Praire Dog Guides

[jghoghunter]

Can anyone suggest some pd guides that you have had good luck with? Doesn't matter where at just looking for some options. My guide that I usually go with quite pd hunts because of new ownership of his lands doesn't allow any hunting.

 

[DogBuster]

My advise.....there is plenty of public land in the west.....do your

research...know the laws...open/closed time frames...get a buddy

to go and shares expenses...go shoot p/dogs.......take a look at

the Varmint Hunter Assoc...that's a good place to start.....

http://www.varminthunter.org/

 

[22DASHER]

I agree with the previous post. Spend an extra day out west driving around and ask for permission. Not too big of deal from my experiences. I do know of a few people that hired guides and had a horrible experience. Bad thing with a guide is that you don't know if you will be the 3rd client to shoot at those dogs or the 15th client. Both of those case are unacceptable to me when paying for a hunt.

 

[Rick in Oregon]

I agree with the above. If you take the time to poke about a bit, you'll be able to meet the landowners and quite possibly create a lasting symbiotic relationship that will last years, and thereby give you a place to shoot without all the hassles and expense associated with a guide.

My last "guide" experience was on a reservation, and the "guide" spent two hours in his truck sleeping, then for whatever reason drove off into the sunset, never to be seen again till the next day. "Guide".....yeah, right.

You'll be better off and create better relationships just doing it yourself. JME

 

[bddc2012]

Im in the same prediciment we paid for a guide which meant he pointed to the general area to hunt no advice at all.

Anyone had experiece with Shur Shot in Vivian SD?

 

[Wirelessguy2005]

i agree with the advice above. I used an outfitter in Colorado about 4 years ago and it was an interesting experience to say the least. They looked very professional on the surface with a nice website and all. We made reservations months in advance and requested a guide which they agreed to provide. When we arrived in town and met up with the owner the whole deal changed. He asked for cash money upfront for our entire trip and informed us that he didn't have any guides to send along with us on our first day. Getting an uneasy feeling i decided to offer him one days fees upfront and he reluctantly agreed. We were then provided with a map to get to the property we would be shooting on. During the months prior to the trip we had numerous phone conversations with the owner and he assured me that we would have unlimited dog shooting from 100 yards out to 300 yards all day long. We were also informed that they spread out shooters and never have shooters in the same fields day after day. He explained that they always give at least a couple weeks down time to a field after someone shoots in it. We had arrived on a Sunday with the agreement that we wouldn't start shooting until Monday. We had some time to kill that afternoon so we looked at our directions and drove out to the location to make sure that we could find it ok for the following day. Imagine my surprise when we arrived at the location and there were 2 vehicles and about 4 shooters out in the field. To say i was angry and disappointed would be an understatement. My friend and i talked it over and he convinced me to go back the next morning and at least give the property a chance. I agree and we went to the field first thing monday morning. Upon arrival the field was full of dogs and as soon as we pulled in everything within 500+ yards disappeared. That was the first bad sign and it only got worse from that point. Most of that day we were shooting at distances of 500-700 yards. The next day we were provided a guide and taken over the state line to kansas for shooting in a field that supposedly hadn't been shot in over a year. Shortly after we arrived the guide let slip that he had shooters in that field within the last 2 days. The shooting was very slow in this particular field and we decided to call it a day early and go back to town to discuss what we were going to do for our remaining time. After arriving back in town we decided to get a bite to eat and visit a local pawnshop to see if they had any deals on used rifles. We were greeted by a very nice lady at the pawnshop and she introduced herself as the owner. While we were looking around the place she struck up conversation with us and asked where we were from and what brought us to Colorado. We explained to her that were out there for shooting pdogs to which she responded "you came all this way out here just to shoot those things", we laughed and said yep. Next she informed us that she had a very large farm property full of pdogs and she would gladly let us shoot on her property. The next question i asked was "how much would you charge us"? She laughed at me and "are you telling me someone is charging you to shoot the pdogs on their property"? She continued to laugh at us when we explained the deal. The next thing she said is "you boys can shoot on our property all you want for free". She called her husband up right away and set the whole thing up for us. We followed her directions and arrived at their farm about 30 minutes later. Her husband welcomed us and showed us where the best spots were. We spent the next couple days doing all the shooting we could handle. Best of all it was absolutely free. We got extremely lucky to make the contact that we did but it just goes to show that the best way to find a good property is to do a little research and make the drive. Once you arrive visit a few of the local restaurants and ask about talking to landowners, someone will point you in the right direction.

 

[bheadboy]

all good advice, my experience I will add for your benefit,

a good bit of the BLM land is leased and even though it looks available on the maps it is NOT!!!

the thing to do is to check with the game warden in the area you are looking at and they know what land is leased and what is not leased. they will give you the name of the rancher who has the lease and you can then contact them.

I have done this with good results in WY and have a 20 year friendship with the rancher as a result. interesting he has call the law on "Guide services" who have contracted with hunters to hunt on his leased property and they have had fines to pay etc.

so check first.

Bob

 

[JRS]

A BLM permit holder may NOT deny the public access to the leased land. You don't have the right to access buildings on the permit land, however, with a valid hunting license, you have a legal right to hunt on the permit land. It belongs to the Federal Government, not the person holding the lease.

 

[L.Sherm]

I believe JRS is right the leases I believe give ranchers grazing rights not hunting. You need to check BLM land closely some BLM land I believe here in Montana, the missori breaks do not allow PD hunting I think not positive on this but I believe so. It's better to check than get in trouble but most private landowners will give you premission as long as you stay away from there buildings and stock just ASK. I've had other landowners stop and ask me if I want to shoot on there property especially organic wheat farmers because the can't poison.

 

[Gary in MD]

I hunted with Jim River Guide Service for 3 days a couple years ago, in South Dakota.
He has a lot of private land that he has access to. Not the cheapest guy around but he apparently has quite a few repeat customers.
My father and me had no trouble "keeping our barrels warm" for all 3 days.
Check out his website.
Gary

 

[pdhntr]

 

[22DASHER]

I also use topo maps to find towns

 

[bheadboy]

JRS,

I may be wrong but I have experienced ranchers with lease control of BLM, call the warden and the warden coming and kicking people off the lease BLM land and giving them a citation.

the rule is you must have permission of the lease holder before you go on the BLM land which they lease, if they do not want you there - I suggest you don't try it.

Bob

 

[JRS]

JRS,

I may be wrong but I have experienced ranchers with lease control of BLM, call the warden and the warden coming and kicking people off the lease BLM land and giving them a citation.

the rule is you must have permission of the lease holder before you go on the BLM land which they lease, if they do not want you there - I suggest you don't try it.

Bob

What I stated is in FACT the gospel. I have encountered it on 2 occasions. You'll also find no trespassing signs on many parcels of BLM land. That too, is illegal. It is Federal land, and accessible to the public, whether for pleasure, or hunting.

 

[lawman29]

Federal land is open to hunting - period! Grazing leases are just that for grazing period! Yes a few will attempt to post federal and/or state land, but with the handy chip below you're covered to call their bluff, which is all it is.

I would recommend the following web site: http://www.huntinggpsmaps.com/

You can get a chip for individual states out west to put in your Garmin GPS, you'll get land status - color coded (green forest service, blue state, etc.) - and in some cases will give the name of land owner for private tracts giving valuable information to follow-up on to get permission. The info is very accurate.

 

[Rustystud]

My suggestion is from prior experience. Do your research, select a state that actually has some Prairie Dogs. The plague, and 10-80 have taken their toll on prairie dogs over the years. I hear of hunts consisting of a couple hundred shots per day. I consider a good days shoot 1000-1200 shots. I have hunted in Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, and Oklahoma and Alberta, and Manitoba Canada.

Contact the Wildlife agencies of the states that your are scouting. Then contact the US Department of Agriculture, The State(s) Department of Agriculture, and the County Departments of Agriculture. Don't just depend on Google maps, Prairie Dog Towns last for years in dry aired climates. Some states the non resident licenses are pretty expensive. Some states don't require a license to shoot prairie dogs. In my experience the best time to go is May/June, and August/September The temperature between June and August can be brutal. A popup tent, cooler, Plastic knee and Elbo pads, shooting mat are a must if shooting prone. Everywhere there are prairie dogs there are little spiny cactus. They will ruin your day if not prepared. I like shooting from a portable bench or shooting trailer.

Be sure to take multiple rifles and plenty of ammo. Rarely don't I have a gun failure when shooting several thousand rounds, usually extractors.

If you find a good place to shoot lots of prairie dogs you are most likely going to piss off some local who considers the location his private honey hole. Also expect to be checked daily by the local wardens, and federal wardens. Prairie dogs share the ecosystems of several protected species, IE: eagles, owls, hawks, ferrets, badgers, etc.

Do your homework and have fun.
Nat Lambeth

 

[WindSurgeon]

My advise.....there is plenty of public land in the west.....do your

research...know the laws...open/closed time frames...get a buddy

to go and shares expenses...go shoot p/dogs.......take a look at

the Varmint Hunter Assoc...that's a good place to start.....

http://www.varminthunter.org/

This is good advice. There's no reason to use a guide if you have the time. PD towns can be found easily on public lands and any that are on private lands can easily be had. Ranchers like people taking out their dog towns so the worst situation is that they charge you an access fee of $20 per head or so. Usually, you can get away with no fee in my experience. Also, if you are staying in a town, ask around at the hotel or the local diner. Everyone knows everyone and who has PD towns and who allows hunting. Nice way to build some relationships for the future.

 

[bheadboy]

I have a hard time with 1000-1200 shots per day if it is for one shooter.

consider 10 hours of shooting that is 600 minutes- 1200 shot is one every 30 seconds. how can that be, you have to eat, get a drink, get rid of the drink, change rifles, get out the ammo, etc. - the dogs never duck or go down? heat of the day they stay out?

therefore I have a problem, 2-3 shooter ok --one shooter --no way.

when I go and have 200-350 shoot per day I am very happy
Bob

 

[drover]

I have a hard time with 1000-1200 shots per day if it is for one shooter.

consider 10 hours of shooting that is 600 minutes- 1200 shot is one every 30 seconds. how can that be, you have to eat, get a drink, get rid of the drink, change rifles, get out the ammo, etc. - the dogs never duck or go down? heat of the day they stay out?

therefore I have a problem, 2-3 shooter ok --one shooter --no way.

when I go and have 200-350 shoot per day I am very happy
Bob

I am in total agreement with your opinion on this. I am like you - a 200 - 350 shot day is a lot of shooting.

drover

 

[waterfwlr]

Same here. You don't need 1-2k rounds a day to have fun. It also depends what kind of rifle and type of shooting you want to do. I could burn through a whole lot of ammo with my AR at the dogs under 500 yards. But I find myself shooting at the dogs much further and taking slower shots with bolt guns. And spotting for someone else. I probably shoot 200-300 a day, and that's more than enough for me.