Too Many Gophers

you guys we are not talking about gopher recipes we are talking about were to hunt them.

ANYONE here that owns land PLEASE can i help control the population of your gophers?
 
Yeah, cmon guys. Yer makin me hungry. Still goin with the "pack it in, pack it out" tho. Read into that "wherever possible and within reason". And dont leave your lunch garbage either. Pisses off landowners BIG Time. Gargbage and beer cans turn into Private Property signs overnight. A little courtesy goes a Loooonnnngggg way. And might be a lot of fun to put a crew together with a mix of cals and see just how well they work out on a 1 to 1 basis. We could all learn something from this. Might even have to buy another rifle. Damn I love this hobby.
 
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btw - if you kick the groundhogs or gophers back down their hole after you shoot them, predators can still pull them out :)

i dont mean push them 10 feet underground with a stick, hehe. just kick em in out of sight. trust me, not even hardened farmers like seeing a bunch of fat rotting inside-out rodents on their property, even if its just empty land.
 
manbearpig said:
btw - if you kick the groundhogs or gophers back down their hole after you shoot them, predators can still pull them out :)

i dont mean push them 10 feet underground with a stick, hehe. just kick em in out of sight. trust me, not even hardened farmers like seeing a bunch of fat rotting inside-out rodents on their property, even if its just empty land.
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They will be gone be the next morning. Even if you shoot 500 in a day, there will not be a single one remaining by that time tommorow.
 
Suputin said:
So you don't think that someone who OWNS the land should be able to control that land? That they shouldn't be allowed to say who goes on the land and who doesn't? You own your home, should I be able to come in any time and do what I want? Land is PRIVATE PROPERTY, the owners can allow or restrict access as they wish.

We hunt on land that is marked "No Hunting" because we have permission from the landowner. They can recind that permision any time they want.


No I don't think the landowners should NOT be allowed to control their land, of course they should be allowed... you are missing the point. Back East I'm pretty sure that when the rules came out regarding posting of private land it was written that if you want to have someone charged with either tresspassing or hunting, the only way someone could be charged is if the land was posted properly.

I.E. if it is not posted NO HUNTING then you can hunt.. But if you decide to post your land NO HUNTING, it had to be done correctly, with NO HUNTING signs clearly posted at certain distances apart (every telephone pole, or 50 feet something like that??) And once you decided to post a parcel of land NO HUNTING... That is what that means.. NO HUNTING. I am pretty sure that land posted NO HUNTING MEANS no one can hunt... period.

Now if the land owner wanted to post his land NO HUNTING, but with an option to HUNT with PERMISSION, then WHY THE #### DO YOU NOT SEE THE OWNERS NAME AND NUMBER ON THE SIGN?

A NO HUNTING sign only gives one message to someone driving by looking for a place to hunt...

What your saying that you hunt land that is posted NO HUNTING because you have the landowners permission makes no sense. If it's posted no hunting, and you still hunt with permission, then that land owner used the wrong signs, or maybe this landowner DID post contact information I DON'T KNOW YOU DID NOT SAY! But likely he did not and you just happen to know him or they are family, not sure, but for someone driving out in the country trying to find out how to contact the land owner it aint easy if you are not in the know. So a NO HUNTING sign to me is a LOUD AND CLEAR message.

The signs then should say No Tresspassing and provide contact information, so that someone can then ask permission to hunt.

Or NO HUNTING WITHOUT PERMISSION, and provide contact info so you can ask...

NO HUNTING MEANS JUST THAT.... and if I am wrong, then so be it, but morally and ethically I Am Correct...
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Donny Fenn1 said:
i'm a landowner, and you may become the first person i put on ignore
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Yep, pretty tough when I call a spade a spade eh! But if you let people hunt on your land, then my cackle was not meant for you. I want to hear from land owners that don't allow people to hunt on their land as a point of principle.
 
there used to be a real colony of marmots just east of field, bc, up m by the picnic tables, but that's in the national park- bold as brass too
 
dan belisle said:
"I guess only us folks out here in BC are taught to leave no trace when out hunting."

One doesn't "hunt" gophers. One eliminates pests. - dan
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yea, like there's a "stalk" involved- maybe a kid with a pellet gun, way back when you could get 5c a tail from the ag ministry or whatever- i remember taking grocery bags full of tails down to the bowlen building and the clerk having to count them out- some of the buggers tried to cheat us kids too by saying there were so many tails to the pound and weighing them, and i think we barely broke even when you counted it all up but it was fun
 
dan belisle said:
Marmots in the mountains Scott. They get pretty big. - dan
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You're right Dan. Actually I've seen marmots before on the Country Club golf course in the Old Man River valley in Lethbridge years ago. I'm not sure if any are still there though. I've also heard that at times there are prairie dogs in the far SE part of Alberta. I just wish that we had the numbers of the bigger critters like we do "gophers." The farmers and ranchers would probably shoot me for saying something like that though :redface:
 
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Suputin -- could you tell me a bit more about your shooting sticks?
are they more stable than a bipod at that height? i assume youve used a bipod at some point, why did you decide to switch?

currently i use the medium height Harris swivel bipod, which lets me shoot from the seated position, but im always looking for a better solution.
they look pretty easy to make -- did you spike the ends?
 
Now if the land owner wanted to post his land NO HUNTING, but with an option to HUNT with PERMISSION, then WHY THE f**k DO YOU NOT SEE THE OWNERS NAME AND NUMBER ON THE SIGN?
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Cause the last thing land owners want is everyone and their dog dropping by to ask permission to hunt. Especially when they don't know you from Adam.

A NO HUNTING sign only gives one message to someone driving by looking for a place to hunt...
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Which is EXACTLY the message they want you to get. NO HUNTING!

NO HUNTING MEANS JUST THAT.... and if I am wrong, then so be it, but morally and ethically I Am Correct...
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Might I suggest a few less cups of coffee during the day? And yes you are wrong. :)
 
Suputin -- could you tell me a bit more about your shooting sticks?
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Thats not me. :) It is actually a friend we used to shoot with for a number of years. He was a bit wierd from too much exposure to hippies in his younger years. :) The sticks were a big step up from the mini bean bag chair he used to bring out to the field. I think it was lime green. :(

are they more stable than a bipod at that height? i assume youve used a bipod at some point, why did you decide to switch?
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I have used the sticks and didn't really like them. For stability they are about the same as a bipod but each time you lift the rifle the damn sticks fall over, where the bipod just hangs from the rifle. I don't think the sticks offer any improvement over a bipod.

currently i use the medium height Harris swivel bipod, which lets me shoot from the seated position, but im always looking for a better solution.
they look pretty easy to make -- did you spike the ends?
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Yes the ends are spiked. Just drive a nail partway in and then cut off the head and file it to a point.

Personally I prefer to shoot prone for longer distance stuff. I find it much more stable and headshots on a gopher at 80-100 yds requires stability. For closer range stuff I tend to shoot kneeling.

Anyone who has spent time in a BIG gopher field knows you end up moving a lot so you need to find a compromise between shooting stability and the ability to get up and move constantly. Also shooting prone in long grass is frustrating.
 
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