Montana gophers?
- Thread starter Frank44
- Start date
Krustyklimber
New member
I think the 12th to 17th green would be a good place to set up...
They're pretty drunk by then, and wouldn't be as likely to spook.
Jeff
They're pretty drunk by then, and wouldn't be as likely to spook.
Jeff
coyotebuster
New member
Do you mean golfers or gophers?
Krustyklimber
New member
Frank,
Sorry 'bout the good natured ribbin'! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Really though I would think you'd actually be interested in shootting Prairie dogs, in Montana.
Gophers are small and don't come up to be shot at often.
Is there a particular reason you want to go to Montana?
Another site is having a gathering in April, in eastern Ore., to shoot sage rats (a smaller cousin of the P-dog), and it is open to any and all who would like to attend.
If you have your heart set, or your schedule, and you are definitely going to Montana, I would post on this board (and others) that you are headed that way, and need someone to hunt with.
Getting permission to shoot diggers of all types is usually not going to be hard, and P-dog towns are easy to spot (even going down the freeway at 90mph). So finding targets shouldn't be hard even if you end up searching for them on public lands.
Now that the fun is over, and we stopped teasin' you... maybe some guys from Montana will seriously join in here, and share the wealth of knowledge.
Jeff
Sorry 'bout the good natured ribbin'! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Really though I would think you'd actually be interested in shootting Prairie dogs, in Montana.
Gophers are small and don't come up to be shot at often.
Is there a particular reason you want to go to Montana?
Another site is having a gathering in April, in eastern Ore., to shoot sage rats (a smaller cousin of the P-dog), and it is open to any and all who would like to attend.
If you have your heart set, or your schedule, and you are definitely going to Montana, I would post on this board (and others) that you are headed that way, and need someone to hunt with.
Getting permission to shoot diggers of all types is usually not going to be hard, and P-dog towns are easy to spot (even going down the freeway at 90mph). So finding targets shouldn't be hard even if you end up searching for them on public lands.
Now that the fun is over, and we stopped teasin' you... maybe some guys from Montana will seriously join in here, and share the wealth of knowledge.
Jeff
I shoot gophers every spring in Western Montana, near Missoula. They are really ground squirrels, but the locals call them gophers.
In the Missoula area, the season is all of April and May. If it's been really cold winter, they may not come up in any numbers until Mid April. In early Spring it can get down to the mid to low 20's at night, but they still come out during the day. Weather is unpredictable in spring, I've shot them in sun, rain, hail, and driving snow -- all within a 15-minute window.
Edited: Although active all summer, during warm weather you might as well quit hunting between 11am-3pm (or more) because they'll all be in their holes keeping cool.
They are active all summer, probably until late September, but the alfalfa hay gets to be too high by June 1. When the grass is tall they can feed all day without being seen. On the ranch I hunt, he cuts his hay around July 4 which provides another 2 weeks of hunting. But by then it is very hot laying out in the sun and the barrel get hot and doesn't want to cool down so I probably only have 1 hunt in early July.
My wife has a friend with a large ranch near Livingston MT, right on the Yellowstone River. Some of her land goes up 2000+ feet from the river so is cooler than the lowlands. There the gophers don't come out in any great numbers until May. I think the pups are born in May, so that's probably the best time to hunt gophers in MT.
One good thing about hunting varmints in MT is that no license is required. There are no limits for gophers. If you decide to go to the Zortman area to hunt Prairie Dogs, make sure you check the latest laws as restrictions are popping up everywhere.
Good luck and have fun.
In the Missoula area, the season is all of April and May. If it's been really cold winter, they may not come up in any numbers until Mid April. In early Spring it can get down to the mid to low 20's at night, but they still come out during the day. Weather is unpredictable in spring, I've shot them in sun, rain, hail, and driving snow -- all within a 15-minute window.
Edited: Although active all summer, during warm weather you might as well quit hunting between 11am-3pm (or more) because they'll all be in their holes keeping cool.
They are active all summer, probably until late September, but the alfalfa hay gets to be too high by June 1. When the grass is tall they can feed all day without being seen. On the ranch I hunt, he cuts his hay around July 4 which provides another 2 weeks of hunting. But by then it is very hot laying out in the sun and the barrel get hot and doesn't want to cool down so I probably only have 1 hunt in early July.
My wife has a friend with a large ranch near Livingston MT, right on the Yellowstone River. Some of her land goes up 2000+ feet from the river so is cooler than the lowlands. There the gophers don't come out in any great numbers until May. I think the pups are born in May, so that's probably the best time to hunt gophers in MT.
One good thing about hunting varmints in MT is that no license is required. There are no limits for gophers. If you decide to go to the Zortman area to hunt Prairie Dogs, make sure you check the latest laws as restrictions are popping up everywhere.
Good luck and have fun.
Last year we shot 183 gophers on Feb. 18, two days later there was a foot of snow on the ground. Gopher shooting is good from the time the snow melts until the grass gets about 6 inches high. I think the best months are March and April (if the snow melts in March). After the young are born( mid May?) can be good shooting also, if the grass doesn't get too high.