I had a tuned up 243 Rem running 70gr Ballistic Tips at 3600 fps that I used on gophers a few times. The terminal effects were shocking. Basically looked like the gopher had swallowed a 1/4 stick of dynamite. The explosion was so energetic that it left a starburst pattern in the grass. The bits were spread out over about a 30' circle. It was way more impressive than my 22-250 running 55gr hollow points.
I once brought a few dead gophers back for someone who beaked off about us not eating what we killed. Weirdly they didn't seem interested in eating the freshly killed gophers either.
Gopher holes are not very big. But gophers attract badgers and badger holes are dangerous to livestock. A large gopher population can denude a field of grass though. Its quite impressive to see the damage the little buggers can wreak when they are not controlled.
I am not at all a hunter. I am interested in varmint control and that means killing stuff, lots of killing stuff. And yep, it is also good fun.