Gopher Trap Recommendations

Hi guys, next month I will be visiting my parents in Prescott, Arizona and I was planning on helping them out with a gopher problem in their yard. They tell me there are numerous mounds of dirt in the yard from gophers. I assume these would be pocket gophers. They have tried to gas them but the critters seem to enjoy it. I have never trapped gophers before so I was wondering if anyone had a recommendation for a brand/style of gopher trap. Thanks for any guidance you can provide. Mike

The best gopher trap IMO is Steve Albano's stainless steel "Gophinator." Go to his website at Trapline Products for more info. It's the only gopher trap I use.

Thereafter, dig through the archives on this forum for tips and techniques for guidance in trapping gophers.

Good Luck...

Thanks Aggie, I found a youtube video that shows how to use his trap. I appreciate the tip. Mike

I have caught over 10,000 moles as of this season but this is my first ever gopher last Tuesday in a albano

I would agree, gophinator by trapline is a great product

I am guessing they work well for most gophers. I have used them at times for our large mole(I am talking about the Gophinator) but all they do to most gophers here is smarten them up.
I did catch two this fall with them. Front foot catches. The gopher pictured above is about the size of a Townsend mole. Trapline traps are good traps for the applications they are made for but for the Willamette Valley and it's foot hills they are a second best to the large size Cinch traps and OOS. If they would make a gopher trap twice the length and half again larger jaws (maybe twice the size) I would get a bunch of them.

That gopher above is a pocket gopher after having been in trap for 6 days...plus i am a huge guy...it is much bigger than my eastern moles

Not a big gopher/mole guy, but I have always had good success with the Victor, vertical Spike traps. Never had a problem with theft but they are highly visible, and if you trust the homeowner, they can check themselves, and call you to save gas on checks, and customer charges.

I use the death clutch traps. keep em relatively shiny or if you wish throw em in with your trap dye either way it's all about a good solid trap(like bedding a wire) a trigger setting that goes pretty much all at once, and simple staking. Rest assured you'll learn as you trap just like i continue to do-- trap em all big or small --you'll from critters from gophers to wolves. For my part I like to keep the sort of circular jaws snugly nested in a gopher hole of corresponding size- don't overdig and set your trap w/jaws in air --jaws should have a little soil around them when set. GL