Gophers are out
- Thread starter razorbeck
- Start date
Went for a ride to check how many were around on a beautiful plus fifteen afternoon . Only got a chance to shoot at five but there is now five less in the pasture. March 19th is the earliest I can recall shooting a gopher for a lot of years in central Manitoba. Did a drive by on the neighbors property and saw some good numbers. Will have to check to make sure I have permission there again this year. I did manage to get a bonus crow as well while in the pasture. All those hours spent in the reloading room while it was minus fifty this winter will be put to good use this spring.
- Location
- Saskatchewan
I don't ever want to be that hungry. However, if you are going to be handling gophers keep in mind that they sometimes carry the bacteria Yersinia pestis. It often infects gophers and other small rodents. In humans the infection is known as the bubonic plague. Not sure how transmissible it is to humans? When I was a kid, growing up in Saskatchewan, we handled gophers quite frequently and never died. Always washed our hands when coming home for meals though...
Went out for a quick shoot this afternoon to try out some reduced loads of 50gr Vmax and H4895 in the 222. Wind started gusting to 40KM but still managed to hit 17 for 20 out to 150 yds. Only plus 8 out today but double the gophers out then 2 days ago.
Argh!!! My big Golden retriever used to run out, get a gopher and bring it back to eat right behind me. One time I looked back and saw the gopher was right full of worms. Plus, as posted above, they can be filthy, infected little buggers. I don't touch gopher. Period.
You have never seen one up close, eh? I wouldn't eat one if I was on the verge of starving to death.
FreedomIsn'tFree
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Republic of Buffalo.
They have been out here for a few weeks now. I will be out with the boy this weekend most likely taking care of as many as possible.
Up to 307 so far as of this morning. It was slow, I got 42 in about 2 hours. Managed to get 82 in the same time earlier this week. Same pasture.
I collected up a 5 gallon bucket full to use as coyote bait. Funny thing, about 10 ravens showed up and ate every last one of them in about 20 minutes. No coyotes!
If you are wondering what a bucket full of gophers looks like.......now you know. LOL.
I collected up a 5 gallon bucket full to use as coyote bait. Funny thing, about 10 ravens showed up and ate every last one of them in about 20 minutes. No coyotes!
If you are wondering what a bucket full of gophers looks like.......now you know. LOL.
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Up to 307 so far as of this morning. It was slow, I got 42 in about 2 hours. Managed to get 82 in the same time earlier this week. Same pasture.
I collected up a 5 gallon bucket full to use as coyote bait. Funny thing, about 10 ravens showed up and ate every last one of them in about 20 minutes. No coyotes!
If you are wondering what a bucket full of gophers looks like.......now you know. LOL.
I tried baiting yotes with them when I was younger and had a badger charge me when I walked up to the stand.
Gophers can carry the plague so I would really take that into consideration before eating one.
we are going to get snow tonight, just makes their little brown butts stand out
^plus some. I've never weighed either, but have shot lots of both. I'd say a large, adult groundhog might be 4-5X bigger than the biggest gopher I've ever seen. I have some "rifle beside dead varmint" photos on my home computer I can share if anyone is interested.
As for an "average" sized gopher vs. a large groundhog-maybe 7-8X bigger. I wouldn't call either creature "smart", but the groundhog's larger brain seems to help it be a harder target to get lined-up. lol I haven't seen a groundhog sit out in the open @ 200 yards and let me take a dozen shots at it. lol Gophers in western wind-all the time. lol
carsmovies
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Mississauga, Ontario
