Gophers

[lpel]

I shot 13 yesterday. Slow day as it always is this time of the year. Mostly just the males coming out. Also seeing more 13 striped ground squirrels than normal for some reason.

 

[Got Juice?]

Ours range from 9-12” long. 3/4-1.1 lbs.

 

[WhelanLad]

Gophers hibernate 200+ days a yearn thats why come late summer you are likely only seeing the young of the year moving around

so they are a fairly elusive little critter, an i get how small they are, now that does make for some interesting 'varminting' with all these fancy 12-20-22 cal blitzers! obviously not native or a native pest?

 

[Longwalker]

They are completely native, but a pest in some farming situations. And elusive is an interesting term I've never heard applied to them.
When they are active, and abundant, they are everywhere in the fields and pastures.
When not active, or in areas where not abundant, you have to look hard to find one.
In the "off season" no matter how hard you look they are all underground.

 

[Scott_N]

Another interesting gopher (referring to Richardson Ground Squirrel) fact is that the little basterds are cannibals, they will eat their own dead.

 

[Grizzly Adams]

Another interesting gopher (referring to Richardson Ground Squirrel) fact is that the little basterds are cannibals, they will eat their own dead.

I like it when they're chowing down on their late buddy in my driving lane.

Grizz

 

[Yotarunner]

so they are a fairly elusive little critter, an i get how small they are, now that does make for some interesting 'varminting' with all these fancy 12-20-22 cal blitzers! obviously not native or a native pest?

They are a native pest that if left unchecked can become extremely destructive on crops. We lost thousands of dollars worth of corn to the little buggers last year.
Elusive they are not. It's no problem to find yourself shooting them at 5 feet away. In most situations a missed gopher can be shot at multiple times before ever becoming spooked. Last year our best day was 1200 gophers between 3 of us.

 

[rifleman762]

I like it when they're chowing down on their late buddy in my driving lane.

Grizz

Last year I got more on the highway than in the fields (didn't get out shooting much). Thu-thump!

 

[WhelanLad]

They are a native pest that if left unchecked can become extremely destructive on crops. We lost thousands of dollars worth of corn to the little buggers last year.
Elusive they are not. It's no problem to find yourself shooting them at 5 feet away. In most situations a missed gopher can be shot at multiple times before ever becoming spooked. Last year our best day was 1200 gophers between 3 of us.

Thanks for the info mate! 1200 holeyy schit!!

 

[WhelanLad]

They are completely native, but a pest in some farming situations. And elusive is an interesting term I've never heard applied to them.
When they are active, and abundant, they are everywhere in the fields and pastures.
When not active, or in areas where not abundant, you have to look hard to find one.
In the "off season" no matter how hard you look they are all underground.

yeah i see, they sound cool. thanks for the info

 

[krausb]

For those interested, here is more information about gophers than most people care to ever know.

http://research.uleth.ca/rgs/index.html

It all from a research project at the University of Lethbridge in southern Alberta, the heart of Gopher country. Just ignore all the odd "keeping them as pets" parts. Lol. Apparently they are popular in the Japanese per industry. Who knew?

Anyway, I found this page on their annual activity cycles particularly interesting.

research.uleth.ca/rgs/activity_cycle.cfm.html