Just returned from our 2-day WY prairie dog hunt on and near Thunder Basin…16 hours of driving each way.
Last year we hunted 2 towns after tagging our antelope in October and shot hundreds. This year, the weather was cooler (50s) and windy on Day one and numbers seemed down. From a few piles of 17 WSM brass, it appeared someone had done some thinning. We spent a couple hours there but then moved on looking for better towns.
I'd read that Thunder Basin had been opened back up due to community pressure to do something about rapidly expanding populations (which we witnessed over the past 2 years). Well, apparently they went from not allowing any shooting to the opposite direction. We drove through areas that had been off limits honey holes just last year. My best guess is they were poisoned…not a dog in sight and holes were clearly long abandoned. We found a few shootable pockets but nothing short of disappointing. Later I found a map online which seemed to confirm it had been targeted for poisoning. Just last year this area was being preserved for ferret introduction.
Finally, we returned to a massive town we spent half a day in last year. As far as we could determine, not a single dog remained. Like the others, burrows were covered in cobwebs and the place appeared completely abandoned.
So for 2 days and 32 hours of driving we got a grand total of about 50 prairie dogs between three of us. I guess we'll try South Dakota next year. I'm just amazed that they went so far from one extreme to the other with regards to managing them.
Day 2 was a cold rainout.
Last year we hunted 2 towns after tagging our antelope in October and shot hundreds. This year, the weather was cooler (50s) and windy on Day one and numbers seemed down. From a few piles of 17 WSM brass, it appeared someone had done some thinning. We spent a couple hours there but then moved on looking for better towns.
I'd read that Thunder Basin had been opened back up due to community pressure to do something about rapidly expanding populations (which we witnessed over the past 2 years). Well, apparently they went from not allowing any shooting to the opposite direction. We drove through areas that had been off limits honey holes just last year. My best guess is they were poisoned…not a dog in sight and holes were clearly long abandoned. We found a few shootable pockets but nothing short of disappointing. Later I found a map online which seemed to confirm it had been targeted for poisoning. Just last year this area was being preserved for ferret introduction.
Finally, we returned to a massive town we spent half a day in last year. As far as we could determine, not a single dog remained. Like the others, burrows were covered in cobwebs and the place appeared completely abandoned.
So for 2 days and 32 hours of driving we got a grand total of about 50 prairie dogs between three of us. I guess we'll try South Dakota next year. I'm just amazed that they went so far from one extreme to the other with regards to managing them.
Day 2 was a cold rainout.
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