Your go to gopher cartridge?

mrgoat said:
Many years ago when you could do these sorts of things with out the OPP swat team showing up I used to use the 30-06 now and then with hand loaded 110gr hollow points. If the ground hog was half way out of the hole and you aimed just at ground level it would raise the ground hog out of the hole about 3ft and he would split into 3 pieces at the same time. Had this happen on several occasions when the circumstance were just right.
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I sure miss those days of shooting Ontario ground hogs. Laying prone in a giant hayfield using a round bail for cover and greasing those hogs from their fence post perch.
 
the spank said:
Brian46 said:
50bmg
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You get on a good pasture and you'll burn a brick or two of 22lr in a day. Try that at $8 or better per round. If your banker doesn't call in your loan first all that noise from that big gun firing 500 - 1000 rounds in a day should have the DND concerned and they will be sending an air strike your way!! Either way, financial or hiding from an air strike your day of gophering has been terminated......;):p
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With the 50BMG you can still hit them when they're up to a meter underground! ;)
 
22 rimfire is always the first choice. [My CZ 452 American or one of my 541 Remingtons]

Next in line for moderate ranges outside of rimfire capabilities, my 700 Classic in 222 Remington.

For the long range stuff, my 225 Winchester Custom, or my 77V in 220 Swift.

Regards, Dave.
 
This is why we shoot them for the farmers here..........this hole was not present yesterday evening when I left the pasture but there it was to greet me on the road through the pasture this morning. And here is the culprit........I guess he didn't like having his picture taken from 4 feet away and decided to run 6 feet further away and duck down a golf ball sized hole. That was where he made his final stand.......he lost the duel!! LOL

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there are no gophers around here, that's a good thing. Yotes and deer do come around and the odd skunk (2 or 3 per year). Had a couple of muskrats in the trout pond (they got the 12 ga) and these dam cormorants (black ducks) come to steal my fish! Some of them will never return, but there is an endless supply of them coming from the nearby river.
 
two-dogs said:
there are no gophers around here, that's a good thing. Yotes and deer do come around and the odd skunk (2 or 3 per year). Had a couple of muskrats in the trout pond (they got the 12 ga) and these dam cormorants (black ducks) come to steal my fish! Some of them will never return, but there is an endless supply of them coming from the nearby river.
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Those damned things will clean your pond out in no time.......trout ponds attract no shortage of fish eaters. Blue Herons, Mink, Otters.......even uninvited humans, ask the Deerdr about that incident at his pond after we stocked it with rainbows. It's a constant battle.
 
17m2, 17hmr, 22lr in that order. Don't really care what the ammo costs, my annual Safari runs me about $2K in travel and accommodations, and worth every penny. I did some centerfire stuff in the past but we tend to put on a lot of miles enjoying the scenery while we hunt and everything bigger than rimfire tends to get heavy as the day wears on. I still maintain there is no finer practice for offhand shooting that a day in the gopher patch.
 
I shot about 200 with my savage bmag this year already, really impressed with the 17 wsm. I don't think nothing beats a 22-250 with 40 grain v-max bullets, they just get vaporized.
 
I usually opt for the 22LR, but it has been a few years since I went out for field rats. Last time I was out I used a 35 Whelen with 200gr soft points.
 
Hotwheels81 said:
I always enjoy a patched .50cal round ball over 60gr of FFFg, bowls them over in a dramatic fashion if you aim good and low :)
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I have shot gophers with .54 cal round ball. Fun but way too slow for a good field.

I have prob killed more gophers with .22 rf than anything else. Longest shot has been a bit over 200 yds.

I've been using a custom built 221 Fireball for a couple of years but am kinda gravitating to be 17 Fireball for its absolute lack of recoil and fun to shoot factor.

One of my favourite gopher guns is a 6BR slinging 70gr Ballistic Tips. The thing is just stupidly accurate. You have to try to miss and it is good for some serious distance.

Longest kills I ever made were 630 yds with a hot rodded 243 Win. However that cartridge beats the bbl way too fast for any kind of volume shooting.
 
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