[Pic] Scared the gopher to death (required Cooey #39)

[Chronos]

Went gopher hunting on the 22nd with some friends and shot this gopher at ~50 yrds with my very old Cooey #39, iron sights. I was aiming for the head and the bullet found its way below its eye.

See the result:

Never had this situation with the eye happen before.

It was a sad moment, not because of the gopher death , but because this is the last gopher the Cooey 'handled' as it is being replaced by my incoming Marlin 7000. As dependable and accurate as it may be, my Cooey's bolt spring is showing its long service life (3 generations of gopher 'handlers' in the family). It's going back to the safe, perhaps I'll let it out once in a while to feed it Federal ammo (the only thing the firing pin can actually fire).

 

[Fall Guy]

So what do you guys do with the gophers - back down the hole or leave them for the coyotes, foxes and hawks?

 

[Chronos]

We know the owners of the lands very well and as long as they don't mind we usually (more like always) leave them there.
They are actually very happy that we are taking care of the gophers, as they have a bad habit of destroying the crop.

Plus, the carcasses 'disappear' within a few days.

 

[DarrylDB]

Here is one that ate a 100 gr 260 round from Chilly Willy. Literally

 

[Chronos]

Now that's some damage!

 

[sunray]

The very first one I ever shot, way back when, was with a .22 mag. The bullet went directly in the eye around the inside of the skull and out through the front teeth. Might have been the other way 'round though.

 

[Grizz Axxemann]

Those ain't gophers!!! those are freakin MARMOTS!!!!!

 

[Huntsman]

Those ain't gophers!!! those are freakin MARMOTS!!!!!

Or groundhogs,no? In the prairies we call these gophers;

[/IMG]]

 

[crazy_davey]

Those are deffinately not gophers, they are woodchucks, smaller version of a marmot and a bit different colour.

What we know as gophers on the praries are actually Richardson ground squirrels.

 

[Sharptail]

Richardson's Ground Squirrels (Spermophilus richardsonii) AKA Gophers. Not sure about the first couple of pics, though. They look a little like marmots.

Sharptail

 

[SignGuy]

yeah here in ont the gophers are a bit bigger due to all the Bullsh*t they have readily available to eat
but we call em ground hogs or other variants of that
hey anyone know if we can use 308 or 303 on ground hogs here ?

 

[crazy_davey]

Ya, a ground hog is a slang term for woodchuck and a gopher is a slang term for Richardson ground squirrels.

 

[crazy_davey]

Richardson's Ground Squirrels (Spermophilus richardsonii) AKA Gophers. Not sure about the first couple of pics, though. They look a little like marmots.

Sharptail

They are deffinately woodchucks. Marmots in Canada live in moutainous regions.
In Canada we have the yellow bellied marmot and the hoary marmot, both make thier homes in the mountains.

 

[Longshot]

I shot one of those big bastards on Connaught in '99 with my sniper rifle.Quite a mess.

 

[prosper]

Yeah, we get the little ground squirrels out here. Those big fuggers would be fun to shoot, too

 

[thebaron]

Yeah, we get the little ground squirrels out here. Those big fuggers would be fun to shoot, too

They are fun to shoot. They aren't as, how could I say... "aerodynamic" when they are hit, but they still make a big mess.

 

[prosper]

They are fun to shoot. They aren't as, how could I say... "aerodynamic" when they are hit, but they still make a big mess.

I'm sure you can make them fly, with a big enough caliber. The 260 doesn't launch them?

I bet a 7mm-08 with a real fast twist and light varmint bullets would launch them. It's all about the twist & frangible bullets

 

[thebaron]

I'm sure you can make them fly, with a big enough caliber. The 260 doesn't launch them?

I bet a 7mm-08 with a real fast twist and light varmint bullets would launch them. It's all about the twist & frangible bullets

I hit one with a .223 using 50gr silvertips out of my 1-9 barrel. He wasn't "launched" but he was prettey mangled.
That's all I have ever shot them with (other than a .22lr)

 

[Mumptia]

Here is one that ate a 100 gr 260 round from Chilly Willy. Literally

dam,,,

that's a huge varmit

I gotta meet some farmers in gopher country. That looks like a hoot

and a good reason to get a 22-250 or a 25-06

 

[303carbine]

If you shot one of the endangered rodents here on Vancouver Island you would have the Sierra Club and all the tree huggers and other less than desireable's pounding on your door crying about the marmots. Little do they know the biggest danger is from cougars and wolves, maybe we will have to kill off the entire population of natural predators so the 14 marmots that live on the Island can live in peace.