Where can i shoot prarie dogs??

[Gary in MD]

For a one time deal that has to succeed Call Willie Dvorak in SD
Jim River Guide Service
They shoot out of Pierre SD--put you up in a decent hotel and because he has all the good spots leased--and he can whisk you down the road 70 miles if you get rain --like he says it IS mother nature so big wind, rain potential, heat etc can hit you --he will put you on dogs period. His prices seem high but if you invest in the travel expense that is more so .....
One time deal he is your best bet
A "day" is not daylight till dark it is more a lazy morning start around 10 and quit mid afternoon
about all your eyes can take anyway--take your own bench if you drive his are not much Lunch is maybe a Subway in the cooler --You sign a pile of papers and releases etc who knows what all it is like buying a car but again..you will shoot PD's
He was courting a shooter in our group that was interested in an Alaska hunt and we were raw rookies so we did not get the attention but again we kept the barrels smoking hot for two days
Nothing is perfect but when I compare our experience to all of the tales I hear I think Willie is a pro and in the end knows that producing is the best way to grow his business
If you book your $$ is gone--Zero refunds he does not care what the excuse is your funds are not coming back --either you show up or not that is on you--and dealing with the public--I understand that--if he would just replace his crappy old benches I would add another star Hahaha

I hunted with Willie, he is the best… just ask him.

 

[urbanrifleman]

If you think you might have a town in the area that could be a spot for shooting, find that town group on Facebook and post asking for information.

 

[chop house]

I hunted with Willie, he is the best… just ask him.

He certainly has quite the self promotion website. It is tempting...

 

[COLT45SA]

I think that poison has become more effective also ? I've seen men on side by sides squirting anhydrous ammonia into hole and throwing a scoop or two of dirt over the hole ???

Poison was the dumbest method any lame-brain could ever come up with. Poisons are not selective and cause collateral damage that is totally undesirable. We lost many gorgeous Bald Eagles were poisoned because they eat the carrion which died from the poison that killed them.

 

[urbanrifleman]

I just talked to my buddy in southern Colorado. He says the dogs are super thick this year.

I think the main thing holding people back is just how friggin big these areas are. Maybe if you scouted via helicopter. You are talking thousands of square miles out where there aren't even paved roads.

People think they're going to make a few phone calls or maybe drive out to an area and find a spot. It's just too big. And there's areas you would have no idea who owns it because there's not a house within miles. Even if there were it has nothing to do with the ownership of the land in the area. Scouting would be very difficult. Not like finding a farm in Ohio with groundhogs on it. Where you just go up and ask the guy to go shoot.

 

[STS]

Poison was the dumbest method any lame-brain could ever come up with. Poisons are not selective and cause collateral damage that is totally undesirable. We lost many gorgeous Bald Eagles were poisoned because they eat the carrion which died from the poison that killed them.

How much do you know about poisoning prairie dogs?

 

[drover]

[/QUOTE]I think the main thing holding people back is just how big these areas are. Maybe if you scouted via helicopter. You are talking thousands of square miles out where there aren't even paved roads.

People think they're going to make a few phone calls or maybe drive out to an area and find a spot. It's just too big. And there's areas you would have no idea who owns it because there's not a house within miles. Even if there were it has nothing to do with the ownership of the land in the area. Scouting would be very difficult. Not like finding a farm in Ohio with groundhogs on it. Where you just go up and ask the guy to go shoot.
[/QUOTE]


This says it all about finding places to shoot. Unless a new shooter has info on a good location most of their time will be spent trying to find a PD town and then trying to find out where to obtain permission to shoot it.

drover

 

[STS]

I think the main thing holding people back is just how big these areas are. Maybe if you scouted via helicopter. You are talking thousands of square miles out where there aren't even paved roads.

People think they're going to make a few phone calls or maybe drive out to an area and find a spot. It's just too big. And there's areas you would have no idea who owns it because there's not a house within miles. Even if there were it has nothing to do with the ownership of the land in the area. Scouting would be very difficult. Not like finding a farm in Ohio with groundhogs on it. Where you just go up and ask the guy to go shoot.
[/QUOTE]


This says it all about finding places to shoot. Unless a new shooter has info on a good location most of their time will be spent trying to find a PD town and then trying to find out where to obtain permission to shoot it.

drover
[/QUOTE]
Absolutely 100 percent correct. To offer an example, I coyote hunt on two pieces of public land in Montana that total just under 500,000 acres. I know of two dog towns on that ground. I haven’t covered all of it , but I’d say I’ve seen most of it. There are huge areas in the western states that there’s a whole lot of empty space between anything that resembles a dog town. You’ll burn a lot more gas than gun powder if you don’t know the land.

 

[Rtheurer]

Where to shoot PD's??? I like to shoot them in the lower half of the body. The Airiel Show is spectacular that way.!!!

 

[chop house]

You’ll burn a lot more gas than gun powder if you don’t know the land.

Google earth. Look for the yellow dots.

And local county tax maps. Look for the deed holder.

And truepeoplesearch.com. look for the phone number.

 

[dusterdave173]

I hunted with Willie, he is the best… just ask him.

Yep

 

[STS]

Google earth. Look for the yellow dots.

And local county tax maps. Look for the deed holder.

And truepeoplesearch.com. look for the phone number.

No offense intended, but you don't seem to know how devastating the plague is to prairie dogs. I can show you 50 'dog towns' on google earth that there's not 1 prairie dog in. And there hasn't been one in those towns for 10 years since the plague went through. Google earth images are not updated in the booming metropolis centers of rural Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota very often. There's no need to, things change slowly in those areas. If someone thinks you can simply look at an areal photo of an area, and find a hot dog town, they are in for a rude awakening and an empty gas tank. Believe me, it's not that easy. I shot one dog town for 30+ years, and probably shot, at the very least, 10,000 prairie dogs in it. The plague killed it about 10 years ago and it has never come back.

 

[Lefty2506]

There are local farmers who will still let you shoot PDs for free, but my guess is that those dog towns are not nearly as big as what people were shooting 20-30 years ago. We ran into a kid in Pierre who's grandpa farmed and had a dog town on one of his sections. We called and he gave us permission over the phone. We drove out to the agreed upon location and called him again, and he stayed on the phone with us for about 30 min giving us directions to get there. He was in a sprayer and didn't have time to stop and meet with us. We had picked up a nice bottle of bourbon for him, but never got the chance to give it to him.

On our first trip to Wyoming, the ranger's name was Nick. Nick was a gool ol boy (mid 60's at the time). One night, over dinner one of our shooters asked him about the whole broken leg thing (cows and horses). He said that he'd heard that too, but in all his years of ranching, he'd never even met anyone who had a cow or horse that had broken its leg in a PD hole. He explained the obvious relationship between a PDs safety, grass, and the ability of his live stock to graze. Then he said "Now I make a LOT more money off an acre of prairie dogs than I do an acre of sheep or cattle, so you boys just have yourselves a ball out there."

 

[Lefty2506]

if he would just replace his crappy old benches I would add another star Hahaha

Honestly, I prefer shooting from a bag chair with a decent camera tripod and a ball head. Its not as stable as the concrete bench I have at home, but it rivals what I can get from most portable benches, and its a LOT easier to pick up and move across the prairie. More than stable enough for 400 yds. Very handy when you're trying to remain shooting down wind, or when your picking up and moving 50 yds or so after every 10 to 20 shots.

 

[CJ6]

Contact the DNR OR GFP in the state you'd like to hunt in.
Wyoming was helpful on a trip we took. They hooked us up with a couple ranches and they didn't charge anything (ranchers).

 

[pauls]

I hunted with Willie, he is the best… just ask him.

We hunted with Willie...............not a fan.

 

[Toddmack]

Poison was the dumbest method any lame-brain could ever come up with. Poisons are not selective and cause collateral damage that is totally undesirable. We lost many gorgeous Bald Eagles were poisoned because they eat the carrion which died from the poison that killed them.

Were your cattle breaking legs?

 

[D Coots]

We hunted on a ranchers land in SD that poisoned dogs and many eagles died. Think he was fined 45k or so.

 

[Lee Whitsel]

Honest enough question but no prairie dog shooter in their right mind is going to share a hard-earned hot spot. Just pay an outfitter.

never pay an outfitter. call feed mills in town's where there are know dog and gopher sh00ting. Here in M0NTANA i have 3 ranch's near my house that beg me to come any time and start shooting. Asked at a gas station and got all the shooting i can handle. Near hire or pay to shot rats it's free just use some common sense and be safe and you'll be welcomed back with 0pened arms.

 

[Lee Whitsel]

We hunted on a ranchers land in SD that poisoned dogs and many eagles died. Think he was fined 45k or so.

Same thing just happened last week to me. Asked about shooting gophers sure go ahead kill all you can. I left as the rancher was spreading poison. Came back in 2 days only shot about 20 they went down really fast.