Posted: 7/4/2010 9:19:44 AM EDT
Went out to pick peas a little while ago and the first thing I see is a pea plant turning yellow. Oh well, toss it out...except the bottom has been cut cleanly.  Picked up the two plants next to it and they were the same way...then I saw the gopher hole, still open. I sat down on the 5 gallon bucket and pulled my SP101 out of the holster to wait. Sure enough, the little shit came back to fill in the top of the hole. I hope it got a concussion, if not exploded, when that 2.25" .357 mag went off 14 inches from his wee little head.  I dug around a little and didn't find it, I think the hole may have been facing the wrong way for me to hit mr. gopher from where I was sitting. 
I don't really want to use any poison for fear that my plant roots will suck it up and put it out as fruit. Not sure what else to do other than sit around the hole and wait. |
| Lead poison usually works if it makes contact...next time use a 20 gauge. I know an older retired guy who sits in his backyard for hours each day with his 20 gauge and buckshot. He shoots gophers and moles. He always sees the moles making their way through his yard then BANG...problem solved. i just can't sit still that long |
| A small conibear trap stands a good chance of catching them. Our soil must not soak up water nearly as fast as yours, or maybe you got one hell of a tunnel system. When I was in school we would borrow the janitors pail and fill it up to flood out gophers in the school yard, one pail usually did it, and the gopher would come out nearly immediately. |
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Gopher trap. DUH! Yes, they make them and they work. Yup. 
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i291/ShaneArfcom/100_2292.jpg http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i291/ShaneArfcom/100_2293.jpg Oh, and juicy fruit gum seems to work great as bait. My neighbor uses peanut butter as bait in a very similar trap. He has great success. I hate gophers. |
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What would be a good bait for big fat groundhogs? They are near my buddy's aunts house so we can't shoot them, but my traps will do the job just fine. Just need a good bait idea Well, from this thread it appears that both peanut butter and juicy fruit gum tend to work. 
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Used to be they sold a box trap that was like an inverted mouse trap/guillotine. You didn't need any bait on them, you burried them and a little light leaked through the hole in the back. The gopher would see the light and move to investigate, as he went through the trap he'd trip it and the loop would close on him catching him against the roof of the box.
Worked great. Haven't seen one in over 20 years. |
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When I was a kid I used to get paid 50 cents a gopher by the custodian of the local cemetary..
All I used was a gallon milk jug about 3/4 full of water..Just stick it right in the hole and as soon as it empties the gopher runs right up in the contianer. Caught!! You just have to make sure there are no escape routes..(other holes to escape through)
It actually does work and it's nice and cheap.. 
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