Paying $$$ for a Prairie Dog Hunt

[284winner]

I have a different viewpoint of shooting prairie dogs. But I have completely different circumstances than most others.

I have a regularly scheduled PD shoot at the same time every year on the same land because I know the landowner. 30,000 acres of cow/calf land with thousands of prairie dogs needing to be eliminated. I and 3 friends pack tents and cooking gear for the one week shoot. We meet the landowner with our maps and he dispenses the population locations and size of towns. We get the keys to all the gates respecting his wishes to leave the gates as we find them.

After a 1/2 day of scouting we pick a central campsite to set up and work from. We send our GPS coordinates to landowner so he knows where we are. We shoot in pairs, one shooter, one spotter and rotate or in the bigger towns, no holds barred! Meals and conversation around the campfire in the evening where we regale each other with tales of our shooting prowess. Living under the open sky and target shooting all day with your friends, there is nothing better.

for illustration purposes only....

Certainly makes it convenient knowing a farmer landowner allowing you to set up a camp. That's a great set up. My experience has been nearly as nice using the ranchers home on his ranch. He lives in another location but has a ranch house on the working ranch he lets his clients use while on hunts. Big deck off the house with huge expanses of land to view deer feeding while dinner on the deck every evening. Quiet, no neighbors or activity. Makes for a great set up also. Showers are nice too, especially on 90°+ days.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

As far as # of shooters, diy for 5 could get slow. Having 3 hammer from benches for several hours will require fresh towns, then having a second,third,fourth spot. Nothing worse then traveling and finding poison has been put out.

 

[TheOtherZilla]

$300 a day? At the prices I am seeing in this thread I may consider becoming a Dawg out fitter..

 

[rkittine]

Did the original poster say where this was? Some of the places I go, $300 a night would be a bargain for the room alone!

Bob

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

Some of the motels I have stayed in 300.00 may buy the place. Some areas lucky to find any place to stay(within 2 hours).

 

[shoot4fun]

I've been on PD shoots that cost anywhere from $25/day for a trespass fee only all the way up to (company paid) $2500 for 2 1/2 days with all meals, lodging, guides, transportation (100 miles one way to closest airport) and open bar. The last couple years I've paid $350/day for a guided shoot in Casper area. That included lunch in the field, guide (Great ones) and all the PD we could shoot. With the hotel being about $100/night and dinner out every night it was a pretty rich trip as well. I am a PD shooting addict though. Been launching them for over 20 years and, for me, it's like my annual trip beach vacation for most others.

 

[rkittine]

Are there any guided hunts like this for Woodchuck in Eastern PA or Down State New York? Hard to find people around here willing to let you hunt on their land these days.

Bob

 

[Don_Parsons]

Ha. We have more gophers then we can shoot in all directions in our area,,, it's been a life long thing to keep them at bay...

The only thing it costs us is ammo and $10 in gas,,, endless days of good times,,, it looks like we have a few days to thin out a few beavers to prevent some of our pastures from becoming swamped this spring...

Full time job on the farm...

Don

 

[sw282]

Here you go Sir. Dave TenBrooke is his name. He owns a ranch and house on that ranch where his guests stay. It's an inclusive deal in his rate. You need only bring food and shooting gear. He supplies bedding, pots, pans, etc. Fully equipped home ready to go. Good luck and let me know if he still hosts prairie dog shooting. I've been planning on doing a whitetail hunt with him eventually.

l will second what 284 says about shooting/staying with Dave and Molly@ Big Sky Adventures. Molly teaches math at a school with FIFTEEN grades with only around 550 students. School is inMclntosh, SD... Great people with lotsa DOGS. l went alone to Dave and Mollys. Dave provided me with a bench and took me out to the PDS. Mine was self guided... A great trip

 

[284winner]

l will second what 284 says about shooting/staying with Dave and Molly@ Big Sky Adventures. Molly teaches math at a school with FIFTEEN grades with only around 550 students. School is in Bonners Ferry, SD... Great people with lotsa DOGS. l went alone to Dave and Mollys. Dave provided me with a bench and took me out to the PDS. Mine was self guided... A great trip

When did you go out ?

 

[284winner]

l will second what 284 says about shooting/staying with Dave and Molly@ Big Sky Adventures. Molly teaches math at a school with FIFTEEN grades with only around 550 students. School is in Bonners Ferry, SD... Great people with lotsa DOGS. l went alone to Dave and Mollys. Dave provided me with a bench and took me out to the PDS. Mine was self guided... A great trip

Yep it basically is self guided but he escorted us out to the location (we followed him by vehicle to the spot) and we went from there. Wonder if they are still offering hunts ?

 

[Jim Bridger]

Here in Wyoming there are miles of Open Range. Contact the local gun shops. Get some public land maps and go shooting. Some years the Wyoming Game Fish in Cheyenne has maps of ranches wanting the critters shot. Go out set up a camp away from the Dog towns and shoot at sun up. Paying anyone to shoot dogs is ridicules. Do not take your dog out there or pick up dead rodents. Their fleas carry the plague.

 

[fyrewall]

Depends, if you are olde & solo & have little knowledge of the area $300 might be on the upper end of reasonable. In Montana, many ranchers routinely poison the rodents and many are reluctant to allow shooters on their property because of liability reasons. A few years ago I had a real enjoyable/pleasant shoot at a family's acquaintance's ranch where I shot 3 rock-chucks in two days but got to shoot some steel at up to 1/2 section - 880 yards.

 

[284winner]

Lots of options out there for sure. RV camping, motels or fully guided outfitters. Everyone has a different fit.

 

[redrockranger]

l will second what 284 says about shooting/staying with Dave and Molly@ Big Sky Adventures. Molly teaches math at a school with FIFTEEN grades with only around 550 students. School is in Bonners Ferry, SD... Great people with lotsa DOGS. l went alone to Dave and Mollys. Dave provided me with a bench and took me out to the PDS. Mine was self guided... A great trip

Bonners Ferry SD. I can't seem to find it on a map ? What am i missing.

 

[sw282]

Bonners Ferry SD. I can't seem to find it on a map ? What am i missing.

Sorry redrock. lts Mclntosh, SD. l'm OLD:-(.. Sometimes make an error..
Bonners Ferry is in ldaho's panhandle almost to the Canadian border... An old friend's parents used to live there... Mr Davis would get an Elk almost every year... l had an open invite, but never made it:-(

 

[284winner]

Bonners Ferry SD. I can't seem to find it on a map ? What am i missing.

They live in McIntosh, SD. It's on the ND/SD border but the ranch lies in ND so you'd be hunting there. Don't know where Molly works other than she was a school teacher.