Was wondering what to use Gopher Hunting ,,1 a broadhead,, 2 Judos, 3 rubber blunts, or should I just use wing nuts,
Steal blunts ,any claw type blunt,judos,and broadheads will work . Those rubber things just bounce off of the ground squirrels out here. I like to put addaers behind the blunts also.
Buddy of mine loves hex heads, he gave me one but I'm not too sold on it yet. I love judos, and use the glue on ones with a 50 gr. steel insert glued in it so I can put it on carbon arrows.
I don't know what the Hex heads work like on gophers but I was very unimpressed with their preformance on grouse last fall. Of the three grouse I hit I only recovered one and that was after lots of chasing. I always used Judos before that and loved them. I think I will try BHs for gopher this spring.
Thumper... remember that there are ground squirrels all over the country and of all shapes and sizes.
These are Richardson's Ground Squirrels. As you can see, the rubber blunt didn't just bounce off.
(http://www.tradgang.com/upload/charlie/groundsquirrelcarnage.jpg)
Having said that, I've killed literally thousands of ground squirrels with regular steel blunts. Cheap and effective on the smaller squirrels.
Gordon,
13 Stripped Ground Squirrels were my 'Big Game' when I was a kid and I shot all of them with field tips. Stick a field tip through one and they don't go anywhere. One of my favorite techniques was to walk up to one and when it starts getting nervous, walk in slow circles around it, closing the gap as you go. When you get close enough, many times just their head will be visible over the top of the hole. If you shoot just under the head your field tip will slid under the grass and pin the bugger to the back of his hole. Take a "whacking stick" or just step on their heads.
My best afternoon ever, I shot 10 with my Kodiak Magnum. Great summer fun.
Steele blunts are the best great shock and pins them to the ground. A close miss with a judo and they can suffer from being ripped open from the springs and down the hole..gone.
A couple or three years ago I and another Tg'er went to hunt with Curtis in Texas. The hogs weren't cooperating so we tried our hands at the pocket gophers in the middle of the day. Curtis nailed this one with a three blade. I think it's a Snuffer. I've slept since then. He made a good shot.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3088/2362045827_af13680cda_z.jpg?zz=1)
Thats some good shooting Charlie Those are tiny targets.
Hammers from KK and 3R
After watching Caddy Shack the other night, I think I will be using Big 3's.
I'd invite you to check out our Talon small game heads. A bit of both the steel blunt and broadhead in the design. Here's a pic.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v215/missstanna/Small%20Game%20Broadhead/Talons-1256.jpg)
Stan
Those Talons look interesting. What weights are they?
...hhmmmm...
I get it if they're tearin up your yard.
But other than that I'd have to plan to eat it.
To each their own way.
Takes a good shot to get one that's for certain.
QuoteOriginally posted by Stoutstuff:
Those Talons look interesting. What weights are they?
I think they have 100 and 125grn screw in and a 150grn glue on
Yessir, 100 and 125 are screw-in, 150 is the weight of the glue-on. Thanks.
Zradix you plan to eat Gophers?? and yes they are tearing up the country ,, lets see the other options for land owners is poison .. and besides it's tradition in these parts to wack a few gophers good target pratice :archer:
Gordon,
No. I don't plan to eat gophers.
I don't plan to shoot them either.
Maybe you didn't comprehend completely my meaning in my first post.
I'll sum it up again.. "I can understand when they're wrecking your land and to each their own"
I got caught up in the moment and shot a chippy for "fun" a few years back. And I did eat/choke it down.
I don't want to do that again.
I'm not trying to tell anybody what's wrong or right.
That's for each person to decide on their own.
Again... "to each their own"
Just not on MY to do list.
Easy now!!
I use steel blunts or judo points. Both work well, just plain fun. Very small targets. Gophers here in MT are the Richardson Ground Squirrels, same as Charlies.
Don... I've shot a bunch of squirrels up W.Boulder creek on a friends ranch. Bet I didn't do much damage to the "herd".
As all westerners know, ground squirrels do a hell of a lot of damage, can pass disease and are a danger to livestock and humans as well.
I sure miss not having them to shoot. It made me a better hunting archer.
(http://www.tradgang.com/upload/charlie/Groundsquirrel2.jpg)
These little buggers are a blast to hunt, if you get to where you can hit a gopher regular deer and elk are a piece of cake. ;) Like has been said already the squirells we have up here destroy literally thousands of acres of pasture land every year. It might be different is the little 1" dia critter would dig a similiar size hole but they aren't happy till that hole is a foot in diameter with a dirt mound that may be six foot in diameter. Imagine a few hundred of these per acre and you can start to get the picture...
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/gotahunt/RIMG0010a.jpg)
When I first moved into my house (16 yrs ago) the entire yard/area was INFESTED with the 13-lined ground squirrels.
At the time, my wife was always against killing them. By the end of the first summer, when she learned that she would never be able to grow ANYTHING...she changed her mind.
The decendants of those early raiders are just starting to show themselves for the summer. After getting after them for a bit, they get wise and become quite a challenge.
Great pictures Charlie and Doug! :thumbsup:
Gordon!
I've been after these gritters since before the earth was green! Using all kinds of forms of termination. But my archery skills as many have posted are a lot better using gophers as targets,also helping the local farmer with the pasture cleanup. I enjoy stump shooting most of the time during off season but this is fun! Thanks for the reminder . Maxx
I'm curious..
And I'm not trying to pick a fight..really I'm not.
I see you have pics with your bag for the day.
Obviously you gathered up your kills for a reason rather than just letting them lay.
What do you do with em?
Garden fertilizer, I would imagine the smaller ones might be good bass bait, skins have a use???..
Really just curious.
Thanks
id say furs maybe. or there might be a reward for them...
-hov
The local raptors and scavengers (bald, and golden eagles, red tails, artic gyrs, and especially the ravens make them disappear: of course that is after me getting some target practice/shooting in.
Doug,
That looks like the new Tolke, and the sun was shinning, so the picure must been taken within the past week. The Boulder was high and a redish brown when I drove throgh Big Timber today, looks like your place will be divided in two soon.
I have always liked Judo points and have never had a problem killing stuff with them. They even work good on Porcupines if you shoot them in the head! The only thing I ever shot with a Judo that got away was a big Rock Chuck and that was not a square hit. Zradix, I suppose there are things you could do with them but other than gathering them for a picture I don't know anyone that does. They are nasty little critters and on several occasions I have seen them canibalizing one that has been shot earlier in the day. I always figured that the buzzards got to eat as same as the worms and in nature nothing ever really goes to waste. :thumbsup:
I use a cat for such things, she even lets me have the trophys by leaving them on my door step.
Doug, It looks like your new bow shoots well. Your old bow still does her part well also. Lets shoot some gophers soon. Don
Nah guys, that's an older photo of one of the St Jude bows, a Horn I believe... Not been many gophers out yet and certainly not enough "Spring" weather or sunshine. Typically our gophers are fair weather critters, windy, cloudy or even too hot and they stay underground.
Wont be long Walt and I may need a boat to get to the shop...
Nope John, I just gathered up those few for the photo shoot.
I forgot to mention that I've found a plain old field point works best for me. Most shots are at partially obscured critters or maybe just an eyeball peeking out of the burrow. The field point will slick thru the grass or even the edge of a dirt mound and not be deflected or stopped. I have witnessed Charlie's big rubber blunt in action though ;)