GopherHawk® Trapping Set, Includes Wedge and Probe Tool

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 vermin 4) 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, AND 6) 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 AMAZON Previously, 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!

I fight with a gopher digging up my lawn every year. I have used gopher bombs (waste of money but fun like fireworks to use), poison bait, wire traps that are hard to set… none of those things worked for me. I was reluctant to try this trap for a couple of reasons. First, it is kind of expensive. Second, it looked too different from any trap I’ve ever seen. Third, they sell this trap as a kit… the trap plus a tool to locate tunnel and open a hole to insert the trap. I wondered if the “tool” was really necessary. You could probably survive without the tool but for the small extra cost it really makes life easier. I was desperate so I searched for Gopher Hawk videos on You Tube and decided to give it a try. It’s Amazon, right? If it doesn’t work send it back. I am so converted! I received the trap from Amazon, went into my yard the same day and used the very clear instructions to insert the trap into the hole and arm the trap. On YT I saw a couple of videos showing the traps working in 15 to 30 minutes. I didn’t expect that to happen for me but I was really surprised when I went out a few hours later and the yellow band on the trap was showing, indicating that the trap was sprung. I pulled the trap out of the hole and out comes a very angry gopher! I was sorry he was still alive and that I had to finish the job but for the moment the gopher war seems to be over. Bottom line for this trap: It works. It feels a little pricey but it’s worth it. It is much easier to use than any other gopher trap I have used and it feels cleaner. The business end of the trap doesn’t get near you. If you only have a small gopher problem you should get the insertion tool also (as a kit) but you only need the one tool if you buy multiple traps for a bigger infestation. If I had any issues with this trap it would be that the gopher wasn’t already dead when I pulled the trap out of the hole. The trap is designed with kind of flat “straps” that spring up to trap the gopher when he bumps the trigger. Makes for less blood but not as instantly lethal. Finally, either read the instructions carefully about how to set the trap or (my choice) watch a video. It matters how you set the trap and it takes a little bit of strength to arm it. As for me, I am happily repairing the lawn damage and chewed up sprinkler valve wires from this gopher while I check daily for new gopher evidence. Gophers, I no longer fear you!!! Bring it!!!

EDIT… the company did reach out to me and offered a refund if I send the stuff back at my expense , I don’t really know much about shipping things back like that but I imagine it costs a lot so it was good of them to offer to do that but I probably won’t send it back cause by the time I send it back and pay for that and time and effort it’s not worth it but at least they did offer I have a terrible mole problem in my yard so I bought this and an extra trap after reading the reviews here and watching YouTube , I know this gets pretty good reviews but they do not work for me. I bought these in January 25 and couldn’t use them until the last couple of weeks which is now June of 25 , I started seeing activity again so I followed the instructions and videos I’ve seen and I found the tunnel and made sure it was an active tunnel and set both of the traps out, let say this these are very hard to set , I will admit that I have small hands for a guy but I have plenty of strength but I had to rest my chest on the top of the trap and pull the black part to Set the traps with both hands , but I finally got them set and waited a couple days and nothing if anything they just laughed at these things it’s like wherever they are set they will dig up to it and go back the way they came or go around them , I pulled them back out of the ground to find one trap was bent where it catches the mole they are flimsy pieces of metal and it was all bent up , I’m not sure why but if they won’t hold up better than that I don’t need them , the other one was in good shape so I set it again where the activity was and as you can see in the pictures they are going right up to the trap but then going away from it , I wrote the company to try and see if I could get a refund or something even though it’s outside the return window , but I’ve heard nothing from them as of yet so I assume there will be no resolution and I’m out a ton of money on junk in my opinion . I know folks do have luck with them but not me , BUYER BEWARE !!!!!!

I used this trap to successfully catch a mole that lived in my lawn. Before using this trap I used some other traps with no luck. I consider myself seasoned armature mole hunter with thee moles caught alive just by hands and one with this trap. I give it five starts not because it is the best trap out there and will guarantee a success. A trap is a tool in person's hands. This is a decent, well made tool but not a silver bullet. The pros of this trap: - requires minimal size opening in the ground, which is essential in the case of a lawn - works for any depth of the tunnel - deep and shallow. There are complains about setting it up for shallow channels. I developed a simple hack that I use and it worked (see the photos). I am sure there are multiple solutions for shallow tunnel installations. - well designed and well made - relatively safe to use - it works Cons: - pricey - the metal straps that catch a pest are flexible and easy to bend. On my first try I almost ruined it. But they in most cases can be repaired. Replacement strap are available at Amazon for $8 - again pricey. - the trap is rather sensitive to its positioning - too low or too high, too much to left or to the right from the mole tunnel and the mole will go around. This happened to me before I figured out how to set it up correctly. This issue exists for most of the traps that are available, some are more sensitive to positioning, some less. This trap is on the sensitive side. Before you catch the mole you have to learn how to set the trap in correct position. There is no bait, so the mole just goes its ways and has to walk in the trap. Hence positioning of the trap is crucial. - requires some physical strength to set up, may not be good for everybody You will have to learn the behavior of your pest. To my mind catching a mole is more difficult than fishing. You can't force it to come to the trap, you cant attract it with the bait. The trap should be placed in the time-space location where the mole walks into. Sometimes its not that difficult and sometimes hard to figure out. Some online videos and ads seem like you just put the trap in the tunnel and that's it. Yes that's it, but which tunnel out of many? This is true for any trap product out there. Additional recent feedback - I used this trap to catch a gofer in my backyard. Took me 4 days before I found the right spot for the trap. But once I found it the trap worked in a matter of hour.

I've been using this trap for three months now and have caught six pocket gophers. It definitely does the job. Here's what I've learned: 1. If you live somewhere with heavy soil, it doesn't work quite like the videos. We have a heavy loam, and during dry spells it can get hard as dry clay. If it hasn't rained in weeks (like this June), I just have to give up until it does. Most of the time, I can find the tunnel with the probe, start the hole with a piece of 1/2" aluminum conduit and a hammer, and then finish it with the pointy hole-digger they provide with the trap. It's a five minute job but it's better than digging like you have to do with a jaw trap. 2. Similarly, when the trap has sprung, if you have heavy soil, you won't be able to just pull it out. I have found that if I put in a long shovel slightly more than a pocket gopher's length away from the hole, sink the shovel tip below the depth of the tunnel, and then pry from the bottom while lifting from the top, I can extract the gopher. If you get the shovel too close or too shallow, however, you can bend the blades quite easily with this method. Nonetheless, it's the only way I've found to lift a full trap out of heavy soil. 3. Usually, the trap kills cleanly and quickly. Five of six were killed with a blow to the base of the skull. One was trapped by the paw, and I had to kill him after digging him out. Since then I've learned to check the trap several times a day to minimize suffering. 4. As many people have mentioned, the blades bend. Mine are a little caved in from a time before I learned to use the shovel well, but the trap still works. You have to be very careful with them, though. 5. The best place to set the trap is halfway between two fresh mounds. I've tried between two older mounds and on the edge of a mound and have had no luck. If I can get the trap set while the soil is still freshly dug, I have success almost every time. 6. After six catches, the bottom of the trap is starting to show signs of wear. I would guess that if I'm careful, I might get 25-50 catches with this trap. I would be very surprised if it's still going at 100. Bottom line: it's cheaper than hiring a trapper, safer than the old style jaw trap my grandmother used to use, and effective. It's not heirloom sturdy--you can't be as careless as you want with it--but it does the job. And the design is ingenious. I've triggered the mechanism above ground to see how it works, and it is fast and powerful. As killing traps go, it's about as humane as they come. I regret that I have to use it, but given that I have to trap or lose fruit trees, I'm glad to have found this trap. It's not for the squeamish, but it's less "medieval" than a jaw trap.

I don’t know what happened to my gopher(s). I’ve been trying to kill these little suckers for over a year. They’ve torn up the grass in front of my shop and NOTHING works. Smoke bombs, poison, cayenne pepper, garlic powder and fine ground black pepper pumped into the system using a leaf blower.... the exhaust pipe of a 96 Chevy... more smoke bombs...!!! Nothing works! I saw the amazing reviews for this and tracked down even more amazing YouTube videos of happy owners.. so I figure, what’s $35-$40 if I’ve already spent hundreds on things that don’t work and the grass is getting more torn up every day. I make sure to read the negative reviews.. I know lots of people smash down on the trap when setting it and bend up the metal bars... one guy went so far as to blame the gopher for mangling up his 😏... yea.. I bet. Just be gentle when setting it and pull up without pushing down. Easy enough... right? So I go and set my trap for the first time... I wait a few hours and then I get pessimistic and decide to change the location. I trip the trap and pull up, fearing I may have bent my trap already... I lucked out.. seems like my anticipation of breaking it payed off. So I go and reset the trap in a different location, this time deeper and more confident with my hole location... but I hesitate and feel like I didn’t set it all the way at the bottom of the hole. Since I was mostly pulling up on the trap, vs. pushing down to set it.. plus the spike was deeper in the ground than the trap appears to be... I felt like I set it mid-way on the hole. I remove the trap only to discover... a I’ve mangled my metal guides! 🤬 WTHeck! The metal is so junk on this trap. Why would they do this to me?... us...?!? I can work it back into shape, for the most part, by hand... but this has to be the single part on this device which causes people to complain, return, or toss it out. The company HAS to know this. I own lots of tools, and as a result, I’ve come across many thin metals which are temper treated in a way that they retain their spring and are virtually indestructible. The metal on this trap is just pure garbage and as careful as I was being when I set this, I can see myself just warping the heck out of the guides in no time to a point I render the trap useless. The company seems to sell a replacement part for it, but with it being this delicate, it should come with a couple spares.. or just one spare... or just fix your product with better metal! I haven’t caught my gopher yet. I left the trap in the hole for about 4 days... but I also haven’t seen any new holes pop up! Either I managed to kill this guy with my most recent attempt at pouring pellets into the hole just a day before I received the trap... or I scared the bajeebers out of him once he saw the gopher hawk enter his tunnel system, and he just packed his bags and took off. I know the trap will work. There are plenty of holes around the corner from my front door, so it’s only a matter of time before I get a chance to set the trap again. It’s likely the best design out there as far as trapping method. But the company needs to address this ridiculous issue with the metal bending so easy.. like seriously easy. I also don’t like how difficult it is to dig the hole with the spike they give you. I think there are better ways of making a 1.5 inch hole without collapsing the tunnel. I had a hard time sinking this into moist semi firm dirt... and I have the weight and strength that many do not. My review is primarily because 1) I know the trap is legit and will work, even though I have not caught anything yet, but 2) the metal guides are pure trash, so you only get 3 stars.

First I bought a single trap thing - because I didn't know what I was doing. Then I went back and bought the "kit" - a tube trap with the probe thingy. And now - I LOVE THIS THING. At first - no joy. And I just stopped using them. Then I said to myself, they're not going to work if you don't put them in the ground! So I started trying again. I watched a bunch of "how to" videos and understood how important PLACEMENT is. Very important. I started getting success - and now I LOVE these tubes. I've just caught 3 gophers in about 5 days. A couple tips from the videos: 1. If you're not successful in a few hours - move them. Or overnight and no success, you're in the wrong place. Gophers DO abandon tunnels. Try somewhere else. I usually gently step on their mounds just to leave my shoe tracks so I can tell where the new dirt is and try again around new dirt the next day. 2. Use AT LEAST two tubes near the same location. Better chance of getting it. I just set two tubes this morning, and tonight when I went to check - I saw YELLOW - my new favorite color. FOUR reasons to love GopherHawk: No bait, easy to set, it tells you when the trap's been triggered, and EASY TO RELEASE. I am in my 70s, caring for a half acre. I'd send a photo, but really, who wants to look at a dead gopher?

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.

Had a while did try early on when I purchased but to no joy, moles have been busy so set the hawks again this week i have caught 3 in last 3 days so obviously got something right. Remember placement is everything so pick spots carefully

This trap is a winner. I have used many different types of traps to catch moles, and this trap is way more effective. I caught two moles I had been trying to catch for two years. The trap is very easy to set up, with the mere use of a stick to poke a hole in the ground, minimally disturbing the mole's tunnel. The trap is best suited for tunnels that are six inches or more deep. I am very satisfied with this trap. Well designed. Just be careful not to crush the metal straps when you set the spring.

Un excenlente trampa para las tuzas y muy segura

This little trap is AMAZING! It’s expensive but very worth it. We’re thinking of buying another one because we’ve caught 3 gophers in the span of an hour. We’ve bought the victor traps too and they sometimes work but usually the gopher will just fill it with dirt. Same with the smoke bombs did nothing. We’ve even tried exhaust from our truck & Nothing compared to the Gopher Hawk. We’re slowly taking our land back with the help of this tool. Edmonton, Alberta. Canada.

For the last 4 years we’ve paid for pest control to set traps to get rid of our mole problem. Living in a rural location with a large garden it was becoming too expensive to keep getting them in. So after god knows how many mole mounds in our front and back garden I read up about the gopher hawk. Seemed like a great option. Had to purchase from the US at a cost of £50. So far no results and I’m beginning to think it’s because I need a few of these traps but at 50 quid a pop it’s just not an option. Would like to see these in the UK at a cheaper price so you can have a number of them set at once. Will report back if I manage to catch a mole.