It had been a pretty hard hike. My parents had dropped us off at Guanella Pass,
Colorado nearly 48 hours before. Now, after a walk of about 50 miles, Catherine
and I finally dropped into the meadow that I had fallen in love with the first
time I did this hike – some 20 years earlier, when I was still in college.
Catherine loved it, as did I, but for me the really fun part of this trip was
just beginning – a good ol’ fashioned gopher shoot on a ranch my brother Jeff
now managed. The first time I had hunted gophers on this ranch was also some 20
years earlier. Back then I used a .22 rimfire rifle. This time around I packed
handguns only, knowing few shots even approached 100 yards.
My primary arm for this hunt was a Contender chambered in .222 Remington. With
a heavy 14 inch barrel, this pistol has no problem plunking a variety of loads
into sub one-inch groups at 100 yards, even with its 2.5x scope. For this trip
I had worked up a load of 24 grains of H335 under a 55 grain Nosler Ballistic
Tip. I would have preferred the 50 grain bullet, but I had an ample supply of 55
grain pills, so that is what I used.
The other gun I carted with me to Colorado was a Ruger Blackhawk in .357
Magnum. My loads for this gun consisted of 4.5 grains of Unique under a 158
grain lead bullet. Accuracy with this combination limits shots to less than 20
yards on gophers. The plan was to use the revolver for close shots, and the
Contender for everything else.
After dropping Catherine off at the Denver airport, I drove back to the ranch
the next morning. Jeff was busy, but he said his son Matt was free. Matt and
his twin brother Josh had often accompanied Jeff and me on elk hunts throughout
the decade of the 90s. During those famous mid-day elk hunting lulls, we often
kept the boys entertained by shooting the cottontails that thrived in brushpiles
on the ranch. Matt, now aged 21, was no longer a youth, but unfamiliar with the
Contender, he paid close attention while I gave him a lesson on its safe
operation. Following this, we headed out to the main valley from which the
ranch draws its name.
Like his father does so often when elk hunting, Matt displayed an uncanny
ability to spot game. “Uncle John, look, there – gophers,” he exclaimed, as
soon as we drove into the meadow.
“Where?” I asked, not seeing them.
“Right there!” Matt said, jabbing a finger toward a mound of dirt next to the
creek. “The light colored spots are gophers,” Matt explained.
Finally, I spotted the little rascals. Just like prairie dogs, these little
guys stood straight up begging you to shoot them. Unlike their larger cousins,
however, these guys presented an even smaller target. I broke open the barrel
of the Contender, then loaded in what some have characterized as a “miniature
.30-06 round” onto the chamber. I snapped the barrel shut, made sure I had a
safe backstop, then took careful aim while I held the crosshairs on the gopher
as best I could.
The boom of the little cartridge rocked across the valley, sounding more like a
.300 Magnum with a muzzle break than the little pipsqueak .222 cartridge. I
shot cleanly over the gopher, which took refuge by diving into the sanctuary of
his hole. Matt had a smile a mile wide.
After we inspected the mound to make sure I missed, we walked along the creek
bank, as Jeff had told me we would get plenty of shooting by doing this. Soon
we spotted another gopher. I plopped down on the ground, lined up the
crosshairs, and carefully pressed the trigger. Again, the boom of the .222
echoed across the valley. Again, the shot went high and the gopher ducked to
safety. We continued our walk along the creek.
“Oh no, I left the revolver ammo at the last place we took a shot,” Matt
confessed.
“Well, you go back and look for it, and while you do I will go back to the road
and get the car,” I replied.
As I walked down the road I spied movement. A gopher stood on his mound not 15
yards away. I took careful aim, then squeezed the trigger. Again, a boom
echoed down the valley, but this time it was accompanied by the pirouette of a
gopher torso catapulting into the air. At last, I finally connected.
Matt was now ready for some shooting. He directed me along a road that cut
across the meadow. Soon he spotted a gopher. Placing the Contender on the hood
of the car, he took careful aim at a gopher 30 yards away.
“Aim low, Matt,” I said, “all of my shots have been high.”
“BOOM!”
“I got him!” Matt exclaimed. Well, not quite, for the little guy was not quite
dead. Matt saw to that by finishing the gopher using the wheelgun. He followed
that gopher with a few others shortly afterwards.
It was once again my turn. We spotted a gopher standing on a mound. I placed
the crosshair at the little varmint’s feet, then caressed the trigger. Like
tossed salad, the gopher landed in many pieces.
I decided to check the zero of the Contender. Sure enough, it was several
inches high at 50 yards. I cranked the vertical adjustment down until it was
dead on at 50 yards and went back out hunting. During the lull in the action
one of Matt’s friends arrived on the ranch and they took off for other
adventures. I decided to take off for the west side of the long meadow and soon
found some very good shooting – lots of gophers within 50 yards, and the body
count quickly soared. I even shot one gopher with the revolver.
I continued to move west and spotted a gopher on a mound about 40 yards away. I
rested the Contender on the door of the care and let fly a 55 grain Nosler.
Like so many others, it sent the top half of the grass muncher flying like the
cork from a champagne bottle. I spotted another perched on a mound not 10 yards
away. Setting down the Contender, I grabbed the Blackhawk and thumbed the
hammer. The relatively quiet “thunk” of the lead bullet, while not as
spectacular as the speedier Noslers, nevertheless dispatched another rodent.
And so it went on for the rest afternoon. Plenty of gophers, plenty of
shooting, and scenery that, well, was a bit more spectacular than most of the
Dakotas. At the end of the day, I met Jeff in front of his cabin. As he
grilled some barbecued ribs, we shared a few cold beers against the backdrop of
Mt Evans and Mt Rosalee. The dust covering my body and the unrelenting sun made
it almost feel like Africa, but even though I was far from hunting’s utopia, it
sure felt good to be doing what I was doing where I was doing it.
Hunting Notes:
During our hike in the high country of Colorado, Catherine and I spotted many
rockchucks. We didn’t have any guns with us, but I did note that rockchucks
would make an excellent varmint to either shoot or hunt. Unlike our gopher hunt,
the visibility offered in the high country allows long range shooting. The same
rocky outcrops that allow shooter to take up sniping positions also allow
wonderful stalking opportunities. In all of my hunting, all over the world, I
can imagine few things as spectacular as rockchuck hunting in Colorado. The
views may not be quite as spectacular as those witnessed during a Dall sheep
hunt in Alaska, but there is something about the green carpet of grass, the icy
blue alpine lakes and streams, and the clear sky that make the whole thing
magical.
In Colorado rockchucks are found at altitudes between 11,000 and 12,000 feet; at
least that has been my experience. They tend to favor grass slopes above what I
call the willow line – the line found in North American mountains just above
timberline, where pine trees yield to thick willows. Find rocky outcrops with
plenty of grass, and you will find rockchucks. Look for them sunning themselves
on rocks, often looking like the rock cairns placed on rocks by hikers to mark
bushwhacking trails. Most of the terrain rockchucks call home is national
forest, open to hunting.
Gophers, on the other hand, are most often found in cow pastures at elevations
well below timberline. In fact, altitude is not even a consideration – just
look for pastures dotted with mounds. Gophers are a lot like miniature prairie
dogs, for they are physically smaller and build smaller mounds. Getting
permission to hunt should not be too difficult, but be sure to bring a .22
rimfire in case noise is an issue. Much to my surprise, what sounded like
cannon fire went unnoticed by Jeff and the rest of the ranch crew, even though I
could see the ranch complex most of the time I was shooting.
Other varmints found in the Colorado high country include coyotes and badgers,
both of which the ranch boys leave alone, as they want predators to thin the
gopher population whenever possible.
If you love to elk hunt, you owe it to yourself to consider a varmint hunt in
the high country of Colorado. You will not get nearly as much shooting as a
first class PD hunt, but the magnificent scenery more than makes of for the
overdose of shooting that normally accompanies a PD hunt.
