.22 LR VS Gophers.

[Wade Wilson]

Hello Gentlemen.

I apologize if this has been brought up already,

As a child I grew up on a farm and one of my favorite activities was shooting gophers on my property, the only gun I had at the time was a Remington 514, which is a 22 lr single shot, great rifle to learn off of. It seems like a decade or so ago I was able to put most gophers down in one shot, and the damage was somewhat devastating from a .22 lr Hollow point. Now whenever I visit the farm, these gophers seem much tougher to kill in one shot, I am assuming its the basic watering down of must firearms cartridges that has been occurring, or they have developed an immunity to bullets.

Any suggestions on a good .22 lr hp, or are they all the same?

 

[Art Eatman]

Interesting question. It's been so long since I shot anything with a .22 that I have no answer. However, in searching for a brand/type of ammo which would give me decent groups with my 10/22, I found that the CCI QuikShoks made a larger exit wound in a rock squirrel than I had expected.

FWIW...

 

[gofastman]

Any suggestions on a good .22 lr hp, or are they all the same?

certainly not.

I would try cci stingers or velocitors and see which you like better. stingers explode, velocitors have controlled expansion and deeper penetration.
I feel embarrassed to say this as a Minnesotan, I have never actually seen a gopher... how big are they?

 

[MichaelK]

Hi Wade
Being in Washington, I'm guessing what you are actually shooting at is the Western ground squirrel. I also spend much time shooting them while I was a student at WSU in Pullman.

Fast forward to today, where I am still shooting ground squirrels on my own property, I see wide variance with individual bullets. The worst are 40 grain round noses. A solid hit will result in a squirrel dashing off to it's hole, never to be seen again. A CCI Stinger however will result in a tattered lump of squirrel burger that might wrap itself around whatever that squirrel was standing on. Just switch to Stingers and all the old memories will come back.

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

I'm guessing what you are actually shooting at is the Western ground squirrel

Probably. Gophers are rarely seen above ground unless you plow one up.

CCI Stingers will go end to end on a prairie dog at 50 yards, and kill them effectively out to 150 yards or so. I prefer the 17HMR for a rimfire varmint round, but the Stingers will do the job.

 

[K-Rod]

Lol!!! I was born in Walla Walla WA. Anyone who's watched Looney Tunes has heard of it. He is taking about ground squirrels, ground rats, ground dogs etc. I've even heard a mean old farmer call them "Dirty rotten no good for nothing little SOB's!!! Kill'em!! Kill'em all!!!" (my Uncle BTW) Actually IDK about anywhere else in the states & I'm not saying that the Columbia Basin is different than anywhere else but, gophers would come up in my Uncles field BUT you couldn't really see them. You would just see dirt flying out the hole. We'd just shoot at the top of the hole.

As to the OP, back then as kids we used just bulk Blazers & they worked fine. Now I use Stingers when I go to my Uncles with the .22's but i mainly use my 17HMR with the 17gr V-Max but thats completely off topic. I have to say though those V-Max make a hell of a mess of a ground squirrel!!!

 

[Art Eatman]

Folks probably oughta browse around in Wikipedia and check out ground squirrels, gophers, chipmunks, prairie dogs and suchlike. There are differences...

To me, e.g., "ground squirrel" is a chipmunk-sized critter. I've seen them on the east side of the Black Rock Desert to the northwest of Winnemucca. We have that size in my area, known as "antelope squirrels". And, we have rock squirrels across western Texas; squirrel sized, but dark gray toward black in color.

 

[HOOfan_1]

In my experience....you can shoot a 20 pound groundhog in the right place with a solid 40 grain .22LR from about 30 yards and it will be about as dead and as kick as if you shot it in the head with a BMG. Groundhogs are the largest member of the ground squirrel tribe (a sub division of subfamily taxonomically speaking)

 

[Wade Wilson]

Hey guys,

The place where I am shooting these creatures at is in Northern Idaho where I grew up, in a small town called Bonner's Ferry. The critters I am shooting are definitely some form of ground squirrel, but my father always referred to them as gophers, I will have to try out those CCI stingers. I would say size wise they are larger then the average red squirrel, definitely not a 20 prairie dog.

 

[K-Rod]

Wade,

I live in Sandpoint now. If you ever need help with the critters, pm me.

 

[CoastieShep]

Growing up, I'd take out ground squirrels out to 100yds shooting yellow jackets out of my 39a. One shot kills every time.
These were out in California and about the same size as the gray squirrels down here in Florida.

 

[Wade Wilson]

Those Yellow Jackets have a mean looking HP on them, I'll have to check em out.

 

[Kingcreek]

I've had hours of sport shooting what are probably chipmunks with a Browning .22 Buckmark Silhouette and 4x Leupold LER pistol scope. I use some of the many bricks(500) of PMC I got years ago for $12 each but CCI minimags and stingers work great.

 

[MichaelK]

Hey guys,

The place where I am shooting these creatures at is in Northern Idaho where I grew up, in a small town called Bonner's Ferry. The critters I am shooting are definitely some form of ground squirrel, but my father always referred to them as gophers, I will have to try out those CCI stingers. I would say size wise they are larger then the average red squirrel, definitely not a 20 prairie dog.

Actually, Dad has the right idea! The "name" squirrel has such a warm and fuzzy Chip & Dale kind of sound. Women will lament "Oh my, you shoot squirrels, you mean the ones with the cute fluffy tails?

Gophers however are universally despised, even by women wearing heels and nail polish. In the presence of us guys, just say "ground squirrels". In mixed company stick with "gophers"!

 

[Rem.222]

Gophers are very tough nowdays please don't use anything less that .338 cal on them. lol I use 22 hp mostly on them and praire dogs. When I was younger they seemed to die quicker to me too but my eyes where sharper so maybe was my aim.

 

[Sunray]

"...you mean the ones with the cute fluffy tails..." That eat their young and their dead?
"...assuming its the basic watering down of..." More likely that the rifle doesn't shoot the ammo your using well enough. You have to try a box of as many brands as you can to find the ammo your rifle shoots best. The price of said ammo means nothing.

 

[Quoheleth]

My dad shot scads and scads of striped gophers in the 50s and 60s with a couple of different .22s. All he used was regular high velocity ammo but I can't say as to solids or HPs.

Q

 

[25cschaefer]

I just dispatched two in the back pasture with a couple stingers, took the heads right off. I pushed them down the holes so the dogs wouldn't get to them but as I walked away, about 50 yds or so, I heard one again on the hole. I couldn't get a shot but I walked back to the hole and they had dragged one of the dead down the hole, I assume not for a proper burial.

 

[butcherboy]

ive killed 2 in the past year with a single shot marlin 100g using Rem Golden HP ( bulk box) at 50-75 yds. shot placement is the key. i started out using a ruger 10/22 but didnt like the results. so its a single shot for me. JMHO.

 

[Pilot]

How are the CCI Minimags on small game out of a 16 inch bull barrel 10/22? Would you use hollow points or solid?

 

[leadaddict]

I've shot my fair share of ground squirrels in the back yard with my 10/22 using Federal Bulk pack ammo. Head shots can have explosive results, but other than that it mostly just a hole, though they almost never make it down their hole with any type of hit.

I also shot a couple with my .308 using 110gn V-Max bullets. Amazingly explosive rounds, but the ground squirrel was just too small for it to expand. Both times with center mass shots it left a .30 caliber hold on both sides. I was hoping it would just disappear.

 

[25cschaefer]

V-Max and Varmit Grenades are awesome, especially in 22 cal. They will expand in a ground squirrel the best is when they are laying facing you so it has more room to expand. We reload a 22-250 V-Max to about 4800 fps, you can watch them explode before you hear the gun go off.

 

[801sureshot]

Grew up shooting in central and southern ID. They are called "whistle pigs" cause when the shooting starts they whistle a warning at each other. I'm in NV now and shoot at least a couple every day. I keep .22s in the truck and have never had to shoot one twice. It is fun to get out the .223 with 50 grain V-max and watch the fireworks, .22 has always been enough if you have good shot placement. I find that center of mass is always a sure thing vs a head shot.

 

[IdahoLT1]

In southern Idaho, we mainly have Belding ground squirrels. They have a whole bunch of ninck names but here, its ground squirrel and whistle pig. Out near the East coast, their "pop guts" and in some parts of the Western US, sage rats. They may be a different species but are basically the same genus and family. They arent very big, about the size of a 12oz soda can and they may weigh 1/2lb.




The other popular Varmint here is mostly found in South Eastern Idaho, called "rock chucks". They are nothing more than a yellow-bellied marmot. They are much bigger, about the size of a house cat(5-11lbs) but with shorter legs and a heavier body.

 

[IdahoLT1]

As far as .22LR, I hate them. Theres been numerous times where ive shot the ground squirrel right in the chest not 15 yards away just to have it run in a hole and die slowly. Ive used many forms of hollow points and never had much success.

As much as i dislike ground squirrels, ive never enjoyed seeing any animal suffer. They make some God-awful noises when in pain. The guns i now use are my:
-Beretta CX4 9mm carbine using a 90gr gold dot or XTP hollow point.

-AR15 loaded with a 55gr Hronady Vmax

-.308 Win. loaded with a 110gr. Vmax

I use the .308 about 80% of the time. Some might call it overkill but when I hit one I know it because i can see/hear it even at extended ranges. They usually fly about 10-15ft in the air when hit with the 110gr Vmax and theres a distinct "pop" rght after the gun shot.

Even though its much more expensive than dumping mag after mag of .22LR, Ive become quite a good shot from the sitting position. Its a good form of practice for big game hunting(shooting with your hunting rifle and from different positions).