GopherHawk® Trapping Set, Includes Wedge and Probe Tool

After the first couple weeks trying this trap, I thought it was garbage and was ready to return it. Then I started catching moles. We have been tormented with moles on our property for years in the Pacific NW. We've tried tons of mole repellent, smoke bombs, poison, etc but the only thing that has worked are in-ground traps--I've trapped dozens of moles with these over the years but they require digging up even more of the yard, are time consuming, dirty, and I'm just tired of them. The Gopherhawk looked interesting and the price wasn't bad, so here we are. I love how easy this trap is to set--just probe around a fresh mole mound for the tunnel, make a larger hole with the included tool, then stick the trap in and pull it back to engage it--no more digging! Then wait, if nothing happens after a few days then you'll want to find a better tunnel. I also love the yellow indicator that shows when it has been triggered, so you can check the trap by just looking out your window. Even after the first week or two of getting used to it, I have set the trap about 12 times and trapped 5 moles in the last month. These are better results than I ever had with previous traps and much easier. All it leaves behind is the small hole from the trap that you can step on to fill it in. There was only one "misfire" where the mole pushed dirt into the trigger and it fired with no mole to show for it. The action end of this does seem a little fragile but so far it is still working fine after several triggers, and I like that they sell replacement ends when it does finally break. Overall, highly recommend and happy with results!

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.

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 have been battling gophers in my yard for years. Tried all the usual methods. Flooding them out, smoking them out many times and even a few bags of different brands of the repellent pellets. Nothing worked. I might get a few days with no new mounds, but nothing permanent. I bought this and it arrived today. Found a new mound and used the probe to find the tunnel. Set the gopherhawk in the tunnel. It was not in place for even two hours when I noticed it had been triggered. Pulled the trap out of the ground and sure enough it caught and killed its first gopher. No digging, no handling bait or smoke bombs and no touching the dead gopher. I probably have more to trap, but I am completely amazed at how easy to use and how fast it worked on the first gopher. I will never waste money on any of the other useless methods again. If you have gophers, get the gooherhawk! You won’t regret it. *Update* So, I have only had this gopherhawk for 5 days now and have already caught 3 gophers! I knew there were probably a bunch of them roaming around my large yard and the neighbors yards, but nothing has ever worked before. Each time I find a new mound, I probe around to find the tunnel, set the trap and whamo! It is so simple to place and remove with no digging and never having to touch the dead gopher. One time it only took a hour and the last time it was not in the ground for more than 10 minutes when it sprung. If you have gophers in your yard, don’t debate, just get this product. This think just plain works! *Update 2* This thing is amazing! Well, I was without gophers for at least 6 months thanks to this product getting rid of all the gopher family that was destroying my lawn. I just saw signs that a gopher had returned. Probably from a neighbor’s yard. I placed this out again and within only a couple of hours, it had done its job once again. There is just nothing like this. Super easy to use and the most effective gopher eradication I have even used. Just buy this thing!

Works good as long as you clear the tunnel. The wedge collapses the tunnel and moles shove the dirt on the trigger. Doesn't work well on wet soil.

I have been battling a couple of gophers for about 3 weeks, one I was able to kill with some poison bait and was so happy for about a week, then multiple fresh mounds of dirt appeared and this one seals its tunnels much better. I bought and tried smoke, poison and this (based on the reviews and videos), with this arriving first. On spec., it's a sound idea and concept, the probe works pretty well, indicating a tunnel or "run". This new gopher seems to be a bit "wiser", digging its runs deeper, about 8" to 12" below, and unlike the videos, my back yard is tightly compacted clay, like most of Southern California. Once the tunnel was located, pushing and twisting the wedge through this stuff is no small feat. I swiveled that wedge for 10 to 15 minutes, alternating with the probe and wedge and a small spade to get into the tunnel. Once it was opened, I put the Gopher Hawk in and set it, it wouldn't set initially, so I followed the directions and struck it several times, which seemed to engage the trigger. The next morning, I looked and was a bit excited seeing it had triggered at some point overnight. I tried to pull it up and it would not budge. I wiggled, swung, twisted and pulled using the spring and it wouldn't move. Ultimately, I had to use a shovel and dug it up, and I'll darned if there wasn't a gopher sized rock, that appeared to have been pushed into the trap. I don't believe this animal is smart enough to trigger a trap with a rock, if it is, I'm in serious trouble.... I removed the rock and decided to give flooding another try, thinking that may also help soften the soil, allowing me to give the trap another try. I cleaned it and it needs to be smacked every setting, I don't know what I'm missing, but if I try to pull up, the latch just won't catch and set the trap. When you find a rock pushed into the trap, I'm either just unlucky or I'm dealing with a Terminator Gopher, sent back from the future to undermine my yard and ultimately dig it's way to Sarah Connor. I tried another flooding, dumping a hundred+ gallons of water into the hole, with it all going in and disappearing, going somewhere underground, where? I'm not sure. I finally gave in as more and more piles appeared nightly and called a professional exterminator. He set traps and poison and seems as though he got it. I am hopeful this adventure is behind me.... and I don't wake up to a T-800 Gopher skeleton, standing over my bed.

Very effective trap. I bought the "scissor " style trap and this Gopher hawk trap to try. I never got anything with the "scissor " style trap (maybe i was using it wrong) but the gopher hawk was really easy to use. I really like the fact that you see yellow when the trap was activated. I ended up buying two more gopher hawk traps without the probe. So now i have 3 traps, 1 probe, and a lot less gophers.

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!