WESTERN PRODUCER — Barry Smaha is up before sunrise, his rifle stowed along with a cooler of water and a few sandwiches before he heads out for the day.
The hunter from Birch Hills, Sask., is pursuing a hobby but also helping Saskatchewan farmers wage an ongoing battle against a persistent pest they know all too well.
With years of large game experience in British Columbia, Smaha has also spent countless hours walking pastureland, targeting Richardson’s ground squirrels that can devastate crops and damage grazing land.
A Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation initiative that connects producers with sportsmen has made the seasoned hunter an active participant in an unconventional alliance between farmers and hunters.
“I do see myself providing a service, 100 per cent,” said Smaha.
The SWF’s Gopher Control Program was launched last year to match landowners facing rodent infestations with vetted hunters willing to help.
The initiative has emerged at a time when producers are searching for additional tools to control growing gopher populations.
It’s also created a partnership between farmers and recreational hunters that participants say benefits everyone involved.
Smaha became interested shortly after the program was launched. After contacting the SWF, he was supplied with a landowner’s name and phone number in his area of the province, and he initiated contact.
Since then, Smaha estimates he has been out about 15 times, visiting several farms within driving distance of home.
One of those farms belongs to Dave Viczko near Cudworth, Sask., who said he found himself short on time but long on gophers.
“I contacted Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation last year regarding their, I call it, ‘guns for hire,’ because I ran out of time to go out and shoot the gophers myself,” the grain and cattle producer said with a laugh.
Smaha answered the call.
“We visited for a few minutes, and I told him where to go and how to get there, and he took care of things themselves. It’s been a positive experience,” said Viczko.
The relationship reflects the program’s central goal of connecting people who enjoy hunting with farmers facing costly pest problems.
The initiative is also attracting a younger generation of participants.
Dallas Houle, a 21-year-old hunter from Martensville, signed up for the program after learning about it through local media.
“I heard about it over the radio, and thought it’d be a way to get out more. I thought that maybe there’d be some farmers around Saskatoon that would be interested in it,” said Houle.
He describes himself as an avid gopher hunter and has little interest in pursuing large game.
“I don’t really find much pleasure in going after deer. I just find it interesting to go after gophers. It’s something you can do on a weekend. You don’t have to set up a deer stand or wait out in the bush or have 100 acres of property,” he said.
The program’s appeal among farmers is growing as the ground squirrels continue to cause havoc by consuming crops, damaging pastureland and creating hazards for livestock.
“They’re eating anything green,” said Viczko.
“Their preference, I believe, is young green leaf grasses. They seem to like the young canola, nice, leafy and juicy.”
In severe infestations, losses can be dramatic.
“I know last year my neighbours are mostly grain farmers. Ten acres are completely cleaned off. They can do damage.”
Those are the kinds of losses Smaha aims to reduce.
“You never get them all, but you can certainly put a huge dent into the population where they’re not going out and eating crops,” he said.
Just like all forms of hunting, Smaha said the work requires patience and an understanding of animal behaviour.
Weather also determines if a day will be productive.
“It’s a natural instinct in a gopher. When the sun’s out and it’s calm, they’re out and about. If the sun goes in behind a cloud, or it’s a cloudy day, you don’t see them as much because they can’t see their shadow. A gopher standing by its hole will see the shadow of a hawk coming in to scoop it up,” he said.
Smaha’s firearms are simple but effective.
“I use a .22 long rifle with hollow-point ammunition. I also use what’s called a .17 HMR (Hornady Magnum Rimfire), and it’s a step or two above a .22 long rifle,” he said.
The larger calibre allows shots at considerably longer distances.
“With a .22, 50 to 75 yards is kind of max. With a .17 HMR, you can shoot out to 200 yards.”
“The 22 long rifle is peep sight, and the HMR has a scope.”
Smaha said respect for landowners and their property is more important than the number of gophers harvested, which can be in the hundreds for a day.
“It doesn’t give you free rein of a person’s property. You have to be respectful of many things like closing gates, driving on planted crops, shooting when there’s animals around, cattle, horses,” he said.
“I always let landowners know when I’m coming.”
Glen Massie, who farms south of Landis, Sask., also hosted hunters through the program in early May and was impressed with their professionalism despite poor hunting conditions that day.
“They were nice guys, they were respectful and courteous, and the experience was positive. I would certainly resubmit my name next year,” he said.
For the SWF, those relationships are among the program’s biggest successes, said executive director Todd Smith, who notes the gopher control program aims to foster better relationships and understanding between the rural land-owning population and local hunters.
“This was a way that we could be proactive and put members in contact, help build those bridges between landowners and the hunting community, and be able to offer a service to the landowners,” said Smith.
The organization relies on local branches to identify members who will represent both hunters and the federation responsibly.
Smith said each branch is asked to identify volunteers they feel will be responsible and ethical out on the land and be a good representative for not only the SWF but also the hunting community.
“The response was very positive to the program,” he said.
“A lot of positive feedback regarding the members that did come out. They were responsible and ethical about how they handled themselves on land.”
An SWF membership includes $5 million liability insurance if the member is engaged in any outdoor activities such as hunting, fishing and hiking.
“Generally, the people who are involved with the wildlife federation seem to be pretty knowledgeable on the use of guns and shooting and where bullets might end up,” said Viczko.
Smaha said the program also offers an alternative to the controversial poison-based control methods.
Smaha is concerned about the unintended consequences of strychnine far beyond a gopher’s single burrow.
“With strychnine, other predators can eat the carcasses, and that can end their life as well,” he said.
“Even roaming dogs, pets.
“A hawk comes down and eats a poison gopher, and then it dies, and then the coyote eats the hawk.”
However, Viczko views poison as only one tool among many.
“It was a multi-pronged attack,” he said.
“You first do some poisoning, and that didn’t take care of all of them.”
Still, Vicsko and Smaha agree that hunters can play a valuable role.
Part hobby and part volunteer service, the activity combines two things Smaha said he enjoys — hunting and helping.
“This program for the landowners, it’s a great program that the government and the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation has put together,” he said.
“It’s very, very worthwhile for any farmer or landowner if they’re having a problem.”
