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)

First, let me say I am a bit like Bill Murray in Caddyshack; I'm obsessed!. I have said "I hate moles" thousands of times over the last several years as I constantly battle the litttle buggers. I live in the country on 1.5 acres with a very well kept lawn. For years my yard has suffered from moles. I’ve tried all sorts of spring loaded “jaw” traps, tunnel traps, arsenic bombs, carbon monoxide fitting on my car tailpipe, mole repellent lawn spray, moth balls (they just push them back up and out of the holes), poison pellets and electronic sonic pest deterrents. Literally hundreds of dollars in failed products. Nothing worked to get rid of moles on my property. Not once had I ever been able to catch a mole with spring loaded traps. Previous to finding this product my most effective method was digging them up with a large shovel (nick named "Whac-a-mole") when I saw the ground moving or pumping three rounds of 12 gauge shotgun shells into the ground when I saw the ground moving (I live in the country and my neighbors do the same thing). I saw this listing on Amazon and watched the “how to” video and I had an “ah-ha!” moment. No digging up my nice lawn to set a trap in the tunnel! I just had to push a pointed tool into the ground that created a small round hole to insert the spring loaded pole, set the trap and wait. Using the probing tool was really cool because when you do find the tunnel you can just feel the difference in how the probe slides into the dirt. First try, I set the trap and nothing happened for two days. This morning, the spring loaded rod showed yellow on the shaft. I have been disappointed by so many kinds of devices in the past that I was ready to think that this too was a failed product. To my amazement, when I pulled up on the rod, out came the nasty little mole! It worked like a charm!For those of you who worry about the little buggers suffering…….well, I tried setting the trap in the house and used a plastic straw to trip the trigger…..BAM! It was frightening! There is a LOT of force that slams these little guys when it goes off. I can guarantee you that they don’t even know what hit them and that they are dead instantly! I cannot comment yet on durability. Drawbacks: The punch tool for creating the hole in the ground is very sturdy PVC and I think it will hold up for most applications, I can see it breaking for users with extremely hard soil. The punch tool is very hard to push into the ground and did take all my strength to get it in past all of the lawn roots. I can say that it is nice to set this and walk away, knowing it is a bit like fishing. Just be patient. I was so impressed, I bought two more stand alone traps today (I don't need to pay extra for the set that comes with the probing and punch tools). I'm going to offer all of my old garbage mole traps on Craigslist for free now since those other products don't seem to work for me.

After years of trapping moles + pocket gophers ( and now needing to trap ground squirrels, which is a whole other subject ) ... and after taking a free lesson from a nursery to do so using the CINCH traps... FINALLY now a nearly PERFECT TRAP for the tunnelers...no lessons needed and more success!1) It's NOT TERRIFYING to set + I can't see any possible way you could crush, break, bruise, cut or otherwise hurt your fingers with this trap! (CINCH was always a tad scary for me + more strength is needed)2) It's unbelievably EASY and FAST to set (once you have estimated the active tunnel location)3) It's unbelievably EASY to know when it's been activated + to remove the vermin4) If you watch some Youtube videos or read about being careful w the straps, you'll be better informed about how to handle it. And the straps are replaceable.5) You don't need much strength to set this.The secret to success (after learning how to NOT damage the straps) is to position it properly in an active tunnel. I believe if you are NOT catching these guys, you are not positioning the trap properly or in the right location. Practice makes perfect. You kinda have to mentally process the positioning...Our vermin seem to have the IQ of a rocket scientist. A pocket gopher actually detoured a new tunnel AROUND the straps. Oops... new hole nearby + unsprung trap! That was okay... I put my gloved fingers into the new hole ( as far as I could, since my vermin now twist + turn their active tunnels... it can be a real challenge, I insert a thin rod sometimes to follow the curve ) And within minutes, we had the bugger.Being in the high desert, we have areas that are sandy, + areas that have great soil. In areas where the ground is very soft and inconsistent, it's more difficult to find the right place + sometimes to keep the trap upright. In sandy soil, when I reach the bottom of the tunnel, I raise the trap ever so slightly to keep the straps free, + sometimes I use a couple of large rocks to hold it upright + to keep it from sinking too much into the ground of the tunnel (I don't want the straps to get "stuck" in the sand, but I don't know if that's even possible,)Additionally, we have the following challenges: vermin invading our bumpy berm that is covered w Wooley Thyme + other delicacies that make it hard to detect runs PLUS vermin that now make turns in their active tunnels, sometimes within a foot or less, and sometimes several times, making it difficult to know where to position the trap.In spite of this challenges, I AM catching them, AND6) This trap causes MUCH LESS DAMAGE TO LANDSCAPING!!! Thanks for such a nearly perfect trap !!!And thank you to AMAZON for your patience regarding a trap that I returned because I lacked the strength to set it, or being too nervous to handle another one safely, or a trap that the ground squirrels avoided like the plague. THANK YOU AMAZONPreviously, we had only been using CINCH very successfully for the last few years, but even those are a little bit scary to set. However now our vermin seem to know how to avoid them. After having caught many, I literally couldn't catch a single one anymore with CINCH, which has also been a great trap for us until it wasn't!