In the nick of time.

M

Mulby

CGN Regular
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Location
Saskatchewan
With the weather starting to come around, and a couple days off from work, I got a couple of hours yesterday and today to do a little plinking. A bit of ammo testing with my relatively new 455 Canadian to see how it does with a few types of bulk, and some spray and pray with my Buck Mark rifle.

I really needed some 'fun' time. And this weekend fit the bill!
 
Oh boy! Can't wait for gopher season. Should be about time for somebody to ask if gophers are edible...:puke:
 
kjohn said:
Oh boy! Can't wait for gopher season. Should be about time for somebody to ask if gophers are edible...:puke:
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lol....some softy will see a "bunch of dead gophers" photo, register on CGN...just to ask the question. Answer~they're not edible, but make great..reactive targets. Hard to imagine there could be so many..but there are, and boy do they make a mess. The badgers that like to snack on them~even bigger mess...and some BIG holes.
 
JToews said:
So, to be clear, I should NOT eat the gopher slurry?
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You should NEVER order the "Chicken Chow Mein" in any Prairie Province.
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I used to live in southern Manitoba. A few years ago my hunting partner and I made a trip to the Mankota area in southern Saskatchewan, as a farmer friend of his told him about their Gopher problem. There were so many Gophers that the farmers could not get crop insurance.

We spent about four days there, and once local farmers found out we were shooting Gophers, we got offers of free meals, ammunition, and accommodation if we shot them on their property. However, we had enough targets on the farm we were on.

My buddy got a phone call a few days later thanking him for our "services." Only problem was, he was told, that the smell was pretty bad for about three days.
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buffdog said:
You should NEVER order the "Chicken Chow Mein" in any Prairie Province.
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I used to live in southern Manitoba. A few years ago my hunting partner and I made a trip to the Mankota area in southern Saskatchewan, as a farmer friend of his told him about their Gopher problem. There were so many Gophers that the farmers could not get crop insurance.

We spent about four days there, and once local farmers found out we were shooting Gophers, we got offers of free meals, ammunition, and accommodation if we shot them on their property. However, we had enough targets on the farm we were on.

My buddy got a phone call a few days later thanking him for our "services." Only problem was, he was told, that the smell was pretty bad for about three days.
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I'm fortunate to have some friends in Alberta who have a gopher problem, and in 2016 I took my nephew out there to help me shoot them...but not before sending 6,500 rounds of rimfire ammo out. (5,000 22, 1,500 17HMR) We used about 4,000 22LR and nearly 1,000 HMR, and came nowhere near getting them all. Apparently, 2017 was a bumper crop...so we're headed back this spring. I'd spent a few days doing it in 2015 too, and there is simply isn't a way to describe how many a given field can have. Best way I can think of is this~at one point, my nephew and I were shooting prone for nearly 2 hours in the same spot...and quite literally couldn't load the magazines fast enough. Unlike buffdog's account, we shot every field....every day...and barely noticed a difference in the #s, nor did we ever find a dead one from an earlier shoot in the day...from the previous day..etc. Loads of critters feast on them, the daily visitors we witnessed included Swainson's hawks, ravens, magpies, seagulls (?) and weasels. Over the course of the week, we also saw young coyotes and 1 badger.

Sorry to hijack Mulby. :) My 452 likes CCI Blazer, maybe worth a try. Didn't do too badly with Winchester 555 (under 3/4" @ 50 yards) either...and that's the only gun I've ever owned that showed any hope with that stuff.
 
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Yes, we had a lot of critters pick some up and eat them. We had to stop shooting for this Fox, as it did not seem to mind the noise, or us being there.

One of the .22 rifles I took, a Savage Mark II stainless steel heavy barrel

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Feeding time. About 20 yards away. Shine from the rifle barrel.

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Waiting for his turn at the dinner table.

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I shot at a friend's place where the resident mother fox would trot around, pick up dead gophers and put them in a pile. She didn't pay any attention to us shooting. The piles would disappear after a while.

I shoot two 455's with whatever ammo bubbles to the top of the pile. Both seem to work reasonably well, despite what the naysayers might profess. I don't see a problem with firing the odd warning shot, so I am happy. The Winchesters with the flat nose really make a mess, but I use Federals and Winchesters of any HP type.

I've also shot a pile of ammo out of one of those no good RIA 10/22 clones with good effect. Also use a shotgun on occasion, 12 ga. mostly. I have a bunch of old reloads that need to be fired off. Crack out the .17hmr's to change the pace a bit. With the price of that ammo, I try to make every shot count. :)

All the fancy pants stuff sort of goes out the window when you get in the middle of a heavy gopher attack. It's every man for himself, and blaze away! :p
 
kjohn said:
I shot at a friend's place where the resident mother fox would trot around, pick up dead gophers and put them in a pile. She didn't pay any attention to us shooting. The piles would disappear after a while.

I shoot two 455's with whatever ammo bubbles to the top of the pile. Both seem to work reasonably well, despite what the naysayers might profess. I don't see a problem with firing the odd warning shot, so I am happy. The Winchesters with the flat nose really make a mess, but I use Federals and Winchesters of any HP type.

I've also shot a pile of ammo out of one of those no good RIA 10/22 clones with good effect. Also use a shotgun on occasion, 12 ga. mostly. I have a bunch of old reloads that need to be fired off. Crack out the .17hmr's to change the pace a bit. With the price of that ammo, I try to make every shot count. :)

All the fancy pants stuff sort of goes out the window when you get in the middle of a heavy gopher attack. It's every man for himself, and blaze away! :p
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^...lol :) Agreed. We bought a case of 12ga., #7-1/2 target loads for what I was calling "upland gopher" shooting. lol Gave us a nice break from the prone shooting, doubles were possible...as were running gophers. Walk slowly...listen for squeaks, and take aim at low-riding gophers. DAMN I can't wait to get back out there. :)
 
Had the same thing a couple of years ago. Two foxes going back and forth to the area of deads, grabbing carcasses and taking them for later. Farmer told me there was a den in that pasture, they help to bring down the gopher population.
 
metalbender said:
Had the same thing a couple of years ago. Two foxes going back and forth to the area of deads, grabbing carcasses and taking them for later. Farmer told me there was a den in that pasture, they help to bring down the gopher population.
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During a reloading-mags-break in 2016, 2 coyote pups emerged from a den (sloped field, facing away from us) and having not discussed anything but gophers with the land owner...we just enjoyed watching them for a while. As you could imagine...gophers didn't seem to comfortable with their presence. lol Anyhow, talking with the land owner later, he actually likes coyotes...said there weren't allot around there, they didn't bother his livestock...and they do pick-off gophers. We never saw them do that, or eat any of the ones we'd just shot...but we also didn't stay there long after they popped-up.
 
.22LRGUY said:
^...lol :) Agreed. We bought a case of 12ga., #7-1/2 target loads for what I was calling "upland gopher" shooting. lol Gave us a nice break from the prone shooting, doubles were possible...as were running gophers. Walk slowly...listen for squeaks, and take aim at low-riding gophers. DAMN I can't wait to get back out there. :)
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Upland gopher shooting! :p I like that. Last summer I used one of those short barrel lever shotguns on gophers. Definitely need muffs for that thing! :)
 
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