Customer Reviews

Victor 0610 Easy Set Gopher Trap

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Picked up a set of 2 at the local home improvement store for ~$11. The design of this trap seems to count on the animal pushing dirt in front of him and the dirt is what sets off the trap. In these instances, the gopher will likely be caught behind the neck or shoulders. I see a lot of holes on our property where the hole is not plugged and plenty of sign that he has been out scampering around. In these cases, he'll get caught in the hip area with his nose up against where the trigger plate would be set. This just makes it a little more awkward in emptying the trap. The cinch type trap looks to be just as effective but much easier to empty. The cinch trap will cost up to 2-3 times more, though. I might get one or two cinch traps, but 9/10 will be the 610 type.

I have read at least one review where the sweep of the jaws could be an issue, preventing the trap from being seated in small holes and from closing effectively. This is really easy to work around. I first thought to shorten the jaws, but decided to just make the hole bigger when setting it. I learned that gophers are not shy of these traps or your activity around the hole. In very short order you can excavate the hole to a size that allows the trap to operate freely...and the gopher will come...especially if you notice fresh activity around the hole.

Much of the literature on setting traps recommends digging back from the plugged hole to access the main tunnel and then set the traps in pairs so the gopher has to enter a trap from either direction in order to replug the hole. I have found this is not really necessary. If the hole I am working was freshly plugged, one trap in the hole works every time.

I also noticed that a small plug doesn't necessarily mean a small gopher. In one instance, I almost passed on setting a trap in what I thought was just going to be wasted effort. I cleared dirt from a plug the size of a 50 cent piece and it opened up into a tunnel about 2 1/2 inches! The gopher I got out of that hole was a normal sized gopher!

I also read that a 3 degree difference in the gopher's comfort zone in the burrow is enough to cause him to do something about it. The fact that light appears at a point he previously plugged is also enough for him to quickly come back and see what happened. One the first day I used these, I set one, then walked about 30 yards away and set another. I checked the first one on the way back a few minutes later and found it had been tripped and completely covered. I had to dig it out and found the little bugger had pushed a rock the size of a bird's egg into it! My first catch was a rock! A Bill Murray moment flashed through my mind. That gopher is now history, by the way.

I am working with only 2 traps at the moment and secure them with a piece of butcher twine to my tunnel probe or a 12" piece of 1/4 in re-bar. This size hardware is probably overkill. You can probably tie the traps to those marking flags on wire type stems available at your local home improvement store, especially if you are setting a lot of traps. They may not need to be secured at all. When that gopher's body in in the trap, he isn't really going anywhere. If he can go anywhere with it, it might be best to let THAT gopher keep it as a souvenir!

If you are not having any success at all with these traps, it would be a good idea to re-examine how and where the traps are being set. I have never used these things before and only bought this set after 4 years of poison pellets simply didn't work. Look for FRESH activity and don't be shy about providing enough room for these traps to work. So far, have set these only at holes that have been plugged, but will set the next time where there is fresh sign but no plug. I don't bait mine and the trigger plate can ALWAYS be seen from above after I set them...easier to check them. From all the mounds on our 2 acres, am guessing we have at least 40 gophers or more. These traps will be busy and I'll be keeping score.

I give the trap 5 stars for effectiveness and 4 stars for the emptying issue. From my experience, no need to spend a lot of money....these things work.

I have just recently purchased the Woodstream Corp 0610 gopher trap, and within 10 minutes of laying the traps i was catching gophers. This product is the best i have ever used. The 0610 gopher trap is easy to set and works with great success. Also, remember to use a wire attached to the trap and tie it to a steak to prevent gophers from dragging the trap further into their hole once they are caught. I hope you find this product as easy to use as i did, Good luck.

Gophers were ruining my yard. Actually my dogs were ruining it chasing the gophers. I'd come home to 3-4ft trenches dug. I tried everything else, gasers, poision, sonic noises, and cat hair. I didn't think I could use the traps because I don't enjoy killing animals. I guess they pushed me to far cause I bought a set and I really enjoy hunting them. It took a couple days. I had some big suckers for living in southern california. They'd push so much dirt they would set off the trap but be far enough back to escape. I kept with it digging out the trap and resetting it. Then BAM, got my first two today. They were still alive and they were pissed. Chompin their teeth as I was pulling them out. Glad I wired the traps, wouldn't want to stick my hand in there. Easiest way to kill them I found is to get a 5gal bucket, fill it with water and throw them in with the trap and all. They sink to the bottom and die pretty quick. Other gophers will eventually use the tunnels and I get them too. Kind of excited for the next one.

I purchased a set (two) of these at my local home store for about $11.00. I purchased a gopher repelling device which advertised that the gopher would be repelled by the beeping noise. Only when I got home and read the packaging did I learn that the device would not repell the gopher for 2-3 weeks. My gopher was eating about three plants and herbs a day. Doing the math and realizing I would have no plants left in 2-3 weeks I purchased these traps. They were a little tricky to set up but once you figure it out it is easy. I set the trap where I knew there had been recent gopher activity. I dug up a mound of dirt and found the tunnels and cleared out the dirt. When the hole was refilled I knew it was active. I took out the dirt and placed the traps in the tunnels as the direction indicated. I checked it an hour later and the gopher was history. Not the easiest to empty but you can use a screwdriver to push down on the device to release the gopher.

I purchased a single Victor 0610 at the same time as a pair of Sweeney 9013. I found the Sweeney very difficult to use, due to wire construction that flexed while being set, and both Sweeney tripped without snagging the critters.

I set the Victor in the same tunnel that the first Sweeney had been in, and caught a gopher within 10 minutes. I then replaced the second Sweeney, which had been tripped (but no gopher caught) with the Victor 0610, within twenty minutes another gopher had been snagged. I then placed the Victor in a third tunnel and again snagged a gopher within 20 minutes.

The other model has been relegated to the tool shed and I have ordered two more of the Victor 0610.

I have used this trap before. I was able to eradicate the my vole problem fairly quickly with these traps. They are great long lasting traps that get the job done. They do not fair well under a lawnmower though!

This is a poor excuse for a gopher trap. I have lots of gophers and have used other traps. I recently bought 8 (four sets) of these traps. They are ill designed. The gophers are able to trip them without getting caught and have even managed to push the set trap out of the hole. The problem is the sweep of the pincers is too wide and the mechanism too easily clogged with sand or dirt. Don't bother with these traps.

I set this trap the day after I received it. The gopher pushed dirt onto it, but also pushed the trap out of the burrow. I reset the trap with a nail behind it to keep it in place, and two hours later my gopher problem was solved.

This trap is very poor quality. Lock bar was too weak to engage or set trap. I threw it away because it was useless.

Instructions for setting the Victor 0610 gopher trap can be found online, but it would have been helpful to include them with the trap, or a link to the *.pdf file. Instructions say to use 2 traps side-by-side (trigger pans facing one another), laid parallel to the ground in the gopher's horizontal tunnel, on each side of a fresh vertical gopher hole. Leave the tunnel open since the gopher will come back to fill it with soil. After several failed attempts to set the trap (my thumb on the lever was in the way), the easiest way for me was lying it on a table with the jaw end hanging off the table top. A pair of needle-nose pliers to hold the jaws open helps too. You don't need to bait the trap, but I am trying a bit of peanut butter. You also use a stake and piece of rope tied to the trap/stake to keep the gopher from dragging the trap along the tunnel. So far the gopher has sprung the trap several times, but got away. I rated it as 3, but am waiting to see if I can catch the critter. Leather gloves were also helpful.