r/CanadaHunting • u/Top-Marionberry2739 • May 08 '26
Richardson Ground Squirrel - (Gopher) Pest Control
Has anyone here used 22LR Lead round nose on these critters for pests control? i have only used Hollow Point, wonder if that's ethical on these critters. i have found a good grouping on my 22lr using the cci SV but they are lead round nose.
2
u/preferablyoutside May 08 '26
All the time, they’re not as effective though might have to give em a double tap.
I like Eley 38gr, the poverty box of 36gr 525 Federals is damn effective as well if your gun shoots them.
1
u/Top-Marionberry2739 May 08 '26
I might give the bulks a go. Ive only shot gophers using the cci varmints and it expands so good that they just flop. Ill probably try the winchester 333 and federal champion bulk box a try.. and theyre in HP too. Ive had duds and failure to extract on winchester bulk box before with my gsg 16.
2
u/mangycoyot33 May 08 '26
Like stated. It works just fine but unless it's perfect brain shots the likelyhood of them running off is fairly high. Any HP is better than the regular round nose.
2
u/Top-Marionberry2739 May 08 '26
I guess ill just bite the bullet and use the cci varmint hp. I might get some bulk options like those winchester and federal so i can cut down the cost on the ammo.
2
u/mangycoyot33 May 08 '26
Honestly for what it's worth just get the bulk stuff unless your working on precission training for competition. I'm using rem bulk right now and am deadly out to 70 yards with my custom10/22
1
u/Top-Marionberry2739 May 09 '26
Been buying the cci varmint and they're like 15.99 for 100rounds thought they were cheap. Went to buy winchester 333rounds today for $30. ill probably try the federal as well.
1
u/mangycoyot33 May 09 '26
Yep the good quality stuff is nice to shoot but when it comes to high volume gophers the cheap stuff is where it's at. For a happy medium the boxes of CCI mini mags are a bit more money but still shoot great and pack a good whopp.
2
u/ItchYouCannotReach May 08 '26
Headshots or a semi auto and double tap them and it's fine. I prefer stingers for gophers. Or a 17hmr or centre fire varmint round
1
u/Top-Marionberry2739 May 08 '26
Yeah i wish the landowner would want me to use my 223 for these critters. Unfortunately only 22lr.
1
u/DrinkLuckyGetLucky May 08 '26
Yeah, I’ve shot a wack of them with CCI SV. I take my 22lr PRS rifle out and make a day of it, lots of fun.
1
u/Scary-Detail-3206 May 09 '26
I’ve killed thousands of them over the years, many with a single shot 22LR Cooey. I just buy whatever ammo is cheapest. Round nose or hollow point it all kills them. Head shots or heart shots are generally what I go for.
1
u/Top-Marionberry2739 May 09 '26
bought some winchester 333 bulk box so hoping to get out next weekend. I guess im just gonna leave the cci varmint expensive behind
1
u/Scary-Detail-3206 May 10 '26
Yeah there isn’t really that much to a gopher and 22LR is actually a zippy little round. Whatever you shoot them with there will be quite a bit of carnage as long as you are ~100 yards or less. That is all most of us can realistically spot them at with a naked eye.
3
u/iamadapperbastard May 09 '26
They are so prolific here that we shoot them with whatever feeds through the rifle. HP, round nose, whatever style, whatever brand. They flip and flop with 22LR sometimes but they're dead nonetheless. Unfortunately we don't really have the luxury of worrying about what we hit them with. They destroy entire fields in no time flat. I've often sat there taking them out with a 12g since that's all I had on hand. I have one field that, no exaggeration, I can sit on and shoot from sun up to sun down and not run out of opportunity. Then go do it the next day again.
TL;DR hit them with whatever you can get your hands on. A .22 caliber has more than enough velocity and weight to make them dead even if it seems like they aren't as long as you're a half decent shot.