. It also showed how they avoided asphyxiation when car exhaust was plugged into the hole (as is sometimes suggested as a remedy.)
Regardless of the species you hunt, the key to success is being in the right place at the right time. This is especially true when hunting gophers, as their habits change from season to season and they only expose themselves for seconds at a time. There are two factors that seem to influence the times that gophers are active above ground more than any other; sunlight and ambient air temperature.
The vast majority of my successful gopher hunts took place when the air temperature was between 45 and 60 degrees. It seems that any great variance from the soil temperature where they live makes them uncomfortable. Here in Southern Oregon that means that the best hunting period is from late October to mid-May, though it’s a little slow during December and January when it’s often colder than ideal. During the summer they come out later at night to avoid the heat of the day.
Gophers prefer the cover of darkness, but can often be found at dusk and dawn before the sun gets too bright. In winter when the sun is low, they will come out at any time of day. Only rarely will they do that during other seasons unless there is heavy cloud cover. We are lucky here in that we have a mountain to our west which provides an extra hour of twilight, extending the productive hunting time. At certain times of the year you can be successful very early in the morning, but as the sun rises and it gets lighter the chances of success diminish. The best time to hunt gophers is the hour or two of twilight before dark, when the temperatures are within the parameters described above.
When you get them above ground, gophers can be mean critters. They have long incisor teeth and could certainly do some damage if they got hold of you or your dog. A friend of mine destroyed a gopher nest while grading our horse arena. One gopher actually attacked the Cat dozer. The Cat eventually won, but the gopher displayed impressive determination.
EQUIPMENT
There are many options to get rid of these pests. Many people recommend trapping. That just seems like a lot of work to me, what with the digging and covering of the traps. The Rodenator appears to be the most entertaining way to rid your yard of gophers, however, the $2000 price tag will deter all but the most well heeled gopher fighters. I refuse to use poison, not only because of the slow and painful death it causes the targeted creature, but also the unintended secondary effect it may have upon birds and other animals eating the carcass of the deceased gopher. Cats are reputed to be good gopher hunters, but we don’t have any. My dog would catch an occasional gopher, but nowhere near enough to eliminate my infestation. I’ve tried using a hose to flush them out (with the dog standing by for backup), but that seems to work only about 5% of the time. I needed something more reliable. My friend tells me that he shoots gophers with a .30-378 Weatherby Magnum; aims low and blows them right out of the ground. I figured that was overkill. However, it provided the inspiration to hunt the creatures, and a perfect excuse to purchase more guns and gear.
In my initial zeal to conquer the gophers I spent over $3000 on a state-of-the-art night vision scope (though they have come down in cost quite a bit since then), mounting it on a Marlin 717 (.17 Mach 2). I was a bit naïve at that time, thinking they only came out at night (which was actually true at that time of the year). The problem I encountered was that the scope sat 3.5” inches above the bore line of the barrel. This would not be an issue if you were targeting terrorists in the sand box at 100 yards. But when aiming at a gopher ten feet away you have to aim 3” over his head (which is about all you ever see). That turned out to be easier said than done, and I abandoned the NVD after only modest results. It’s now been re-assigned to locate skunks at night.
Once I discovered that gophers also come out during twilight hours, I turned to my spectacularly accurate and effective ground squirrel gun (a Marlin 917vss in .17 HMR). The scope on that rifle only extends 1.5” above the bore line. It should be noted here that gopher hunting is best done from 6 to 10 feet away from your target, otherwise they are largely obscured by vegetation. Occasionally you will get a shot at 20’ or more - my farthest kill was from 40 yards - however, those long shots are very rare. More often than not all you see is some brown hair moving between the blades of grass or, if you’re lucky, the entire head which is the size of a golf ball. In addition to having to aim high, the other problem with using a scope on gophers is that most will not focus at such close distances.
Eventually, disappointed with the 20% miss ratio with the squirrel gun due to these factors, I purchased a 20 gauge Remington 870 youth model shot gun. No scope. Once I adjusted to the bead sight, my success rate is now virtually 100%. I feel this is the ultimate gopher gun. It’s light and easy to carry in the field, and it’s forgiving if your aim is slightly off. The 7-1/2 shot Federal Multi-Purpose Load (available at your local Box-Mart) does the trick nicely. From 20’ it patterns about 5” across, perfect for our purposes. It doesn’t take many pellets to put them down. I’m fairly confident I’ve never wounded one.
TECHNIQUES
Gophers have poor vision, but are extremely sensitive to movement. I’ve had several spot me approaching at over 30 yards. Once they get spooked they will disappear in their holes, usually for about 45 minutes. On the other hand, if you keep still you can get extremely close. My Rottweiler caught about two gophers a year by standing over their feed holes with her slobbery, breathy mouth just inches from the hole. Once they came out to feed she would snag them.
They don’t seem to be particularly sensitive to stepping around their holes, sound, or the smell of humans (or dog breath for that matter). I normally wear camouflage when I hunt gophers, so I can’t say how sensitive they are to color. Any muted colors that basically match your background should be fine - I would avoid wearing bright colors.
I’ve never heard any audible sound coming from a gopher, so you will have to rely upon visual identification of their fresh holes in order to catch them. It is important to know your environment intimately. During the hour or two before dark, patrol your zone several times. Look for any new mounds or feed holes, or the tell-tale twitching of foliage indicating that a gopher is feeding or digging. It’s important to scan the horizon as well as the ground at your feet to be sure you spot them before they see you approaching. Look for new mounds in the distance and approach warily, freezing when they are above ground. Often you can’t even see a feed hole until you are standing over top of it. I’ve found that they can detect movement unless they are looking directly away from you (it may seem obvious, but their eyes are mounted on the sides of their heads and they have excellent peripheral vision).
Fresh mounds can almost always be distinguished by the color and moisture content of dirt. The fresh digs will normally be darker or lighter than the older mounds as they excavate soil from the ground. About 60% of my gopher kills have been from mounds, and the other 40% from feed holes. It is somewhat easier to detect and shoot a gopher while it is building a mound. When you come across a feed hole, more often than not they are not feeding at that time. Hunting gophers requires patience; sometimes lots of it. Occasionally you will get a serendipity moment when you happen upon a gopher feeding or digging and you can dispatch him immediately. More often though you will have to wait - I’ve waited over an hour for High Priority Targets. Sometimes I pull up a lawn chair or 5 gallon bucket and just enjoy the fresh air and scenery, and revel in the fact that I don’t live in the city while I wait for the critters to appear.
Generally, once they start digging a mound, they will continue until it is finished and plug the hole. That usually takes anywhere from fifteen minutes to two hours. On rare occasions I’ve seen them take two days to finish a mound. And one fellow must have missed a day at gopher school; he kept excavating the same hole every night for weeks. The single mound ended up being nearly 18” high and four feet across.
Upon encountering a feed hole, I will wait for about five or ten minutes. If they don’t come out in that time I will scout others and come back to it. The timing is more art than science. If you leave to search out other holes, they sometimes will come out while you are gone. On the other hand you may locate better prospects elsewhere. I make a mental note of the appearance of each hole before leaving it. Note the location of the rocks and grass and mound shape so when you return you can tell if there has been any activity in your absence.
Sometimes you can identify several feed holes an hour or so before dusk. I bring a pocketful of used shotgun hulls and drop them on the lawn at the best observation points so they are easy to relocate as I move between them. Then, when it gets dark enough, they often all come out around the same time and you can move from hole to hole. On several occasions I’ve shot four gophers in twenty minutes using this technique.
Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of their actual behavior in their rare above ground appearances, and the best techniques for targeting them. Rule number one is never let them see movement! If you are walking up on a gopher, or waiting at a feed hole or mound, you must freeze immediately when they come out. They will only stay above ground for moments. Invariably they will dart back in their holes as if to practice for emergency evasion. Countless times I have stood just feet from a gopher as he feeds or creates a mound. While mounding they will push the dirt out from the hole, sometimes with impressive force spraying the dirt like a wave crashing on the rocks. I’ve only seen them fully out of their hole when creating mounds. When feeding they will only come out far enough to munch on the closest greenery for a few seconds and disappear back into their burrow. A few seconds or minutes later they will repeat the process. I can’t tell you how long this behavior goes on, because the second time they do it is usually the last. The third and last type of above ground behavior I have noticed is sentry duty. I once saw a gopher get his head and front feet out of the hole and rotate 360 degrees like a periscope. This went on for more than 30 seconds. This was an exception to the norm; mounding gophers will often stick their head out for five to ten seconds to check for anything higher on the food chain before exposing themselves by excavating.
When they retreat back down in the hole you can advance, take your weapon off safe, and take aim. If they didn’t see movement, they will usually be back seconds or minutes later. Then it’s up to you!
EPILOGUE
I occasionally feel a bit sheepish about spending so much time on a relatively insignificant endeavor. On the other hand, there's not much I can think of that I'd rather be doing. It's relaxing, and I get enjoyment and serenity from being outside in the fresh air, and out of the house (it should be noted that I’ve been married for 24 years). It’s good exercise and certainly beats medication.
Unfortunately there is not a happy ending to this story. Three years after the discovery of my gopher problem, I have eradicated about 150 of them. However, they apparently reproduce rapidly or in great numbers, because I have just as many active gophers now as I did when I started. At one point I thought I had them on the run, but this spring after the young ones were turned out on their own, there are new mounds everywhere. Gopher hunting with a gun can be effective if you have a small yard or just a few gophers. Once they are established in a larger yard like mine, it’s going to take a lot of dedication to win the war.
© T Wilson, 2008
Gopher Hunting Tips and Techniques
Several years ago I was happily mowing the back yard on my riding mower when I hit a gopher mound. The blade of the mower hurled a small rock 25 yards through one of the windows of my sun room. The $600 repair bill caused me to declare war on the Evil Gopher Empire. When I started examining my yard (which encompasses several acres) and adjacent horse pastures closely I found dozens of gopher mounds and feed holes.
Since then I’ve spent a lot of time hunting gophers, testing several techniques and guns. For each of the approximately 150 exterminations I’ve logged the date, time, weather conditions (temperature and cloud cover), soil moisture level, and type (feed hole or mound) in order to determine what factors affect gopher behavior more than others. The goal is to utilize this information to optimize the time spent gopher hunting. These observations were made in Southern Oregon, so your mileage may vary. This article is aimed at compiling that information into useful tips and techniques for new gopher hunters.
THE QUARRY
I embarked upon a mission to rid my yard of the pesky creatures, which I knew little about. The first task was to identify my foe, which turned out to be a Western Pocket Gopher (Thomomys mazama). They come in various shades of brown, sometimes with black streaks. Around here they grow to about the size of a hot dog bun, although in the spring you may come across mouse size youngsters. And they dig – a lot. Their mounds are generally small crescent moons about the size of a neck pillow, but can occasionally grow much larger. They also create feed holes that allow access to the grass for food, and air holes. The experts say they come out at night and frolic in the grass, but I’ve never seen one more than an inch or two from his hole.
There is a documentary called “Super Mole” that runs on one of the DishNetwork High Definition channels once in a while. It provides a fascinating look at one of the cousins of the gopher, and provides some insight into their lives. They took X-rays of the mole while it was digging and it looked as if they were swimming through the soil. It also showed how they avoided asphyxiation when car exhaust was plugged into the hole (as is sometimes suggested as a remedy.)
Regardless of the species you hunt, the key to success is being in the right place at the right time. This is especially true when hunting gophers, as their habits change from season to season and they only expose themselves for seconds at a time. There are two factors that seem to influence the times that gophers are active above ground more than any other; sunlight and ambient air temperature.
The vast majority of my successful gopher hunts took place when the air temperature was between 45 and 60 degrees. It seems that any great variance from the soil temperature where they live makes them uncomfortable. Here in Southern Oregon that means that the best hunting period is from late October to mid-May, though it’s a little slow during December and January when it’s often colder than ideal. During the summer they come out later at night to avoid the heat of the day.
Gophers prefer the cover of darkness, but can often be found at dusk and dawn before the sun gets too bright. In winter when the sun is low, they will come out at any time of day. Only rarely will they do that during other seasons unless there is heavy cloud cover. We are lucky here in that we have a mountain to our west which provides an extra hour of twilight, extending the productive hunting time. At certain times of the year you can be successful very early in the morning, but as the sun rises and it gets lighter the chances of success diminish. The best time to hunt gophers is the hour or two of twilight before dark, when the temperatures are within the parameters described above.
When you get them above ground, gophers can be mean critters. They have long incisor teeth and could certainly do some damage if they got hold of you or your dog. A friend of mine destroyed a gopher nest while grading our horse arena. One gopher actually attacked the Cat dozer. The Cat eventually won, but the gopher displayed impressive determination.
EQUIPMENT
There are many options to get rid of these pests. Many people recommend trapping. That just seems like a lot of work to me, what with the digging and covering of the traps. The Rodenator appears to be the most entertaining way to rid your yard of gophers, however, the $2000 price tag will deter all but the most well heeled gopher fighters. I refuse to use poison, not only because of the slow and painful death it causes the targeted creature, but also the unintended secondary effect it may have upon birds and other animals eating the carcass of the deceased gopher. Cats are reputed to be good gopher hunters, but we don’t have any. My dog would catch an occasional gopher, but nowhere near enough to eliminate my infestation. I’ve tried using a hose to flush them out (with the dog standing by for backup), but that seems to work only about 5% of the time. I needed something more reliable. My friend tells me that he shoots gophers with a .30-378 Weatherby Magnum; aims low and blows them right out of the ground. I figured that was overkill. However, it provided the inspiration to hunt the creatures, and a perfect excuse to purchase more guns and gear.
In my initial zeal to conquer the gophers I spent over $3000 on a state-of-the-art night vision scope (though they have come down in cost quite a bit since then), mounting it on a Marlin 717 (.17 Mach 2). I was a bit naïve at that time, thinking they only came out at night (which was actually true at that time of the year). The problem I encountered was that the scope sat 3.5” inches above the bore line of the barrel. This would not be an issue if you were targeting terrorists in the sand box at 100 yards. But when aiming at a gopher ten feet away you have to aim 3” over his head (which is about all you ever see). That turned out to be easier said than done, and I abandoned the NVD after only modest results. It’s now been re-assigned to locate skunks at night.
Once I discovered that gophers also come out during twilight hours, I turned to my spectacularly accurate and effective ground squirrel gun (a Marlin 917vss in .17 HMR). The scope on that rifle only extends 1.5” above the bore line. It should be noted here that gopher hunting is best done from 6 to 10 feet away from your target, otherwise they are largely obscured by vegetation. Occasionally you will get a shot at 20’ or more - my farthest kill was from 40 yards - however, those long shots are very rare. More often than not all you see is some brown hair moving between the blades of grass or, if you’re lucky, the entire head which is the size of a golf ball. In addition to having to aim high, the other problem with using a scope on gophers is that most will not focus at such close distances.
Eventually, disappointed with the 20% miss ratio with the squirrel gun due to these factors, I purchased a 20 gauge Remington 870 youth model shot gun. No scope. Once I adjusted to the bead sight, my success rate is now virtually 100%. I feel this is the ultimate gopher gun. It’s light and easy to carry in the field, and it’s forgiving if your aim is slightly off. The 7-1/2 shot Federal Multi-Purpose Load (available at your local Box-Mart) does the trick nicely. From 20’ it patterns about 5” across, perfect for our purposes. It doesn’t take many pellets to put them down. I’m fairly confident I’ve never wounded one.
TECHNIQUES
Gophers have poor vision, but are extremely sensitive to movement. I’ve had several spot me approaching at over 30 yards. Once they get spooked they will disappear in their holes, usually for about 45 minutes. On the other hand, if you keep still you can get extremely close. My Rottweiler caught about two gophers a year by standing over their feed holes with her slobbery, breathy mouth just inches from the hole. Once they came out to feed she would snag them.
They don’t seem to be particularly sensitive to stepping around their holes, sound, or the smell of humans (or dog breath for that matter). I normally wear camouflage when I hunt gophers, so I can’t say how sensitive they are to color. Any muted colors that basically match your background should be fine - I would avoid wearing bright colors.
I’ve never heard any audible sound coming from a gopher, so you will have to rely upon visual identification of their fresh holes in order to catch them. It is important to know your environment intimately. During the hour or two before dark, patrol your zone several times. Look for any new mounds or feed holes, or the tell-tale twitching of foliage indicating that a gopher is feeding or digging. It’s important to scan the horizon as well as the ground at your feet to be sure you spot them before they see you approaching. Look for new mounds in the distance and approach warily, freezing when they are above ground. Often you can’t even see a feed hole until you are standing over top of it. I’ve found that they can detect movement unless they are looking directly away from you (it may seem obvious, but their eyes are mounted on the sides of their heads and they have excellent peripheral vision).
Fresh mounds can almost always be distinguished by the color and moisture content of dirt. The fresh digs will normally be darker or lighter than the older mounds as they excavate soil from the ground. About 60% of my gopher kills have been from mounds, and the other 40% from feed holes. It is somewhat easier to detect and shoot a gopher while it is building a mound. When you come across a feed hole, more often than not they are not feeding at that time. Hunting gophers requires patience; sometimes lots of it. Occasionally you will get a serendipity moment when you happen upon a gopher feeding or digging and you can dispatch him immediately. More often though you will have to wait - I’ve waited over an hour for High Priority Targets. Sometimes I pull up a lawn chair or 5 gallon bucket and just enjoy the fresh air and scenery, and revel in the fact that I don’t live in the city while I wait for the critters to appear.
Generally, once they start digging a mound, they will continue until it is finished and plug the hole. That usually takes anywhere from fifteen minutes to two hours. On rare occasions I’ve seen them take two days to finish a mound. And one fellow must have missed a day at gopher school; he kept excavating the same hole every night for weeks. The single mound ended up being nearly 18” high and four feet across.
Upon encountering a feed hole, I will wait for about five or ten minutes. If they don’t come out in that time I will scout others and come back to it. The timing is more art than science. If you leave to search out other holes, they sometimes will come out while you are gone. On the other hand you may locate better prospects elsewhere. I make a mental note of the appearance of each hole before leaving it. Note the location of the rocks and grass and mound shape so when you return you can tell if there has been any activity in your absence.
Sometimes you can identify several feed holes an hour or so before dusk. I bring a pocketful of used shotgun hulls and drop them on the lawn at the best observation points so they are easy to relocate as I move between them. Then, when it gets dark enough, they often all come out around the same time and you can move from hole to hole. On several occasions I’ve shot four gophers in twenty minutes using this technique.
Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of their actual behavior in their rare above ground appearances, and the best techniques for targeting them. Rule number one is never let them see movement! If you are walking up on a gopher, or waiting at a feed hole or mound, you must freeze immediately when they come out. They will only stay above ground for moments. Invariably they will dart back in their holes as if to practice for emergency evasion. Countless times I have stood just feet from a gopher as he feeds or creates a mound. While mounding they will push the dirt out from the hole, sometimes with impressive force spraying the dirt like a wave crashing on the rocks. I’ve only seen them fully out of their hole when creating mounds. When feeding they will only come out far enough to munch on the closest greenery for a few seconds and disappear back into their burrow. A few seconds or minutes later they will repeat the process. I can’t tell you how long this behavior goes on, because the second time they do it is usually the last. The third and last type of above ground behavior I have noticed is sentry duty. I once saw a gopher get his head and front feet out of the hole and rotate 360 degrees like a periscope. This went on for more than 30 seconds. This was an exception to the norm; mounding gophers will often stick their head out for five to ten seconds to check for anything higher on the food chain before exposing themselves by excavating.
When they retreat back down in the hole you can advance, take your weapon off safe, and take aim. If they didn’t see movement, they will usually be back seconds or minutes later. Then it’s up to you!
EPILOGUE
I occasionally feel a bit sheepish about spending so much time on a relatively insignificant endeavor. On the other hand, there's not much I can think of that I'd rather be doing. It's relaxing, and I get enjoyment and serenity from being outside in the fresh air, and out of the house (it should be noted that I’ve been married for 24 years). It’s good exercise and certainly beats medication.
Unfortunately there is not a happy ending to this story. Three years after the discovery of my gopher problem, I have eradicated about 150 of them. However, they apparently reproduce rapidly or in great numbers, because I have just as many active gophers now as I did when I started. At one point I thought I had them on the run, but this spring after the young ones were turned out on their own, there are new mounds everywhere. Gopher hunting with a gun can be effective if you have a small yard or just a few gophers. Once they are established in a larger yard like mine, it’s going to take a lot of dedication to win the war.
© T Wilson, 2008
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