Too Many Gophers

45 min from city limits is a little pessimistice, but lots of guys closer to town have been burned. Lots of the yaho's don't seem to want to drive far.

Cold calling is alot easier a little furthur out.

The problem with acerage country is that even 22's with their tendancy to ricochet spook lots of people, that whine just does not leave people with a happy feeling. And they don't get that the big booming varmint gun is actually a far bit safer. My hmr has gotten me onto a few places where the 22 is not s good.

But too many gophers, we must have hit our fields too hard, last year was not good on our usual fields.
 
the "yuppie" zone that is tired of guys showing up with SKSs and FMJ ammo and bouncing bullets into stock waterers, outbuildings, fence posts etc.
or driving down the gravel roads and "helping out" by shooting at the gophers they see (note i said shooting at)

almost all of my access is within 45 minutes of town (some places i have been shooting for 20 plus years, i was even allowed to shoot at Spruce Meadows before the city encroached) and EVERY landowner i have permission with has horror stories of "shooters" making a mess of some thing or another

sorry but the just drive around, ask and you will be welcomed with open arms may not work anymore

help with branding/fencing/harvest/calving etc and may be earn the privilege of shooting.....

I agree with you fully, It is really tough for a young guy like me to be seen with any credibility, there are too many kids who just want to be like the video games or something like that. Maybe our approach has been the wrong way, but I don't know any other way to do it. Pretty frustrating that other people can ruin my reputation so easily:p
 
help with branding/fencing/harvest/calving etc and may be earn the privilege of shooting.....

lol
you mean the privilege of expending our ammo and time to solve the farmer's pest problem?

i get what you are saying about irresponsible shooters and i hate them also, but im not going to kiss some farmers ass and perform manual labor for him to let me shoot on his property. there was a time not too long ago when they actually paid us for our ammo.

if im shooting someplace new ill walk up to the door and say hello, introduce myself, and ask for permission to shoot. if they say no, and are nice, i might inquire as to why and sometimes after a brief explanation and assurance that im not one of those trigger happy morons they change their minds.

i sure as hell am not going to help a farmer deliver calves just to be granted the privilege of clearing his land of pests for him :)


**edit:
although if you are young, like whammy, youre pretty much #%@$ed, lol. your best bet is to go with people who have an established area, and can also ask for permission when you are trying someplace new. unfortunately if you are very young most people assume you are a yahoo :)
 
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I would be interested.
If I am working in the city this spring/summer, I am gonna need some contacts!
 
It's been a life-long dream of my mentor Martin to be able to go gopher hunting in the prairies and do some serious shooting, even at extended ranges. (Martin is a former sniper and is a world-class competitive shooter.)

I too would be interested in learning of any leads about how we could make connections to do this. Obviously, this is a long drive from Vancouver, so we'd need to make the connections in advance. If anyone knows of resources or contacts to pursue this, then please let me know.

Both Martin and myself are experienced long-range competitive shooters and hunters. No blind SKS blasting for us.
 
Just talk to the land owners/or renters the same way you would in the fall for
big game. You might be suprised who will let you hunt varmints if you approach them properly. Showing up with a pack of buddies may be a little
intimidating for most owners on the morning you want to shoot.
 
Cool. Registered. Thanks for doing that so fast.

Now how do we get this out to farmers? Are their coop forums, or places where farmers chat online?

This is a great idea, so please promote this to get it rolling.

:cool:

LH

Glad to help. If anyone has suggestions to improve or additions please feel free to let me know.
 
A good varmint bullet of even a small caliber will vaporize groundhogs.

?? :eek:
where do you shoot? all i can think is that the groundhogs there may be smaller.
the ones where we shoot are frikken huge, nearly the size of raccoons.

good luck vaporizing something this big with the sub-.30 cals that are allowed :(
groundhog_phil.jpg


the closest we come is with varmint rounds in a .243, it makes them do cartwheels and transports their guts to about 10 feet behind them. still, turning them inside out is a long way from vaporized. the entire groundhog is still there, its just all over the place.
 
Cool. Registered. Thanks for doing that so fast.

Now how do we get this out to farmers? Are their coop forums, or places where farmers chat online?

This is a great idea, so please promote this to get it rolling.

:cool:

LH

Here is a page of Farm Supplies stores in Alberta. Maybe way to start is to have someone come up with a great standard letter, and get a few people to take a row or 3 people to take a column and just do a mass mailout. I'm not that great with letters but I'm willing to take a column and do a mail out.

3w.masterfeeds.com/dealers-ab.html

The site also has farms from other provinces as well.
 
One of the things that may improve interest from farmers, is details about yourself and third party liability insurance. For example if you're a member of a wild life association like the BCWF than you automatically have a $2million dollars in general liability. This protects yourself and the farmer, if there were any damages to property and harm to animals. The claim would be against that insurance.

However I'm pretty sure there is some limitation on the insurance, such as if you're being a jackass on someones property and causing harm.
 
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