I just spent 5 days shooting gophers in Norht Dakota last week with my .204. Nice thing about gophers is that they are not as smart a prairie dogs so they dont all dissapear when the shooting starts. I went through over 300 rounds of the .204 ammo and around 2000 rounds of .22 while the .204 was cooling down. Also a great way to introduce he kids to shooting. My 7 year old scored around 100 kills himself and my 4 year old daughter took several shots but no kills. She really liked getting involved though. Start them early and camo comes in pink.
I tried to past a web address for the video. If the link does not work it can easily be found by searching google video by searching ".204 vs gopher"
oldrocks: Good job with the video buddy! Ya just gotta love the helicopter launches on squirrels with the 204.
Those rats appear to look almost exactly like our Skippy out here, color, size, posture all the same. Maybe they're increasing their territory? Maybe it's a rodent invasion!
Good for you to get the youngsters started too. If our sport is to survive, they are the answer. Looks like you had a great time, especially by the sound of the laughing in the video (hard not to, eh?).
Semper Fortis
Rick in Oregon
NRA Life/OHA/VHA/VVA
Oregon, East of the Cascades - Where Common Sense Still Prevails
Thanks for all thge nice comments. The video work is almost as addicting as the shooting.
Our gophers are about half the size of a prairie dog but look almost identical, just lack the black tip on the tail. If you can tell from the video the pastures were almost overrun with gophers. Often times there were dozens of targets to choose from and many spectacular shots were not recorded because the cameral and the rifle were looking at different gophers. Also unlike prairie dogs, we could pick off multiples and the rest would just stand there wondering what the noise was. Most of our shots were between 50 yards and 100 yards. No need for longer shots except for the satisfaction of hitting them.
This spot is family ground just outside of Bowbells North Dakota. All shooters are welcome as long as they stop at the house first. If you happen to be heading up that direction email me and I can give you local contact information.
We started out shooting the Hornaday 32 grain hollowpoints with the advertised 4200+ fps but swithched over to the A-Merc American Ammunition 39 grain BTRT. I think they run about $12 or $13 a box versus the $24 or higher for the Hornaday rounds. I could not tell any difference between the two loads based upon the terminal performance on the gophers.
I am just stockpiling brass right and will need to start handloading soon.
That looks like fun! Great background music. My 12 year old son and I like to shoot squirell with our 22 magnums. Some of my best days ever. Keep em hunting and you will spend time with them forever.
If anybody wants to see the high quality version just send me a private message and I can email you that version. You will need a high speed connection because it is around 8 megabites but it is much higher quality than what shows up in the link.
