GopherHawk® Trapping Set, Includes Wedge and Probe Tool

I don’t normally write reviews but this thing is shockingly good and amazing value at the same time. I didn’t even follow the instructions well: I cleared out a recent hole and pushed the trap down instead of finding a good perpendicular point. We had our first trap within half an hour and another one about ten minutes after I reset the trap.It’s easy to set, easy to clear, and a tenth of the price the local gopher trapper wanted to charge us. I can’t wait to reseed our grass for summer.

This trap can be very effective; sometimes it's easy to set, other times not. The plastic dibble that comes with it is insufficient for most situations; shallow tunnels are not so difficult if the soil is soft, but firm enough to hold (it may help to water the spot first), but it's hard to get it past about 2" without shoving a lot of soil into your hole, you really need a soil auger; these take some practice to use well, and require a fairly large drill (preferably with side handle), but will pull dirt out rather than pushing it down. Beyond 8", you can't get a grip on the trap to set it. The metal bands that do the actual trapping tend to deform, but can usually be bent back into shape; replacements are available, though a tad priceyIt's worth mentioning that once you've caught a gopher you need to do your best to destroy its tunnel system, or another is likely to inhabit it soon.

I'm torn between killing these guys and catching them alive and sending them off far. The latter is very difficult to do. At the least 97% of time, this trap will kill gophers immediately. Great product, works amazing, wish the quality of the barrel is better and not made of plastic. So far I'm 6 for 6 (first one was still alive - had to kill it)

The media could not be loaded. For the past few months my yard has been infested with gophers. Having an elderly mother and pet, I was worried they could step on loose dirt (due to the numerous tunnels these gophers had made) and sprain something. which at her age, could be serious. I researched everything imaginable (exterminator, poison worms etc). I saw a video on a a social media platform about this trap and was excited and ordered it. I have to say the shipping took longer than expected, however I am giving the benefit of the doubt that it was (maybe) on back order. The instructions weren’t too clear ( at least to me) and the first time I tried to set it, I couldn’t figure it out. One afternoon after work I came home and saw the gopher had gone in on my lawn and made about five different holes in the past few hours. I was pretty irritated and grabbed the trap and somehow my irritation helped in setting the trap. No lie - within about five minutes the trap went off (the yellow portion of the trap was exposed indicating the trap had gone off). As I had previously read reviews online about faulty alarms (set off by dirt) I didn’t check the trap until the following day. I gently pulled the trap from the ground and shouted in surprise as it had caught the gopher.About the product itself. The trap itself is very sturdy and you can tell it’s made to last. The size is just about right to fit inside one of their various tunnels. The poking stick is useful but I wouldn’t say required. The instructions were confusing, I hope this helps somebody, when sticking the trap into the hole, you place an open palm at the very top of the trap and use your other hand to pull the sleeve up and then twist slightly until you hear a click. My mistake was pushing the trap down. For obvious reasons I am not showing the trapped gopher in the video but the mess they made in my back yard. I would defInetly recommend this trap to anybody with a gopher problem. One more thing, after it catches the first one, you can reuse and stick back in the ground. Also you don’t have to get your hands dirty to release. You just pull the plastic sleeve up and the trap releases to discard. Also, the yellow portion will pop up to let you know once the trap has been set.

I was skeptical at first with this because of all my other failed trap attempts. But I saw other great reviews so I chanced it.It seems pricey, but it has replaced my other traps.It’s so easy to set up, doesn’t take any muscle to pull the trap up to set. I’ve had mine a couple years now and it is still going strong. I set it, and within minutes, not even exaggerating, I get a gopher. No digging as long as the ground is soft enough. It comes with the tool to push in the ground to access the gopher tunnel, and makes a perfect hole for the trap to slide into. Then set the trap and sit back with a beer.

There’s no perfect trap out there, but this is by far one of the safest I’ve used while still being effective. The trick for me has been finding a main tunnel, which is not where the dirt is pushed up. It’s always running 90 degrees and 4-5 inches back from where they pop up. Also if you don’t get it within 48 hours, move the trap. Within a day of seeing fresh dirt pushed up, I catch them within a day. If the dirt is dry they are not active there and you should find the new pile of dirt. I’ve killed 2 so far and it makes disposal easy too. Very happy with this trap.