PRAIRIE DOG HUNTING JUNE 2018

Dave,
I sent you an email to your gmail account. It'll be tough to get guys to offer up "free places to hunt" on here as most like to keep it quiet (considerably so). However, I sent you some information that may help you.
 
Might have to pick a place and go knock on some doors. If you can see the dogs from the highway it is likely they'll say no. Getting out in the country and knocking on doors might be the best way.
 
Could try and contact Game & Fish Departments in the states you're looking to shoot prairie dogs in. They could probably tell you the counties possessing the most towns, then contact the local game warden for advice. Sometimes he can give you names and telephone numbers of ranchers willing to allow hunters on their property.

Next best, in my opinion, is pick a location based on your research and in some of those small towns you'll find a local gas station or café that will have a person or two that might point you in the right direction.

The difficult part might be finding reasonably priced accommodations to stay in unless you have a pickup camper or such.

If you're considering North Dakota - I would suggest the SW corner of the State, specifically the Marmarth area.

It never hurts to pack along a nice box of fine chocolate - read that to mean "expensive" chocolate such as the "finest" turtles and fudge for the Lady of the house who has land providing excellent prairie dog shooting at no cost to you or yours. Takes a mighty good cooler to keep the chocolate in pristine condition while looking for that particular location but it will be better received by the family than a nice bottle of booze for the man of the house.

Good Luck in your quest.
 
If you have a specialty pistol there is a combination prairie dog shoot and long range steel match In Gillette Wyoming June 18-20. The total cost is $150 for three days of shooting and if you are a good long range shot you will win your entry fee back in prizes. I bought an xp-100 just to go for the first time last year and I ended up walking away with a proof research barrel certificate among other prizes. The catch is you have to shoot a handgun. If you had an AR15 Pistol I’m sure that would qualify. There were a couple guys that elected not to shoot in the steel match and they ended up shooting prairie dogs all three days.
 
Not to hijack, but I just got my vacation sorted out, which includes a week in central June. One thing I had in mind was to get the 14 y/o out on his 1st PD hunt/shoot. I did two trips years ago with the older Son, near White River, SD. I want to go to a different spot/guide for the next one.

Anyway, just starting to look, SD or WY mostly, maybe MT. Just getting a few ideas at this point. I do realize, booked hunts do fill up. One of my more enjoyable shoots was on a ranch in SD where the owner showed us the area then let us be. The shooting wasn’t outstanding, but it included roving and a some hunting techniques.
 
I have a couple rancher friends that I can talk to to see what their prairie dog population looks like. It is getting hard to trust people these days and most ranchers will not let guys that they don’t know and trust shoot prairie dogs without supervision.
 
Originally Posted By: muskrat30

Anyway, just starting to look, SD or WY mostly, maybe MT. Just getting a few ideas at this point. I do realize, booked hunts do fill up. One of my more enjoyable shoots was on a ranch in SD where the owner showed us the area then let us be. The shooting wasn’t outstanding, but it included roving and a some hunting techniques.

Sorry Muskrat that was in response to your post. What do you mean by roving?
 
Roving...

1.
roaming or wandering.

2.
not assigned or restricted to any particular location, area, topic, etc.:

or maybe it's Australian for taking a WALK-A-BOUT.
 
Originally Posted By: TimgunnerBy the way what is “roving”?

I had an old time craftsman as a gunsmith years ago, made a great 22-250. He was always of the mindset to give the prairie dogs a little credit, especially after the shooting started. He showed me his homemade, portable shooting bench. He said he would wear drab clothes and ‘rove’ around to get to more dogs. This was compared to just setting up benches near the truck and staying put.

He had connections near Faith, SD. Never been there myself, but it’s on the list.
 
Quote... Never been there myself, but it’s on the list.

Muskrat... I'll meet you there in June for PDs.... I need to go there anyways for future coyotes.
 
The guy I do most of my prairie dog shooting with is what you might call a “lazy rover”. He sets a sandbag on the mirror of his suburban and rests his rifle on that while slowly driving around the dog towns. It is a fun and easy way to shoot a lot of dogs in a little time.
 
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Just getting warmed up, popped a possum today that has been hanging around the back property line. He was sneaking under the pines, upper 30’s temps. The 17 HMR sufficed.
 
Originally Posted By: pdhunterA lot of places have been poisoning in the past couple of years but they are coming back-

Think there might be a few left time I get out there in late June?
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Originally Posted By: RustydustOriginally Posted By: pdhunterA lot of places have been poisoning in the past couple of years but they are coming back-

Think there might be a few left time I get out there in late June?
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oh yea - just got to go to the right spots
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pdhunter- I've been in your town a few times driving down to Colorado Springs .My son was stationed down at Ft.Carson and when he retired stayed there. Good food at the cafe on the south end of town. Wife always wondered why I put my 17 HMR in the car when I go down there.
 
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