3 friends and I are looking for a good place to prairie dog hunt late next spring or early summer. I would love to hear suggestions and references from both hunters and those who outfit. Thanks so much in advance and a great weekend to all!

Check in western Kansas

Check with the large Indian Reservations. They offer guided hunts at a reasonable rate.

quote:

Originally posted by just say moe:
Check in western Kansas

I was born/raised in western Ks. And I hunt there multiple times per year. PD towns have gotten few and far between, due to poisoning. I shot the same place since the 1960s. It was a great place. It was poisoned three years ago and they got 100% kill.

Thank for all the looks and responses...keep 'em coming.

quote:

Originally posted by df06:

quote:

Originally posted by just say moe:
Check in western Kansas

I was born/raised in western Ks. And I hunt there multiple times per year. PD towns have gotten few and far between, due to poisoning. I shot the same place since the 1960s. It was a great place. It was poisoned three years ago and they got 100% kill.

I hunted PDs Central Kansas last year in mid-May. There were more than enough PDs to keep 8 guys shooting all day for 3 days.

Wyoming is covered with 'em.

Just get a good map showing govment lands and go out and start shooting. camp right there too. Drive around until you find the towns and get to it. Some of the closer areas to towns, will be shot up. You'll be able to tell that soon as you get out or take a few shots. They'll go in the holes and won't come back up. Just go somewhere else until you find a big area covered with 'em. The plague wipes them out every few years if they're not shot extensively every year. Some areas on private lands will poison them. Better not be caught doing that on public land.

No outfitting, or other costs. YOU own that land as much as anyone else does. Go use it and enjoy. 80% of the state is public lands.

No sense at all of paying some one to access or "guide". Not for prairie dogs at least. Do some scouting around for antelope too. You'll likely want to make a trip out for that later.

Best to check with Wyo wildlife and verify if they require a small game license first. I don't know that part. Much of eastern CO is the same way.
I know CO requires a small game license. It's not much.

Good luck and come on out and have fun. Make sure you bring several rifles and a 1000 rounds for each one. You'll smoke 'em up. Pay attention to how hot the barrels get. IF you can't hold your bare hand on it, it's too hot. You can ruin a fine barrel in half hour if you're not careful.
Bring some type seat and shooting bench, table set up and sun shade. Be aware the wind never stops in Wyo or much of these states. Some days it can just about tip your truck over so expect it.


George

Thank you! That may be the direction we are heading. Up near Dayton area.

Hmm, thought I've been all over Whyhoming.
New one on me. Just looked at the maps. close but, never there. Thanks for the jog.

I'd bet the open country to the east of there would be dandy and mostly BLM lands. Short grass prairie mostly I'd bet.

Get some good maps from the USGS. You can get a copy of their master map booklet for asking. Then once you decide closer. Get a few more detailed maps. Last I bought from them was around $7-8 each. Over 20 yrs ago, so very likely some higher.

You'll value good maps once you get out there in that wide open space. There's NO Trees for miles.
IF you've never been out in the wide open, it'll shock you.

Good luck.
George

We are actually looking at: D.C.P.C. Varmint Hunts out of Dayton. Wonder if anyone has any information on this group?

Prairie Dog Hunting in South Dakota

A few tips for those who need a bit of help to get started

Season?

As of today – 10/24/00, the prairie dog in South Dakota is classified as a non-game animal. As a result, it has no season and can be hunted without regard to bag limits or calendar limitations. This could change at any time. I’ll update this document if/when this change occurs. Whatever you do, DO NOT take my word for it. Before you hunt, you check the rules and regulations for yourself. My own personal “season” is from May 15th to October 1st. Any earlier, they just won’t be up in good numbers yet. Do people hunt earlier? Absolutely. But if you are planning a long drive / flight from out of state, you are risking a successful hunt by coming too early. I stop shooting when October rolls around, just because I think too much hunting pressure is a bad thing. I also feel that those prairie dogs that have survived all summer have earned the right to mate. Remember, you do have to leave a few breeding pairs or there won’t be anything to hunt next year. Hunters can and do go out later. Just be sure you’ve got good mud and snow tires on your 4WD truck. A cell phone won’t do you very much good in most places where you will be hunting. There just aren’t very many cell phone towers out on the prairie.

Where to go?

Prairie dogs thrive in open black gumbo prairie. In South Dakota, that habitat exists in abundance in the western half of the state. The Missouri River provides a convenient dividing line and most prairie dog hunting is done west river. Most - not all. I grew up in southern Hand / Hyde county and we had a few prairie dog towns near my home. I would consider this the eastern ‘fringe’ of their range in central South Dakota. The towns in this area aren’t very plentiful and are usually smaller in size.

How do I get started?

IMHO, the best place for you to get started is at the South Dakota game fish and parks website. There is a wealth of good solid info on that site. You need to check it out. Many questions will be answered if you just take a little time and do a bit of research. Look hard enough and you will find a link provided for out of state hunters to get a license.

The Link: http://www.state.sd.us/gfp/hun...yote/PrairieDogs.htm

South Dakota hunting opportunities exist on private ranches, tribal ground or federal ground. Private ground is your best bet, but it is also the hardest to find access to. Tribal agencies are a good option and hunting can be fairly inexpensive. Federal ground is public ground and open to anyone and everyone.

Private ground

The best advice I can give you is to get busy. Get off your duff and do some basic research. Make a few phone calls. Don’t go to the GGVG main board and ask, “Where should I go?” and expect anyone to just hand over their private hunting areas. Take a look at a map, pick a city and call their chamber of commerce office. Call a motel and ask for the owner’s advice. Book a hunt thru a local guide. Come a few days early and visit the local livestock sale barn. Visit with the regulars at the lumberyard or implement dealer. Stop at the downtown café for breakfast. Hit the main street diner for lunch. Show up at the local corner bar on a Friday night and buy the locals a round of Bud’s. We’re friendly folk here, most of us enjoy free beers and most will be glad to help you out.

Tribal ground

My own PERSONAL recommendation would be to shy away from the Pine Ridge and Rosebud. These areas get hit hard and get hit often. Great hunting can also be found on the Crow Creek and the Lower Brule. I grew up very near both of those reservations and KNOW it to be good habitat for prairie dogs. I believe these two reservations as well as the Standing Rock and Cheyenne River hold the most “untapped” hunting in the state.

The phone numbers are as follows:
Lower Brule--605/473-5666
Pine Ridge--605/455-2584
Rosebud--605/747-2289
Cheyenne River--605/964-7812
Standing Rock--701/854-7236

Federal ground

Three years ago, my son and I had one of those extra special days of hunting. It was one of those days where the memories will last a lifetime. We hunted the Fort Pierre National Grasslands, south of Ft. Pierre. We had a brand new Ford Explorer, a full tank of gas, an untested gun and plenty of time on our hands. You get to see lots of virgin native prairie, plenty of dog towns, and a few dogs. These dogs are very well trained and fairly gun shy. When we hunted, the most fruitful town yielded 8 or 10 shots. But, on that day, to my son and I, numbers didn't matter. The best part was that it was free and you don't have to answer to anyone. Again, contact numbers are found on the SDGF&P web site. The grasslands are controlled by the U.S. Forest Service and include:

Buffalo Gap National Grasslands (605-745-4107) in southwestern South Dakota
Fort Pierre National Grasslands (605-224-5517) in central South Dakota
Grand River National Grasslands (605-374-3592) in northwestern South Dakota

Maps are available from the grasslands offices. Tell them you are hunting prairie dogs and they might include a photocopied map with the sizes and locations of towns penciled in. I say MIGHT because this practice is iffy at best. Don’t count on it.

If all else fails and you feel like your hunt just isn’t going to work out, drop me a note. I hate to think anyone would come all the way to South Dakota and not have a good time. Just be sure you’ve done some of the basic legwork on your own first. With a bit of minor arm-twisting, I just might be available that weekend to guide you to a few spots that I know of. Obviously, I can't promise anything, but I would hate for you to get skunked.

one of us
Posted 05 June 2009 01:05 Hide Post
To summarize: the prairie dog is the tree squirrel of the grasslands. I believe I have heard that in the Brit Isles the gray squirrel is more common than the red, well, here the prairie dog has no trees so it lives in holes in the ground like rats, mice, rabbits, its cousins, all rodents. No bushy tail. Eats grass. Actually aerates the soil and in a few studies the cattle grazing gain more/grow faster on prairie dog ground... Unfortunately the stockmen are slow to learn and have demanded poisoning to exterminate the furball. Fed biologist told me that 90% of the p'dogs that died in the 20th century died of government spread poison. (Rodent, they breed like "rats and mice.")

Since you are "alien" (in legal terms "foreign" means from "another state" within US and "alien" is from outside country) I would inquire of the state "natural resources departments" just to be safe. Most are "wide open" by standards of any other country, but no point in not asking and finding out the hard way. [Some trade agreement only permits Mexicans to pick lettuce... Government never ceases to amaze (and annoy) me.] Assuming you have a valid passport I suspect you can buy ammo (and are over 18 for rifles and 21 for pistols... as a youth I bought anything I wanted any time I wanted... those were the days) but asking to be sure.

TWO BIG WARNINGS: BEWARE!!!: #1). There is "plague" in the furballs. Don't get close or handle pieces. Cousin to bubonic plague. Cureable with antibiotics. Carried by fleas that jump from deceased and cooling bodies to warm bodies. But why bother. Let the scavangers have the pieces. Recycle.
#2)There was a weasel called the Black footed Ferret that was almost extincted by a house cat disease. There are areas that are closed to shooting by Fed regs to support the re introduction of this weasel... Only likes to eat prairie dogs! Make sure you are not shooting there or you might find yourself in striped sunshine... Bad news...

You are looking for "short grass prairie." There are three. Tall grass. Ohio. Indiana. IL. Going west, "mid grass prairie." Iowa. Missouri. Eastern Dakota. Now the exact line moves each year with average rainfall. "Short grass prairie" is the old "cowboy/cattle country" of the westerns (made in California mainly, ha,ha). Texas/Mexico north into Canada. East Slope of the Rocky Mountains. But try to get 1,000 rounds of anything in Mex or Canada or try to bring it in... (ha, ha). Never shot in Oklahoma or Texas but told it is pay to shoot. Land pretty much "spoken for." "Northern Plains" settled much later, much "government land" (no one wants to pay taxes on a mountain top basically or real rough valleys, etc. "The moors" in Sherlock Holmes type fiction.), etc. Eastern Montana. Most of Wyoming. East Colorado. Western Dakotas. West Nebraska. West Kansas. Etc. The old "cattle drive trails" of movies and t.v. (Rawhide, where Clint Eastwood got his start... Lonesome Dove... The movie "Thunderheart" with Val Kilmer was filmed on the Native American Indian Reservations of South Dakota. Plot is a Hollywood hack job of some facts but if you look at the background you will see the land form. Badlands National Park area.)

US government has "grasslands" where the law requires management for multiple uses which includes shooting/hunting for now anyway. SW Kansas, Cimmaron Nat. Grassland, for example... Often one use is renting to pasture users--i.e. "grazing." This area cows mainly. Rarely sheep. Many, many wild dogs, "coyotes," that will kill sheep. SW corner South Dakota (SD) "Buffalo Gap Nat. Grasslands." These are open to anyone for anything legal. Not a good place to be alone with a break down so I cannot recommend you start here. You might find yourself 150 miles from a McDonalds (the hamburger joint, not the Scot family and it members, ha, ha...)

As the government took the last of the land away from control of the last of the "wild" Native Americans, they were forced onto reservations. The only "indian war" the U.S. Army lost was to Red Cloud, Chief, Lakota Indians, better known as "Sioux." He fought over the Bozeman Trail [(to Bozeman Montana)... typical government... they sent diplomats to get permission at the same time they sent soldiers/contractors to build the forts along the trail they didn't have permission for yet...]. I was told by resident of SD that the more educated Sioux were settled from east to West. In SD (South Dakota) that meant the Rosebud got the "indians" who knew what was good for them while the ones that tried to stay "wild" [with Crazy Horse as a "war leader" but he was never a "chief"] had to be starved into submission and ended up on the most western reservation, the Pine Ridge. SW SD.

O.K. the Native Americans "market." [Fuss among themselves like a herd of Chicago Democrats--don't get me started, Capone who was Italian/Sicilian vs. Obanion, Irish -- all criminals... Not to mention the "bought" politicians of all flavors] I had a fed tell me that while one group of "injuns" was seeking money to help build the business of hunting/shooting p'dogs another group was seeking money to "kill them all" to make for better pastures... Valentine, NE is just south of the Rosebud and home of "Lock, Stock and Barrel," a gun supply store... might want to google them.

By name so you can do your research with google or ??? South center SD, Rosebud Reservation (Rez as spoken by Natives). I believe I first got their name from Bruce Hodgdon Sr, now gone--yes, Hodgdon powder Co. Many years ago. Due north around Pierre SD, Lower Brule Sioux. Farther north, Northern Cheyenne Rez / Standing Rock Rez. Eagle Butte, SD has been a center of shooting. South West corner, SD, the Pine Ridge Rez. [They have a drinking problem covered in the newspapers. Still grieving Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull? One inet business, lakotamall.com. I believe there is a couple guides available there.]

Farther north, North Dakota (surprise), In the west a former president, Theodore Roosevelt, lived and worked cattle and recovered from the death of a wife... and now there is the Theodore Roosevelt National Park and grasslands. Beautiful country. Cooler at night. Something to think about. Fort Yates is another town to think of.

Outside SD and the VHA (Varmint hunters Assoc. mentioned prior--varminthunters.org I think) there is very little well organized. Most big game guides will find you shooting until your ammo runs out after you fill a big game tag. Some offer p'dog shooting separately. One example [disclosure, his grandfather was an armey buddy of my grandfather, WW I, yes I] Ron Scherbarth, Rocking Heart Ranch. Big game guide and passable taxidermist.

MOntana, nothing organized. Shooting around Zortman was widely discussed. I believe you ended up on the Fort Belnap Rez. (Blackfoot Indians?)

Colorado. Here the US government has taken up much space for army bases... Brought along a bunch of tree huggers and bunny lovers. One tv special showed "catch and release" of prairie dogs! [That is like "catch and release of mice in your basement. To me... DUMB!!!) Plenty of p'dogs. Ask in the small towns or farm stores. Find the people that don't think of them as pets. I have had them in my lap. They are loveable little rats, not that little for rats. Fed them peanuts. Tourist trap. They ran my fingers with their teeth until they found the peanut and then bit... Amazing.

West Kansas. More of the same. Grazing. Rural Welcome (open arms). Cimmaron web site has a "please don't shoot the p'dogs" notice on it, but request, not order.

Wyoming is my favorite. I have relatives near. Wide open. Cattle is second to "oil." No license or permit required for US citizens anyway. (Like I said "ask.") Thunder Basic National Grassland between Douglas Wyoming and New Castle Wyoming supposedly had a p'dog town that was 26 miles in diameter. There is plenty of shooting in the Cheyenne, Wyo area, but also, as seat of government, more bunny huggers ...

Since I have family in the Wyo/SD/NE area that is where I go. Never got to Montana. Ran out of ammo. (Reloads). SD and NE will want "non resident license fees." I'm cheap. Drive a few miles and shoot without any. I have composed this deliberately using all the names with which I am familiar so you can search much and enjoy the "dicovery." Spotter? Not needed. (Purpose is that you take turns and let one gun cool while spotting!!! Otherwise a barrel won't last a day...) Shots. You may hear of 1,000 round days per shooter. Possible? Yes. Recently? No. Twinded. ENJOY. Luck. Happy trails.

Posts: 313 | Registered: 29 August 2007 Reply With Quote

Most satellite or weather apps can be used to scout on your smart phone. You can see the mounds if you zoom in, zoom out and look for lighter colored patchs if the grass is green at time of satt photo. Follow valleys on the map and you will find more towns. Prarie Dogs have been increasing in population for the last several years in the West. They are in pretty good number's everywhere, trick is to find some that are not that shot up.