Pellet Guns?

[Hawkmoon]

I know pellets are very soft (or I think so) so that may help keep the ricochets down. But then again what do I know? It sounds like you need a shooting tower so you can take your shots into the ground to minimize the risk of ricochet. I have seen people with them when they are out predator hunting but mainly to get better visibility. An elevated shooting position would help you spot the little bastiges and then you could use whatever gun you wanted it seems.

.22 bullets are pretty soft, too.

Ben 1,000 fps is just about sonic velocity. IMHO you'd be far better off buying some standard velocity or subsonic .22 hollow points and using your .22 rifle.

You definitely can't find a pellet rifle that will reliably and humanely dispatch the little rascals for anywhere near the $100 price point.

[Bogie]

Gophers?
 
Do you have a gas lawn mower? Run a hose from the exhaust into a hole, and let it idle.
 
Do NOT do this close to an occupied dwelling.

[Jim147]

Ok I have a Beeman QT-GP that came with both barrels. Works good.

Or you could just watch Caddy Shack and do it like he did. But if I kill all the golfers they'll put me in jail.

[Andiron]

Off topic,  but I really enjoy watching this Brit do pest control with high end air rifles and his old black lab.  Cathartic to watch this guy annihilate pigeons like he's running an aim bot.
https://youtu.be/c5f4TlVOEW4


I've got a couple old Sheridans for my (very) limited pellet gun work.  One .22 and a 5mm.  They work great, and I like the stock trigger.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/185105100051?hash=item2b191fad13:g:ShoAAOSw3VRhZw33

https://www.ebay.com/itm/194442028911?hash=item2d45a5e76f:g:LS8AAOSww9ZhaiQr

[JTHunter]

Ben - I have two and both are .177 caliber.  The older one is a Chinese made side-cock (not a "break barrel) at ~800fps.  But there is no possibility of putting a scope on it.  Last year, I bought another, a break barrel, with a scope already mounted but I haven't been able to sight it in as of yet.
The first isn't real accurate and I have used it on some "tree-rats" but at 50', it is only marginally effective.  Even with a head shot, I wouldn't expect it to be effective on a gopher.  And by "gopher", are you referring to a "groundhog/woodchuck" ?

[BobR]

Ben - I have two and both are .177 caliber.  The older one is a Chinese made side-cock (not a "break barrel) at ~800fps.  But there is no possibility of putting a scope on it.  Last year, I bought another, a break barrel, with a scope already mounted but I haven't been able to sight it in as of yet.
The first isn't real accurate and I have used it on some "tree-rats" but at 50', it is only marginally effective.  Even with a head shot, I wouldn't expect it to be effective on a gopher.  And by "gopher", are you referring to a "groundhog/woodchuck" ?

Seeing he is in Southern Idaho I would bet money he means ground squirrel. Most likely the Piute ground squirrel, a burrowing ground squirrel.

bob

[Ben]

I'm talking gophers and voles in the yard. I have rockchucks in the lower pastures, but gophers in the upper one where I hire the gopher lady.

Looking it up at Idaho DFG, what we call gophers locally are apparently Piute ground squirrels, as Bob said. I'll take a picture the next time I catch one. There is also the Southern Idaho ground squirrel, which is protected for some reason.

[230RN]

I got a Feinwerkbau .177 from a friend and I thought "Oh boy, silent shooting."

Well, the noise of the piston itself was too loud for my application.  Sounded  somewhat like someone slamming a door.  Amazingly accurate with the Beeman scope on it and the right pellets, though.

Was going to send it back to Beeman for refurbishing, but one of my sons got into it and rebuilt it himself, with excellent results.

And I hate to say this, but it's a bit too noisy with close neighbors.  One shot a day, OK, "screen door closing," but more than that gets a bit suspicious.

Terry, 230RN

[MechAg94]

There are air rifle designs that are quieter, but I have trouble keeping up with which ones are quiet.  I think it is the ones that either pump up or have an air tank.

[BobR]

I'm talking gophers and voles in the yard. I have rockchucks in the lower pastures, but gophers in the upper one where I hire the gopher lady.

Looking it up at Idaho DFG, what we call gophers locally are apparently Piute ground squirrels, as Bob said. I'll take a picture the next time I catch one. There is also the Southern Idaho ground squirrel, which is protected for some reason.

I am intrigued by this "gopher lady". What is it she does? When I went to Calgary to visit a friend I would spend a day or two clearing her pastures of ground squirrels. She also had a 80+ year old guy that would come out and shoot them, he could stack the little bastiges up. I guess that would make ne a "gopher guy".

bob

[AJ Dual]

If I had a specific pest elimination need, I'd probably just figure out a quiet subsonic .22LR solution for my SBR'd Ruger Charger pocket rifle and Gemtech suppressor combo.

Sounds like a pneumatic roofing nailgun when fired.

Ooohh... Both are 1/2x28 threaded. I should try my 9mm can on it sometime and see if the larger volume quiets it more than the larger hole lets noise escape!

Anyway, if I was going to buy an airgun, it would be a PCP from AirForce. One of their SS models. I got to take several shots with one and it was boringly accurate and indoor quiet.

https://www.pyramydair.com/product/airforce-talon-ss-pcp-air-rifle-spin-loc-blue?m=2243

[Ben]

I am intrigued by this "gopher lady". What is it she does?

Funny story. She's a local gal who just started trapping gophers for the local farmers and ranchers. Idaho has a bounty on them, and you can actually get in hot water if you have a bunch of them you don't control (not to mention getting neighbors mad at you). So she drives all around the area on her ATV with a golf bag full of old busted golf clubs and her box of traps. She uses the golf clubs to stake the traps, so everybody around here knows what fields she works because of the golf clubs. She gets $3/gopher and I usually end up paying her $500-$600 by the time the season is over.

I figured she was just from a poorer local household (her husband custom farms around here) and needing the money, but then later came to learn she is actually a somewhat famous author of some kind of self-help books. Now that gopher season is over for her, she'll be traveling the country doing speaking tours. I guess trapping the gophers is just something she likes to do to get outdoors with her grandkids.

[MillCreek]

^^^This is exactly the sort of retirement gig that I need!

[charby]

Funny story. She's a local gal who just started trapping gophers for the local farmers and ranchers. Idaho has a bounty on them, and you can actually get in hot water if you have a bunch of them you don't control (not to mention getting neighbors mad at you). So she drives all around the area on her ATV with a golf bag full of old busted golf clubs and her box of traps. She uses the golf clubs to stake the traps, so everybody around here knows what fields she works because of the golf clubs. She gets $3/gopher and I usually end up paying her $500-$600 by the time the season is over.

I figured she was just from a poorer local household (her husband custom farms around here) and needing the money, but then later came to learn she is actually a somewhat famous author of some kind of self-help books. Now that gopher season is over for her, she'll be traveling the country doing speaking tours. I guess trapping the gophers is just something she likes to do to get outdoors with her grandkids.

I'm going to trap weasels in January with boxes, I think I'd like this lady.

You could do some weasel boxes but bait for gophers.

Video on Weasel boxes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epykoVZ_ufU

[JN01]

On spring piston air guns, you must use a scope rated for air guns, they will destroy firearm scopes.

[charby]

On spring piston air guns, you must use a scope rated for air guns, they will destroy firearm scopes.

x2

[Ben]

^^^This is exactly the sort of retirement gig that I need!

What kind of self-help books will you be writing? 

[T.O.M.]

There's a guy on YouTube, channel is called Ted's  Holdover.  He's a pest control guy who shoots video through his scope of his shots.  I get a kick out of watching slow motion hits with pellets.  Sue me.  Anyways, he uses high-end air rifles,  ones that have air tanks filled from compressors or scuba tanks.  Guns are by no means inexpensive, and the glass he is using is as expensive as the guns. 

Reason I bring this up is that in his videos, he is taking shots at 100 yards.  So Ben, the neighbor's home is in range of high power pellet guns.

[Bogie]

Remember some Tasco "Custom Shop" scopes from the late 1990s?
 
I think they had an 8-40x56 30mm ring side focus?
 
Get one. From what I understand, and I had one, the things rock for airguns.

[JTHunter]

I'm talking gophers and voles in the yard. I have rockchucks in the lower pastures, but gophers in the upper one where I hire the gopher lady.

Looking it up at Idaho DFG, what we call gophers locally are apparently Piute ground squirrels, as Bob said. I'll take a picture the next time I catch one. There is also the Southern Idaho ground squirrel, which is protected for some reason.

Okay, then I expect that they are smaller than the gray squirrels we have around here.  That is going to make for an interestingly small target.
IIRC, voles aren't much larger than a field mouse.  If so, what about a re-usable "rat" trap?  Or, if you are having drought issues where you live, there was a YouTube video I saw some time ago where this person used a 5 gallon plastic bucket and a trick floor that dumped the mouse into the water and automatically reset itself. The bucket was only 1/4 to 1/3 full of water so they couldn't climb or jump out and drowned.  With a little bait (peanut butter?) over the water, the mice would climb the ramp to the bait, trip the floor, and drown - multiple times.
If these Paiute ground squirrels are the size of a rat (or larger), a 5 gal. bucket probably isn't big enough.

[JTHunter]

^^^This is exactly the sort of retirement gig that I need!

That does sound interesting, doesn't it? 

[Ben]

Just for clarity, shooting them is not my main control method. I have traps. The shooting is just for more "interactive" control if I happen to be in the backyard and see one.

[De Selby]

Just for clarity, shooting them is not my main control method. I have traps. The shooting is just for more "interactive" control if I happen to be in the backyard and see one.

Daisy 880 for a cheap control - reliably kills ground squirrels

[charby]

They do make a fragmenting .22LR ammo.

[MechAg94]

Are there breeds of dogs that are better at hunting stuff like gophers? 


All I know for sure is don't hire a groundskeeper.