If you’ve seen what a single pocket gopher can do to a lawn or pasture, multiply that by thirty and you get an idea of what our 1+ acre yard looked like after years of living with a true “gopher city.” We spent months testing different gopher control methods and finally found a reliable way to get rid of gophers. We’re sharing what worked to save you time, money, and frustration.
When we bought and started restoring our farmhouse fixer, the surrounding lawn and pasture were already well established with a gopher population. Over time the damage spread across the acre-plus yard until walking, mowing, and maintaining the property became difficult. Mower wheels caked with mud when it was wet, and on dry days the dust and dirt made mowing unpleasant and ineffective. Beyond the aesthetic and functional damage, extensive tunneling also posed a real risk to the foundation we had just paid to repair.
We were surprised by the scale. Most people assume they only have one or two gophers, like in Caddyshack, but our situation was far worse. Neighbors and previous owners told stories of years of infestation—one person even remembered catching 40 gophers in a single summer when he was a kid. That anecdote hinted at how entrenched the problem had become here.
We tried many approaches ourselves and even hired a local trapping company. The trapper told us over the phone not to worry about a mass infestation, but when he saw the property in person he said he had never seen anything this bad. He ended up trapping 26 gophers before we had to stop because of the cost. That confirmed the scale of the problem and helped explain why our early attempts at gopher control were failing.
The Ways to Get Rid of Gophers that DIDN’T Work
Over several months we tested multiple methods and watched countless videos. In a year we managed to catch only four gophers on our own, and one of those was actually caught by a friend. Most of the things we tried were inconsistent, time-consuming, or simply ineffective against a well-established population. The ongoing damage and the time spent chasing solutions left us discouraged and focused on repair instead of progress with our garden and remodel.
After a long run of failures, one product finally looked promising. Brian decided to give it a try, setting it up carefully based on what we learned from the months of trial and error. The difference was dramatic: in just over a month we caught fourteen gophers and were able to begin repairing the lawn and reducing the visible mounds.
To help others avoid the same trial-and-error cycle, we created two videos. The first video explains the various methods we tried that didn’t work and why they failed, so you can skip ineffective approaches. The second video demonstrates the exact preparation, placement, and use of the trap that succeeded for us. These videos document our process and show a practical, repeatable approach to gopher control for large yards and pastures.
The One Way To Get Rid of Gophers Consistently
The successful method we settled on is presented step-by-step in the second video, including how to prepare the site, set the trap, and monitor results. It’s not a one-time cure—controlling an established gopher population requires ongoing attention—but it’s the first approach that produced consistent, measurable results on our property.
We’re relieved to finally have a working plan to control our gopher city. The mound count has dropped, and grass is starting to recover in areas we regraded. While long-term maintenance will be necessary to keep the population down, knowing what works has made the effort manageable instead of discouraging.
If you’re dealing with gophers, we hope our experience helps you take practical steps toward gopher control and lawn restoration. If you’ve tried a different method that worked well for you, share your experience so others can learn from it.
