A few of us are planning our first prairie dog shoot for next Spring and we need all the info we can get. We're in SE GA so it'll be quite a trip for us. What we're thinking is 2 or 3 drive the truck with a trailer hauling our gear and the other 2 or 3 could fly if they wanted. We're planning to spend several days shooting, possibly a week, and what we need is info on where to go (obviously closer is better), what to take (we have the gun/ammo thing covered), the best time of year if Spring isn't it, and anything else you can thing of.

where are you planning to hunt?

We have no idea, we're wide open on this so if you have any suggestions.....

One thing to keep in mind is that some place, like here in South Dakota, prairie poodle shooting is closed during the spring on public lands. It doesn't open back up until 16 June.

That's the info we're looking for, we had no idea there was a season. Thanks.

My suggestion is to find a guide and/or ranch where you pay for some shooting. Otherwise it's nothing but a crapshoot. I live in PD country, if I drive 100 miles to find limited shooting, no big deal. For you, that could spoil your whole trip

Finding good places to shoot is not easy.

cb/West - I have to drive twice that far.

kend ...to find a place that provides good shooting for four shooters you will need to go to SD or WY....maybe OK but I am not aware of any place else that has enough land to support four shooters in one spot.

Kend,

Contacts are more important than ever. The plague wiped out some areas last year and left others alone. 90% of the towns I hunted in '06 were wiped out in '07.

Depending on your expectations, you will likely need many towns to support 4 to 6 guys. This requires someone that knows a lot of towns and can or does control the access to them.

Case in point: I set up on a town last year and was there only a half hour and a group of 4 from Coeur d'Alene drove up. They had been driving straight through, all night to shoot this particular town. It was not big enough for all of us so they moved on, and I respect that. They came back a couple hours later and had decided to head back as the other town they were going to shoot was dead. I was very lucky to get on the dog town before they did and get a little shooting in.

I hope you find some areas.

Jim

#1). P'dogs are the tree squirrels of the grasslands. No trees so they live in holes in the ground in the grasssss, etc. There was nonsense talk about making them an endangered species, PURE NONSENSE, not because they were endangered -- I had a Fed Biologist tell me that 90% of the p'dogs that died in the 20th century died of government poison-- the bunny loving, tree hugging fools wanted to protect they 'cause THEY are food for many other species, beginning with the black footed ferret.

b). There is "plague" (like bubonic plague) in the p'dogs. Supposedly it is cureable today with antibiotics, but why bother. Don't handle the pieces. Leave them for the scavangers. If you want trophies, bring rubber gloves, flea powder, sealed containers, ice, etc. ETC.

#2). They are common from Mexico to Canada but legalities make shooting outside USA a pain. (Ask about taking 1,000 rounds of ammo into Canada... May get a trip to Gitmo, Cuba) ERGO the closer would be TX and OK. South KS. Now the "grasslands" are in the west of TX, OK and KS. In fact there is a National Grassland, Federal public land, in SW corner of KS. Cinnamon National Grassland. (Cimaron actually). I am farther north and never been there, but people who have been tell me that TX and OK it is "pay to shoot." Look for a guided hunt. Obviously, bring money.

In stark contrast, Wyo is wide open, but now with the cost of gasoline... No license. And outside the government towns, like Cheyenne, and the tree huggers, you will be welcomed with open arms and directed to 'dog towns... It is like someone coming to your home in the city and offering to reduce the population of rats and mice FREE or even pay you a bit. But the locals seldom have a great idea of population and if they do, tell the truth and lose business... etc.

The "coordinator" (self appointed) alledgedly is in Pierre, SD. VHA (Varmint Hunters Assoc.) with a magazine, club, 800 number, shooting range, etc. [varminthunter.org] Check them out. Join if it suits you. Ads in magazines for guides.

SO, if you go where there are fewer people, more welcome. But with the cost of gas...

Many, many guides in the northern plains will take you out or park you in a p'dog town after you have filled your license for some game animal.

SD has a marketing effort. Centers on the Native American "Indian Reservations." (the "rez"). S. Center, Rosebud Rez. Center, Brule, Lower Brule. North Center, Standing Rock/ Butte, SD; SW corner, almost, Pine Ridge. Nothing organized in NE, KS, CO. ND. Montana has lots, but ??? So if you have a year to do your homework... LUCK.