Just returned from a 5-day prairie rat hunt to the northern Texas panhandle. This area suffered extremely in 2011 due to drought. There were no pups raised in 2011. PD numbers were way down. We did see pups this year though. We shot about 1/4 of normal numbers, but still had fun shooting at long range rats. ( my definition of long range is anything over 400 yards) We shot 223,223AI,204 & 243. I would estimate that it will be a couple of years before the population recovers.

We were out there June 10-12 in the area of Pampa and across the canyon near Tulia. Our experience was the same as yours. It was not a total "bust" because it was my grandson's first trip. He had a ball.
GOOD LUCK and GOOD SHOOTING!!!

quote:

I would estimate that it will be a couple of years before the population recovers.

If favorable rains are received you'd be surprised how quickly those little buggers can make a come back. by the end of a 7-year drought like the '50's they will be alomost extinct; but if good rains are received this summer and next spring, by June they'll be thicker than fleas.

Prairie dogs only have pups once a year according to the biologists and then the average litter size is 3 or 4. I tend to believe this as I have only seen young pups in early summer and only about 4 pups per den site.

I think more accurately, prairie dogs only raise one litter of pups per year, and the average surviving pups per litter is three to four. If unsuccessful in conceiving or getting a litter beyond infancy, I suspect that they'll produce another litter in the same year. Better conditions (read: grass from rain) means a higher survival rate for the pups.

Animal reproduction tends to respond to conditions which reduce their numbers. For example, after last year's devastating drought I've never seen so many spotted fawns as this spring/summer on our central Texas property. I expect prairie dogs have the capacity to react in a similar way as deer.

Stonecreek, in all my years of prairie dog shooting I've haven't seen anything to support your theory.

I could be completely off base. Provided that the Panhandle gets reasonably good moisture this summer and fall, let's watch and see what things look like next June.