Gopher Hunting - Calgary Area

Chopperdoctor

Chopperdoctor

CGN Regular
Rating - 100%
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Location
Chinook Country, up wind of Calgary.
I was hoping someone would be kind enough to invite me along to one of their gopher plinking meccas this coming spring. I grew up northeast of Lethbridge, AB., on a farm in the middle of nowhere, and we never went anywhere with out at least a .22 handy. The only time I get to shoot gophers now, is when we head south to visit my buddie from high school. I'm starting to get the itch really badly. Can any kind souls out there help me out? Thanks.
 
That's sounds like fun! No gopher's up here in my neck of the woods. What do you do with them...skin em or is it just a cull?
 
rem338win said:
Sure, if you take me for a helicopter ride. Are you originally from the Picture Butte area or more like Enchant-ish?
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The ride might be possible, but you might have to be available at a moments notice to come along on a crash test, I mean a test flight. I went to High School in Picture Butte. Our farm was about 20-25 miles straight east of Butte. Just southeast of Taber. Pretty much right where the Little Bow River empties into the Old Man River. First kids on the bus, and last one off. A sold hour each way every school day. Probably the best place in that part of the province for a gun lover to grow up. Dirt biking, ski-dooing, horses to ride, a great pond to swim in (and Dad kept it stocked with Rainbows), a nice little colony of gopher to plink at( if the rattle snakes didn't get them), and some fabulous deep coulees to hunt monster Mule Deer in, or use as my private gun range. We had a 28" drive gear from an old CIL swather hung on a fence post out in the pasture behind the house at about 400 yrds. I used sit on the picninc table on the patio and "ring the gong" with my Polytech M-14. AHHHH! Times were simpler back then. Our biggest worry was if Dad was going to send us out to pick rocks out of the fields, pull the weeds that were missed at the end of the fields by the cultavator, or hoe the weeds between the trees in the shelter belt around the farm.
 
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Chopperdoctor said:
I went to High School in Picture Butte. Our farm was about 20-25 miles straight east of Butte. Just southeast of Taber. Pretty much right where the Little Bow River empties into the Old Man River. First kids on the bus, and last one off. A sold hour each way every school day. Probably the best place in that part of the province for a gun lover to grow up. Dirt biking, ski-dooing, horses to ride, a great pond to swim in (and Dad kept it stocked with Rainbows), a nice little colony of gopher to plink at( if the rattle snakes didn't get them), and some fabulous deep coulees to hunt monster Mule Deer in, or use as my private gun range. We had a 28" drive gear from an old CIL swather hung on a fence post out in the pasture behind the house at about 400 yrds. I used sit on the picninc table on the patio and "ring the gong" with my Polytech M-14. AHHHH! Times were simpler back then. Our biggest worry was if Dad was going to send us out to pick rocks out of the fields, pull the weeds that were missed at the end of the fields by the cultavator, or hoe the weeds between the trees in the shelter belt around the farm.
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Hey, that is very close to where my wife's family farm is located (Turin). I was up there over the holidays with a couple of rifles. Great coolee to shoot into! When I am up there in the summer, we hunt Gophers from the back of my father-in-laws pickup. Great times!

Cheers

Berger
 
Labman said:
That's sounds like fun! No gopher's up here in my neck of the woods. What do you do with them...skin em or is it just a cull?
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We drive around shootin' em and throwin' em in the back of the pick-up, until we either can't see the bottem of the truck box anymore, or we run out of ammo. Then we meet up for beers to see who got the most, and leave them for the magpies(aka.Saskatchewan Pheasants),crows, hawks, owls, and coyotes to feast on. They wreak havok on the horse and cattle pastures, causing potential broken legs for the live stock, and some crop damage as well. I swear, in the areas where there are a lot of them, you could shoot every day for a whole summer, and the next year there would be just as many back again. I think for every full grown one you see running around, there a 6 babies under ground sleeping, and Mamma is knocked up already. Poison is the only way to total eradicate them, and then you end up killing everything else that feeds on them too. I prefer brain surgery, with a blunt lead scalpel. If you hit'em just right with a 150 gn 308 soft point, they leap 3 feet in the air, turn inside out, and mostly dissappear into a lingering red mist. If you hit them with a high power pellet gun, they grab their chests, stagger around, and then fall down their burrow, like the cowboys in a bad western.
 
Hi Chopper, we could go for a shoot, I'm not too far from you. I don't need chopper rides though, I get my fill (oil patch). We usually bring jerky, beer and easterner jokes....
 
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Chopperdoctor said:
We drive around shootin' em and throwin' em in the back of the pick-up, until we either can't see the bottem of the truck box anymore, or we run out of ammo. Then we meet up for beers to see who got the most, and leave them for the magpies(aka.Saskatchewan Pheasants),crows, hawks, owls, and coyotes to feast on. They wreak havok on the horse and cattle pastures, causing potential broken legs for the live stock, and some crop damage as well. I swear, in the areas where there are a lot of them, you could shoot every day for a whole summer, and the next year there would be just as many back again. I think for every full grown one you see running around, there a 6 babies under ground sleeping, and Mamma is knocked up already. Poison is the only way to total eradicate them, and then you end up killing everything else that feeds on them too. I prefer brain surgery, with a blunt lead scalpel. If you hit'em just right with a 150 gn 308 soft point, they leap 3 feet in the air, turn inside out, and mostly dissappear into a lingering red mist. If you hit them with a high power pellet gun, they grab their chests, stagger around, and then fall down their burrow, like the cowboys in a bad western.
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Sounds like a good way to sharpen up the ol' shooting skills! :sniper:

Next time I'm in the Calgary area I might have to give you a call. :)
 
Chopperdoctor said:
The ride might be possible, but you might have to be available at a moments notice to come along on a crash test, I mean a test flight. I went to High School in Picture Butte. Our farm was about 20-25 miles straight east of Butte. Just southeast of Taber. Pretty much right where the Little Bow River empties into the Old Man River. First kids on the bus, and last one off. A sold hour each way every school day. Probably the best place in that part of the province for a gun lover to grow up. Dirt biking, ski-dooing, horses to ride, a great pond to swim in (and Dad kept it stocked with Rainbows), a nice little colony of gopher to plink at( if the rattle snakes didn't get them), and some fabulous deep coulees to hunt monster Mule Deer in, or use as my private gun range. We had a 28" drive gear from an old CIL swather hung on a fence post out in the pasture behind the house at about 400 yrds. I used sit on the picninc table on the patio and "ring the gong" with my Polytech M-14. AHHHH! Times were simpler back then. Our biggest worry was if Dad was going to send us out to pick rocks out of the fields, pull the weeds that were missed at the end of the fields by the cultavator, or hoe the weeds between the trees in the shelter belt around the farm.
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gitrdun said:
Hi Chopper, we could go for a shoot, I'm not too far from you. I don't need chopper rides though, I get my fill (oil patch). We usually bring jerky, beer and easterner jokes....
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This sounds like fun, fellas. We'll have to give this one a run when we get the chance. I'll bring the newfie, I mean easterner jokes (like a pilon or something:eek:), and we can burn'em up. My 17 HMR has been staring at me everytime I open the safe (Don't you love me anymore Daddy?:redface:). I'll take a chopper ride any chance I can get (don't work in the oilfield anymore). Lets, uhm, gitrdun!:D
 
when are the gophers going to show themselves do you think? this is my first spring in Canada for 7 years and i cant remember when they came out..

saying that, one of our dogs managed to find one on our land today and left it as a present next to the sofa!!! lol....

ill hopefully be getting some good areas to shoot north of cochrane...
 
rem338win said:
This sounds like fun, fellas. We'll have to give this one a run when we get the chance. I'll bring the newfie, I mean easterner jokes (like a pilon or something:eek:), and we can burn'em up. My 17 HMR has been staring at me everytime I open the safe (Don't you love me anymore Daddy?:redface:). I'll take a chopper ride any chance I can get (don't work in the oilfield anymore). Lets, uhm, gitrdun!:D
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Yeehaw....lets' make it happen. My truck or yours ???? :D
 
gitrdun said:
Yeehaw....lets' make it happen. My truck or yours ???? :D
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It depends, I have a 2007 Dodge 1500 with a, you thought it, HEMI:D. It actually gets good mileage, for a pig. I won't ride in a Chevy, but I've been known to step into a Ford:p.
I'm gonna need a new small bore centerfire, I think.....................
 
crunchiespg said:
when are the gophers going to show themselves do you think? this is my first spring in Canada for 7 years and i cant remember when they came out..
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I've seen gophers out as early as late January and as late as the November deer hunting season, but only when the weather is unseasonably warm. It's mid to late March when you will start seeing any gophers in numbers coming out. April and May are usually the best time to shoot gophers, after that the grass tends to get long and they are a lot harder to see.
 
Hey Chopperdoctor, you work for Alpine? Those eggbeaters look awful familiar. I am putting my ear to the ground too regarding the extermination of pests (gophers) and have got a few tentative invites just south of the city.
 
rem338win said:
It depends, I have a 2007 Dodge 1500 with a, you thought it, HEMI:D. It actually gets good mileage, for a pig. I won't ride in a Chevy, but I've been known to step into a Ford:p.
I'm gonna need a new small bore centerfire, I think.....................
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I'm not so picky, I'll step into any shooting wagon. :D My current gopher buggy is a Toyota FJ - will that work? :redface:
 
gitrdun said:
I'm not so picky, I'll step into any shooting wagon. :D My current gopher buggy is a Toyota FJ - will that work? :redface:
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I was just being a dink:D Oh coarse I'd hop into your FJ! We'll pick up lattes, and some fresh figs on our way out of town, and then well only dart the poor little creatures and take our pictures with them so it looks like we killed them...(I am such an a$$:evil::evil::evil::evil:).

All kidding aside, I don't care what we go in, as long as we kill a lot of little brown sod busters.......
 
Maple Leaf Pilgrim said:
Hey Chopperdoctor, you work for Alpine? Those eggbeaters look awful familiar. I am putting my ear to the ground too regarding the extermination of pests (gophers) and have got a few tentative invites just south of the city.
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Good eye Pilgrim. Alpine Heli. Calgary Base Senior Engineer. My sig.pic. is a shot of the ramp at the main base in Kelowna. That's about 1/5th of the fleet sitting there just before they all left for the Heli-ski season.
 
Chopperdoctor said:
Good eye Pilgrim. Alpine Heli. Calgary Base Senior Engineer. My sig.pic. is a shot of the ramp at the main base in Kelowna. That's about 1/5th of the fleet sitting there just before they all left for the Heli-ski season.
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OK, now I have to meet you. We'll get the ball rolling come march for some carnage. What will you be bringing for hardware when we go? (You can answer that question too Gitrdun:rolleyes:)
 
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