Let's hear your gopher and varmint hunting storys.

=(M-1)=

=(M-1)=

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I was in my local sporting store purchasing an old SKS for gopher hunting, well that got the whole staff into story telling mode, each comparing gopher hunting stories, it was quite entertaining, so I figured it would be a fun topic for CGN.

My most memorable moment was when I took out my M-304 out for its first shots, I sat in wait of a gopher that I had missed twice with my Ruger 10-22 because it just wasn’t shooting straight at that range ( yeah I'm blaming the gun for that;)) so out came the M-304 for its first shot ever, and 'BANG' I missed again! This was due to poor out of the box sighting, but the gopher didn’t even flinch so I corrected for the misalignment, and BOOM I nailed it dead center, it flew 10+ feet in the air tumbling head over heals, but while it flew both me and my buddy could see daylight flickering through the center mass hole as it tumbled in the air, that got us hopping, w:h: we had never seen anything bigger than a .22LR hit a gopher, it was a first and a last time I'd see such a dramatic hit. I've not shot a gopher with the rifle since. But look forward to taking it out again.

Post your story and your records: Mine are currently- 44 kills in one day. a double kill with one shot from my ruger 10-22 (Ive done that a few times) and a 125 yard kill with the ruger. Surly you guys can beat those stats.
 
I shoot gophers more often than not with a bow. Great practice. Notice I said shoot, not hunt. There is no hunting out in the gopher field. If you hit em right you can get flips and launch them with a .22 lr. Centerfires do have a more dramatic effect though.
 
The most memorable is the one on video. ;)

[youtube]RoLD4JCZ_wE[/youtube]

I've shot hundreds in a single day, but there are others who have shot far more. I think the one that stands out most in my mind is a witnessed 300 yard kill that took 3 shots with a Marlin model 60 and an 18x scope. Yeah yeah, BS, it can't be done, I've heard it all. :)
 
Someone's going to have to fess up and admit that they once made a bad shot on a gopher at 25 yards....had to finish it off and then....gasp...didnt stop right there and eat the little flea infested sucker.V:I:

I confess....
It was me.....
More than once....

R:d:
 
... perhaps because of reading the 'magpie thread' yesterday i decided to have some fun this morning. Killed five magpies with my .223 before I even got dressed this morning. Warning.... do NOT ask me to post pictures. :p

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I've killed upwards of 600-700 in a single day. I shot almost 500 once without moving my truck (I shoot from the box, over the roof).

The infestation has decreased in recent years.... I used to be able to knock down the babies like bowling pins. 10-15 per hole was not uncommon. The fields I shoot at have really declined in numbers (much to the farmers delight, and my own disappointment... ;))
 
M12shooter said:
Afer taking a look at the "shooting a magpie" thread, one would best steer clear of this...
Click to expand...

Well when you live in a town over run by gophers, (my brother has gophers in his yard.) it becomes a problem, Ive almost broken my leg several times when I step into threir holes enlarged by a weasel, some holes go up to your thigh. One rancher loses from 1-3 cows a year, farmers end up blowing out axle shafts in their tractors several times a year at $1500+ a pop. the fact is, there is no kind solution to these creatures, there are not enough preditors out here to keep them in check, they are numbered in the millions. if we dont start hunting them that number is only going to go up. its more like pest control than hunting, but in the later part of the year when so few are out of hibernation, you have to break out the binoculars and do some pattern searching, then its more like hunting. and no you are not required to eat your prey to say you hunted it. that is merely an associated benefit to hunting certain animals.

Hunt [huhnt] –verb (used with object) to chase or search for (game or other wild animals) for the purpose of catching or killing.
 
308BAR said:
Here is two of our my trips.
2009
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=359222

2010
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=485572
Click to expand...
Eeeewww, thats a few messy ones, I never got into taking pictures, but one guy in the for mentioned sporting has a picture of 4 gophers he nailed in one shot with his double barrel 12 guage, better yet it was taken at the moment of impact, :):eek::puke: Eeeeeeeeeewwwwww!!!:D

canucklehead said:
I've killed upwards of 600-700 in a single day. I shot almost 500 once without moving my truck (I shoot from the box, over the roof).

The infestation has decreased in recent years.... I used to be able to knock down the babies like bowling pins. 10-15 per hole was not uncommon. The fields I shoot at have really declined in numbers (much to the farmers delight, and my own disappointment... ;))
Click to expand...

WOW, now that’s some good hunting! I've only been hunting them on and off for two years now and have never turned up such numbers. my accuracy is largely to blame, and a cheap rifle, but I'm getting better. and already the word has spread to many local farms all asking me to drop by.:cool:
 
my only memorable shot was after an afternoon of eradication on a cattle farm
just as we were leaving for the day one popped his head up 20' away, it was my buddies shot and when he shot him it flipped at least a dozen times going as far as 3feet in the air then proceeded to alternate flips with breakdancing moves for almost 2min, what an entertaining hole-rat

while duck hunting on sun we were driving around and found a sod farm, holy mother have mercy there was more gophers than i could count, and sadly enough all we had were a couple of 12ga boomsticks so they all lived to see another day
 
Well I finally broke my 300 yard slump one afternoon, 25 kills between 380 and 415 yards with one at 415 and one 414 lasered to make for my furthest kill shot. I use a custom 223 varmint/bench rifle. Over 5 hours I tallied 280 kills using the 223 and 22LR. Good sport, didn't make a dent in population on that field. It was so hot my heavy barreled 22LR even got too hot to shoot.
 
Well this wasn't my most memorable varmint hunt, because I had just had my appendix out the week before but it was a good day. Also one of the only times I took my camera while shooting gophers. It is one of my most memorable places, as a good friend lives there and we hunt the area quite often.

Some shots of the fields.
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Some victims of the .17HMR. I love the little 17 for our ground squirrels. I just need one a bit lighter for wandering the hills after magpies and crows. (which happens to be my favourite varminting.)
DSC02193.jpg

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=(M-1)= said:
Eeeewww, thats a few messy ones, I never got into taking pictures, but one guy in the for mentioned sporting has a picture of 4 gophers he nailed in one shot with his double barrel 12 guage, better yet it was taken at the moment of impact, :):eek::puke: Eeeeeeeeeewwwwww!!!:D



WOW, now that’s some good hunting! I've only been hunting them on and off for two years now and have never turned up such numbers. my accuracy is largely to blame, and a cheap rifle, but I'm getting better. and already the word has spread to many local farms all asking me to drop by.:cool:
Click to expand...

What do you consider a cheap rifle?
I have a stevens 300 .22LR with a 3-9X 40mm simmons scope on it. I shoot gophers (ground squirrels) at 125-150yds with it.
I have a ruger 10-22 that I bought in 1977 with a 4X scope on it that easily shoots to 100yds.
I also have a cooey 64B with the same scope on it that will shoot to 100yds every time.
With these 3 rifles, my wife and I have harvested over 1500 gophers this year so far.
Can't get much cheaper than those I don't think.
 
My most memorable day of gopher shooting was an afternoon on our farm. I had returned on a week end to help with the cattle branding which was a hardship seeing that it had been wet and rainy for 2 weeks and that morning we had snow. (Branding doesnt work to well on wet hair).

When finally completed around 3:30 pm the sun came out for the first time in over a week and the gophers were coming out en mass to feed and enjoy some sun seeing how it must have been damp and nasty in thier holes.

I had a Federal bulk pack of 550 that fed my 10/22 for about 2 hours when I run dry of ammo. Leaning on corral rails I would empty my 4 Butler Creek 25 rnd mags and by the time I had loaded them again there were enough new gophers that I did not even have to walk, repeated twice before moving 50 feet.

I have never been able to beat that experince, its one for the ages.
 
I was out hunting jagulars one day and hadn't seen any. While I was standing quietly in the woods, I heard a noise off to my right. Watching closely, I saw a huffalump come out of the woodline. I was excited and a bit out of breath but I squeezed of a shot just as it moved. It fell down and was flopping around. When I went over I noticed I had shot it in the eye lid and it was blinded by blood. Knowing I couldn't let it suffer, I lay down beside it and hugged it to death. I am sorry I had such a poor shot placement.
 
Embarrassingly...I only shot about 6 this year.:redface: One was at 190 yards (as per my rangefinder) with my Cooper 17 Rem Fireball, which made me quite happy. It was a crappy summer for weather and time off.:( Oh well, maybe next year.
 
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