A contest that has turned a Prairie pastime into a competitive shooting match aimed at fast-breeding gophers wraps up Sunday.

The Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation says it sponsored the 12-week gopher-killing derby to keep the population of the crop-eating creatures in check.

But animal rights activists say the contest, the first of its kind held in Saskatchewan, is cruel and barbaric.

In a Saskatoon parking lot

Michael O'Sullivan of the Canadian Humane Society says trying to control nature is a "foolish venture" and he thinks the derby sends the wrong message to children.

"It telegraphs to our children that if you want to kill animals – even though you know it's not going to make a difference (to reduce numbers) – and you can make sport of it, that that's somehow a good and desirable thing we ought to be teaching children, and I don't think it is."

The top 10 hunters who bring in the most gopher tails as proof of their kill will be awarded cash prizes.

Hunting gophers near Perdue, Sask.

So far the federation has collected more than 21,000 tails of the Richardson Ground Squirrels, as the animals are officially known.

Members of one Saskatchewan family who paid the $20 entry fee to take part in the derby say hunting gophers is often a daily ritual.

Normally, it's a family affair," says Lori Fischer. "To us, it's just a way to get away from the farm, a way to blow off some steam. "

Len Jabush of the Saskatoon Wildlife Federation says thinning out the gopher population is crucial to saving crops.

"We've had reports of up to 15 acres being eaten off in a day or overnight for example," Jabush says. "When you turn that into income for a landowner, that could be $3,000 a day that he's losing."

The province has millions of gophers, some living in the middle of Saskatoon. Two years of dry conditions have caused a boom in the population.