2016 gopher thread?

[Bowhntr4life]

33362 + 195= 33557

1 with the truck
32 with the bow
The rest with a .22

Nothing better than nailing these suckers at 45 yards with an arrow and watching your arrow dance! I might just leave the gun at home next time. Pretty fun morning!

[H380]

Not alot to offer spoiled sask but 358 for me , makes 33915.

[turbolab]

did a service call today for a guy out in the woods his neighbor has a huge gopher problem, when i pulled up and scared them the ground looked like water in the wind crazy. customer said hes known the guy for 35 years and figures there will be no problems with me shooting them on his land, just need to wait till Tuesday to ask permission. best part cattle have kept the grass short.

[marlin1]

33915 + 48 = 33963 getting a little tougher now with the long grass

[urban rednek]

Landowner sent us over to another quarter he just finished baling yesterday.
33,963 + 185 = 34,148
And 3 badgers.

[spoiledsaskhunter]

HAvent posted for quite awhile h380.........been walleye fish in sask and am now partway home from rupert (caught limits of everything!)

I'll get my tally book out when I get home.......what's been keeping u so busy?

[urban rednek]

34,148 + 171 = 34,319

[marlin1]

34 148 + 24 = 34172

[Bowhntr4life]

34172 + 79 = 34251

Wife and I went out for two hours with the bows last night. First shot my wife ever took at a gopher with her bow and she drove it square in the neck at 20 yards. She had a blast!

#proudhusband

[spoiledsaskhunter]

34251 + 607 = 34,858............they're going to bed already!

[Big_Willy]

Wow! Some impressive totals. I have shot around 700 this year. I got an early start, shooting my first ground squirrel in February.

However, this years taller grass and mosquitos have dampened my enthusiasm lately.

I am hoping for a nice Autumn to bump-up my final 2016 total. I shot my last 2015 "gopher" during the Thanksgiving weekend.

However, I noticed that the number of "gophers" visible, generally, seems to be trailing off in my area. Is there some explanation for this?

-Willy

[threeforthree]

Originally Posted by Big_Willy

Wow! Some impressive totals. I have shot around 700 this year. I got an early start, shooting my first ground squirrel in February.

However, this years taller grass and mosquitos have dampened my enthusiasm lately.

I am hoping for a nice Autumn to bump-up my final 2016 total. I shot my last 2015 "gopher" during the Thanksgiving weekend.

However, I noticed that the number of "gophers" visible, generally, seems to be trailing off in my area. Is there some explanation for this?

-Willy

Despite the abundance of adult females in the population, males compete vigorously and aggressively for mates. Even though the population sex ratio is female biased, the operational sex ratio is male biased. The operational sex ratio is the ratio of estrous females per breeding male. Because only females in estrus are available for mating, and each female is in estrus for only 1-3 hours on a single afternoon of the year, estrous females are a commodity in short supply. When viewed in this manner, males outnumber estrous females on almost all days of the mating season.

After the emergence of litters in May, the population includes all age and sex classes of squirrels for a short time. Then, adult male Richardson's ground squirrels enter hibernation in early June, leaving only adult females and juveniles in the active above-ground population. Adult females enter hibernation about 2 weeks after males, usually in late June and early July, and normally all adult Richardson's ground squirrels are in hibernation by late July. This now leaves juveniles as the only active squirrels in the population. Juvenile females enter hibernation in August, but their brothers stay above ground until October

[Big_Willy]

Originally Posted by threeforthree

Despite the abundance of adult females in the population, males compete vigorously and aggressively for mates. Even though the population sex ratio is female biased, the operational sex ratio is male biased. The operational sex ratio is the ratio of estrous females per breeding male. Because only females in estrus are available for mating, and each female is in estrus for only 1-3 hours on a single afternoon of the year, estrous females are a commodity in short supply. When viewed in this manner, males outnumber estrous females on almost all days of the mating season.

After the emergence of litters in May, the population includes all age and sex classes of squirrels for a short time. Then, adult male Richardson's ground squirrels enter hibernation in early June, leaving only adult females and juveniles in the active above-ground population. Adult females enter hibernation about 2 weeks after males, usually in late June and early July, and normally all adult Richardson's ground squirrels are in hibernation by late July. This now leaves juveniles as the only active squirrels in the population. Juvenile females enter hibernation in August, but their brothers stay above ground until October

Thanks for that detailed explanation. Kind of a bummer though. So, ground squirrel hibernation is based on their mating cycle not seasonal changes?

-Willy

[Big Sky]

Lotsa info on gophers on this site, from the UofL.
I found the section regarding hibernation to be the most interesting.

In early January, Richardson's ground squirrels spend 20-25 consecutive days in torpor, with body temperature dropping as low as 0°C.

http://research.uleth.ca/rgs/hib_physiol.cfm