My son and I are off on Gopher Safari tomorrow for a few days. We will be a couple of yards south of the Canadian border in central Montana. There is a good crop this year and the babies are up. Pictures to follow upon our return.

BR, DOn't know much about gophers but noticed the line about "babies are up"! Rule of thumb here in the East, "Don't shoot groundhogs before Memorial Day!!" Every female you shoot in March or April............you just eliminated 3-5 good targets!!! I opened season early this year because a farmer told us he was going to poison the dens if we didn't shoot them! 132 and counting!!! GHD PS: Babies from the surrounding area are moving into previously inhabited dens in the open fields.............could ALMOST justify an AR type rifle for them now!! NOT REALLY! Sold a RRA 24" Varminter that is doing less than MOA at 600 with 75 grain Hornady's..............LOVE TO TURN THAT BOLT!!!

Here's my Tikka .223 set up in Western Idaho last week on a ground squirrel shoot. The mounds just above the rear of my scope are at 100 yds.

The weather cooperated and we had a good two and a half day shoot. Gophers (Richardson Ground Squirrels) were out in force. We shot until we were worn out and my eyes couldn't focus any longer from looking through scopes. We got a bonus with a goodly amount of Jackrabbits and a fat Badger. We just cruise around the edges of the Wheat fields and shoot from the truck. Here's a couple of pictures of some of the empties that we gathered up in the truck. I think just as many went out the window. Alot are down in the defroster vents and will probably never come out.

Bitterroot,
That is a great photo, I remember truck floors littered with 22lr just like that.
Jon

WOW Thats a lot of 600 OverKill brass! Your shoulder must be a bit sore after that marathon.

Just kidding there big guy. Awesome culling of those man-eating, village-stomping, awe-inspiring gophers.

bitteroot its been a great year for gophers in north central montana and I see you have helped to try and put a dent in them.I was out yesterday with a newbe and he was hooked after the first hour.Great to live in a state where we can drive around with a rifle barrel hanging out the window and its accepted.

Where abouts were you at, Bitterroot? My son and I just returned from Chester. I just wish it was closer to our home. (That 600 mile drive is a bit long for the boys). We shot a few gophers, too. But missed our chance at the badger. I hope to return with my wife in July and maybe get another crack at him. I did take a couple of shots with one of our farmer's Savage in .17 HMR and was quite impressed with its' performance. Really tears up the gophers. Much more impressive than the standard .22 lr hollow points.

2ndtimer,

We were north-east of Chinook MT on the Canada border. The closer you get to Canada, the more Gophers. Ranchers are happy to let you on and shoot. Another good area is around Sunburst MT off of I-15 again at the Canada border. The Hutterite colonies are a good place to shoot; take them a case of cheap beer and you're in.

Thats alot of 17 HMR ammo...

What kind of rifle and optics you shooting? Im thinking about picking me up a Savage 93R17 BTVS and stick a 14x mueller on it.

How does that Hornady ammo shoot for you?

I shot a little over 1,000 rounds of 17 HMR in two days and my son did the same with his 22 LR. I have an old Rugger 77/22 mag. that I re-barreled with a Lilja barrel. I have a Leupold 3-9. Nothing fancy, but it sure shoots. The Hornady 17 gr. shoots the best out of my rifle and the 17 HMR really tears them up. It won't disintegrate them like my 17 Mach IV, but it is much more pleasant to shoot.

Nicely done, I was out in the Belt, Raynesford area in late may and things were extremely wet. found very little to shoot at. Kept hearing things like plague and too much rain drowning them in their holes. Shot maybe 25 or 30 is all. With the low volume of shooting I stuck with the AR. The last few years that area seems to have a lot less gophers.

Those cases down the vent may turn up in a bad way. I had to tear the heater box out of my old ford truck in the middle of winter. .22 cases were keeping the blend door from moving, hence no heat.