Prairie dog hunting

[Horsetrader]

Talking about turning my wife into a killing machine when she got a hold of my 223. Someone suggested I take her prairie dog hunting and she thought that sounded like something she would like to do. if anyone has any thoughts about it that they want to share I would like to hear more about dog hunting. She thinks that it wouldn’t be close, she would smoke me.

 

[fullmetaljesus]

I've looked into this a bit.

Cheapest route it seems is to go visit public lands parks. Camp and shoot.


Something I rolled around in my head.

I'm not personally one for "sport hunting"
And staying a camp and shooting animals for the sake of shooting them seems wrong. So if I were to do a prairie dog hunt I'd wa t to hunt on a ranch so at least the killing would benefit the rancher.

 

[HHollow]

Prairie dogs are fun it you like long distance shooting. I prefer gophers (richarson groundsquirrels) because they:
1. Are way more stupid than P dogs
2. Are way more populous (Montana)
3. Come out in the open 1 minute after being scared down
4. Are curious enough for close in shooting
My gopher crew is mostly long shooters proud of their bull barrels and glass. I like to load 22 shorts into a Winchester lever action and blast away at the ones close by.

 

[red_zr24x4]

We went out to Wall SD.
Go into the "store" ( I think they had everything there from groceries to ammo) and get a Non resident hunting license, It was (years ago) $40. It covers PD's jack rabbits, cayote, and maybe badgers.
Go to the BLM office and buy a map( it was $10) and use their master map on the counter to mark all the PD towns you can shoot on.
Drive around killin stuff

There is a nice primitive campground not to far from Wall. That's where we stayed.
But be warned even though you can have guns in the National Grasslands park , the rangers freak out about it.

Watch the weather! if it looks like rain or they are calling for it DO NOT go out on the prairie, your truck will be there till it dries up.
Take shooting benches or mats to lay on, lots of water , and sun screen
I'll try to answer any questions I can, but it's been about 10 years since I've went

 

[red_zr24x4]

I've looked into this a bit.

Cheapest route it seems is to go visit public lands parks. Camp and shoot.


Something I rolled around in my head.

I'm not personally one for "sport hunting"
And staying a camp and shooting animals for the sake of shooting them seems wrong. So if I were to do a prairie dog hunt I'd wa t to hunt on a ranch so at least the killing would benefit the rancher.

Killing them on public land helps the prong horn, and buffalo, they step in the same holes the cows do.
Not to mention the PD's Carry the plague, which they get from the fleas.
When I went out there we met a guy who worked for the government poisoning the PD's, the last time my brother went he met up with that gentleman, they had switched to flea powder to kill the fleas because ppl were coming to shoot the dogs

 

[wingrider1800]

Killing them on public land helps the prong horn, and buffalo, they step in the same holes the cows do.
Not to mention the PD's Carry the plague, which they get from the fleas.
When I went out there we met a guy who worked for the government poisoning the PD's, the last time my brother went he met up with that gentleman, they had switched to flea powder to kill the fleas because ppl were coming to shoot the dogs

Man that sure sounds like fun. I would really like to try that sometime. That would give me a good excuse to start loading more ammo.

 

[red_zr24x4]

Man that sure sounds like fun. I would really like to try that sometime. That would give me a good excuse to start loading more ammo.

4 of us went for a week. My brother, Cousin Bob, my youngest boy and myself.
Among other calibers I took 8000 .223 rounds for me and my boy, I brought home about 1000 of them.

 

[wingrider1800]

Considering the price of ammo, the little boogers should be coming on strong. With 223's close to a dollar a round.......

 

[bstewrat3]

I took a group of six to South Dakota last year and we hunted a ranch north of Wall with over 9 thousand acres, with several hundred acres of prairie dog towns that we had all to ourselves. It was worth the money to not have to compete with any other hunters. We had shots from 50 yards to over 1000. Once we started in with the 22-250 and up the dogs were 200 yards and farther.

 

[fullmetaljesus]

I took a group of six to South Dakota last year and we hunted a ranch north of Wall with over 9 thousand acres, with several hundred acres of prairie dog towns that we had all to ourselves. It was worth the money to not have to compete with any other hunters. We had shots from 50 yards to over 1000. Once we started in with the 22-250 and up the dogs were 200 yards and farther.

Which ranch?

 

[bstewrat3]

Shearers Cow Creek Ranch

 

[fullmetaljesus]

Shearers Cow Creek Ranch

Thanks!

 

[MRockwell]

Here a couple posts I have put in other threads:

prairie dog hunting - need help - first trip

So a buddy and are going to make our first trip out west to hut prairie dog in the next couple weeks and think we are got an good plan on what to take but still trying to decide where to start. I have heard and read a lot of successful stories of people just knocking on doors asking to hunt and...

www.indianagunowners.com

Prairie dog hunts?

Has anyone done a prairie dog hunt? Do you have a favorite place or state? Any good ranches to look at for a hunt?

www.indianagunowners.com

 

[AtTheMurph]

.17hmr and .204 ruger
the 17 is much more economical

 

[ditcherman]

We went out to Wall SD.
Go into the "store" ( I think they had everything there from groceries to ammo) and get a Non resident hunting license, It was (years ago) $40. It covers PD's jack rabbits, cayote, and maybe badgers.
Go to the BLM office and buy a map( it was $10) and use their master map on the counter to mark all the PD towns you can shoot on.
Drive around killin stuff

There is a nice primitive campground not to far from Wall. That's where we stayed.
But be warned even though you can have guns in the National Grasslands park , the rangers freak out about it.

Watch the weather! if it looks like rain or they are calling for it DO NOT go out on the prairie, your truck will be there till it dries up.
Take shooting benches or mats to lay on, lots of water , and sun screen
I'll try to answer any questions I can, but it's been about 10 years since I've went

Lots of good info, I would just add get a padded seat for a 5 gallon bucket, and a bipod. Snacks in a pack, ammo in the bucket.
Never thought sitting on a 5 gallon bucket all day could be so much fun.

 

[dusty88]

I found this thread by searching "prairie dog". We have a good friend who is possibly terminally ill. He's really excited about doing a prairie dog hunt as something kind of remaining on his bucket list. Of course, I'm hoping the "terminal" part of his illness is a long way off but am trying to help make this happen

I have airline certificates, so am contributing that potentially. I thought it might be easier for him than driving. There is nothing in particular he can't do physically at this point, but his overall stamina is limited.

I'll check out Shearers Cow . thanks

 

[1nderbeard]

well...
looks like I'm going to take my boys PD hunting on the way to Mount Rushmore.

 

[red_zr24x4]

well...
looks like I'm going to take my boys PD hunting on the way to Mount Rushmore.

When we went PD'ing we took a day and ran over to Mt Rushmore. I was kinda disappointed, All the pics you see it looks ginormous , But from the lookout platform it's kinda small

 

[1nderbeard]

When we went PD'ing we took a day and ran over to Mt Rushmore. I was kinda disappointed, All the pics you see it looks ginormous , But from the lookout platform it's kinda small

Thanks for the heads up

Sent from my LM-V600 using Tapatalk

 

[red_zr24x4]

Thanks for the heads up

Sent from my LM-V600 using Tapatalk

Don't get me wrong, It was still pretty cool