I do it for enjoyment.
I grew up shooting gophers as well as all manner of bird that is classified as a pest in Alberta (english sparrows, crows, pigeons, etc).
The introduction of the .17 HMR in 2002 increased a guys effectivness exponentialy as opposed to the old .22.
There is nothing as fun as vaporising a starling or magpie at 200 yards + with the .204 and it is completly legal, same as putting a hole in a crow or raven at 400 yards.
The problem is corvid family birds are very intelligent to begin with and have a great ability to learn and adapt to threats and the 7mm rem is expensive to wack magpies with...............but still a hell of a lot of fun.
I'm originally from the Porcupine hills...and couldn't agree more. I really miss baby gopher season as there is nothing like shotgunning for gopher families.



















































