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Praire Dogs

Remington1981Remington1981 Member Posts: 1,431 ✭✭✭✭✭
edited June 2008 in General Discussion
A friend of mine and myself have been talking about trying to go out west to do some Praire Dog hunting.We live in KY, so we already know that we are going to have to travel We are just curious a couple of things

1. Seasons?
2. Where to hunt them. I.E. is there public land you can do this on?
3. Best locations.

Comments

  • UncleFuddUncleFudd Member Posts: 146 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Remington;

    I guess no one wants to or knows what to tell you so maybe I can help.

    I go to Wy. several times every year and shoot them with my son and brother who still live there.
    I grew up in the area and worked for many of the ranchers most of my young life so I know the country and the people.

    If you want to go where there is a lot of wide open BLM or Railroad sections to shoot with lots of dogs, this is where I would go.

    You can find them in every direction in the town of Rawlins or Rock Springs, mostly South of there toward and around the Flaming Gorge Reservoir.

    I stay and shoot around Evanston which is in the far South West corner.

    The bottom line is you can shoot all day for as long as you want and the people there will direct you to places or just drive around the countryside and start shooting when you see some as long as you are off of the right of way.
    There are no seasons up there yet its' as long as the sun is out they are ready.

    I have even tried in the past to get some of the guys here on the forum to go and meet one another and do some prairie dog shooting. But no one has ever shown an interest.But thats OK with me too as it leaves all those dogs for me.

    BTW, I think you may be able to fly into Cheyenne or to Salt Lake and then drive from either.
    From Salt Lake it is only an hour to Evanston Wy and there are lots of dogs about 20 minutes East and a little North along the Kemmerer highway. If you go to Cheyenne you just start driving West or ask some of the people along the outskirts of town going toward Laramie and they will tell you places to go.
    I have had the ranchers invite me to shoot in their yards to get rid of them.

    Its a hell of a job but someone has to do it.

    Good luck and if you want or need more info email or PM me. Hope this helps a little and I am going again the 10th of July to the Evanston area.

    UF
  • HandLoadHandLoad Member Posts: 15,998
    edited November -1
    I was scheduled to go this last week, but finances and fuel prices caused me to have to cancel. I was going to go and meet a fellow I know from another board, and we were going to shoot on a farmer's land - cost of $150 per shooter, per day, plus $40 per day for Hotel, plus food! I would be happy to meet another GB person to shoot on public land. I looked on website for So Dakota, and they require a hunting permit to take P-Dogs.

    Other than that, I know nothing about it, as I am a total wannabee hunter. I was hoping to parlay that knowledge into more confidence to go and start taking bigger game - I have little time left to do so, as I am getting old. I wanted to be able to pass on some knowledge to my grandkids (if any)...

    My Brother tells me he has entree onto over 160 acres of land in No Washington State, and we are hoping to go and start hunting next year. Now that I am retarded, I have the time, and a little energy to do such, but now the fuel prices are getting high. I wanna partake in the hunting for food part of America's Heritage, and be able to pass on a little knowledge to nephew and neice, along with any Grandkids I might get from Daughter.
  • CS8161CS8161 Member Posts: 13,596 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Wyoming has no season or regulations on shooting prairie dogs, there is alot of state land where no permission is needed, you just set up on a hill overlooking a dog town and blast away!
  • HandLoadHandLoad Member Posts: 15,998
    edited November -1
    <gets out his map and calculator>

    Coleman Camper, Chevy Diesel Blazer combo gets 14 MPG towing....

    Food, Ammo, ....

    Wyoming, eh?

    Now, to get the wifey to approve, Hmmm what I gotta trade?
  • River RatRiver Rat Member Posts: 9,022
    edited November -1
    PLEASE, come to Wyoming and Montana and kill prairie rats. Go to the local BLM office, and ask where the dog towns are on public land. Some local ranchers will also beg you to shoot them on private land, but you will need to convince them you aren't a moron. I would check in at a local feed store, and ask them who they would recommend to contact.

    Most big dog towns are on public land. That's one way to identify the state and fed sections in a private/public patchwork. Get a good atlas or gazetteer (such as DeLorne publishes) for the state you wish to visit, and look for areas with lots of BLM land and grasslands (not national forests). It's best to know where you are going before you start.

    For example, the county where I live (Park County, WY) is 85 percent federal land. Lots of desert, so not all of that is good dog habitat. Dry, rolling grasslands is best. I'd recommend NE Wyoming, east of the Big Horn Mountains, between Sheridan and Gillette, but the buggers are everywhere.

    Bring a .22 also. Never know when you might stumble on a gopher town. Fun shooting! They are like pocket prairie dogs.
  • HandLoadHandLoad Member Posts: 15,998
    edited November -1
    Nope, still too expensive - looks like over $1000, just for fuel.
  • jma2006jma2006 Member Posts: 474 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Aren't they endangered?
  • HandLoadHandLoad Member Posts: 15,998
    edited November -1
    They are every season, when fellows with guns go looking for FUN!
  • River RatRiver Rat Member Posts: 9,022
    edited November -1
    Endangered? We'll run out of prairie rats about the same time we run out of flies. Anyone who tells you anything else is full of horse manure. They breed like -- well, rodents, eat their wounded, carry bubonic plague and rabies, and destroy good grassland. Just wonderful little critters.
  • davealddaveald Member Posts: 2,078 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Are they edible.
  • CS8161CS8161 Member Posts: 13,596 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by daveald
    Are they edible.


    They eat their own dead, but they carry too many diseases to be fit for human consumption.
  • 204targetman204targetman Member Posts: 3,493
    edited November -1
    I wonder what the most popular cal. for shooting long range dogs is. I would guess a 22-250.
  • duckhunterduckhunter Member Posts: 7,687 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Long range?/ BMG 50 cal.
  • 204targetman204targetman Member Posts: 3,493
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by duckhunter
    Long range?/ BMG 50 cal.

    The 50 is old news. Its the 20mm now. The perfect plinker.
  • hotshoothotshoot Member Posts: 4,227
    edited November -1
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