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Prairie Dog Plague in CO???

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any other PDOG hunters in eastern CO see any dogs this spring?

The typical area we hunt HARD (500 a day or so) which was teeming with them when we left in October last year. Even after our hard hunting

Currently sitting on the 6 sq mile area right now and we have shot 7 in 24 hrs.

Land owner says it wasn’t poisoned - anyone else see a huge die off?

Also, many of the holes have been dug out by coyotes to, I assume, get to the dead one in the bottom of the dens.
 
Greg Taylor said:
any other PDOG hunters in eastern CO see any dogs this spring?

The typical area we hunt HARD (500 a day or so) which was teeming with them when we left in October last year. Even after our hard hunting

Currently sitting on the 6 sq mile area right now and we have shot 7 in 24 hrs.

Land owner says it wasn’t poisoned - anyone else see a huge die off?

Also, many of the holes have been dug out by coyotes to, I assume, get to the dead one in the bottom of the dens.
Click to expand...


My guess is that since you aren't a spring chicken anymore, your eyesight might be responsible. Good news is you can move up to groundhogs if that is the problem!
 
I haven't been out there this spring but have been there numerous times in the last 8-9 years and the numbers were reallly strong when we first started going there. Over the next 2 years they declined rapidly due to drought. We didnt go for the next few years due to the drought and numbers declining. Went 2 years ago and they seemed to be making a recovery but I don't know if they will ever recover to the numbers we encountered 8-9years ago.
 
orbitup said:
I hunted north of Kermit Texas last weekend. Not a p-dog in sight but still had fun hunting rabbits.
Click to expand...
We stopped by 4-5 towns on the way home. All over 25 miles apart. All desolate.

I am ruling our plague Bc of the distances.

I had no clue dogs went under to breed/nurse young. Both males and females.
 
I checked a couple towns in NW SD on the National Grasslands. There were dogs but not near the numbers I was expecting. We are about a year into a drought with no real moisture in sight.
 
We've had the same thing happen, shooting many all over our spot and hundreds were left by the time we stopped in the fall.

The next spring we left from work on a Friday, camped that night and woke up to a ghost town.

Actually this has happened couple times but was within an hours drive from home.

PD's really declined in northern AZ because of drought and disease from when I was a kid.
 
I don't hunt Prairie dogs from April till after the first week in May in the Texas Panhandle. All the pups are being birthed. Not fond of the idea of shooting the mother and then letting the pups starve to death. Events seem to occur about a week later in Colorado for the birth cycle.
Something to keep in mind,
Dtubb
 
we did not even hunt co because of how thin they are in the last 2 years.
my buddies have been paying for shoots out of state.
 
Greg- In SE Colorado the plague has moved through the last 2 years. I usually wait until Mother's day to start as the pups are starting to come out of their holes so I haven't been out yet this year. I lost 4-5 towns over the last 2 years.
 
Greg Taylor said:
anyone else see a huge die off
Click to expand...

I live in Loveland and the dogs are doing well there. This morning I hiked Coyote Ridge and the trail goes through a couple of towns. On the way out at just after 7:00 the big dogs were very active. On the way back at 9:00 the big dogs were still out, and saw pups on 2 of the mounds. The pups on the one mound were much bigger than I expected them to be this early.
 
sundance said:
Greg- In SE Colorado the plague has moved through the last 2 years. I usually wait until Mother's day to start as the pups are starting to come out of their holes so I haven't been out yet this year. I lost 4-5 towns over the last 2 years.
Click to expand...
We are going to sick the property owner on it over the next few months for observation. I hate to think that plague got it but it makes sense.
 
Most cities from Fort Collins south through Colorado Springs have all their prairie dogs vaccinated to avoid pain and suffering (in the prairie dog communities). Boulder residents even put flea collars on theirs. The same people who won't vaccinate their kids, you know.
Farther east, it's just mother nature. Only 3 natural things can take out a colony. Plague is #1. Severe drought and severe flooding are #2 and 3. 1 and 2 have been pretty bad out there for a few years.
 
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Laffeyette/Boulder area has plenty. The greenies there seem to think they are golden or something.. Lil effer are all over the place..
 
Son lives there, actually in Lafayette. Whole area is over run with stupidity.. Back in the 60's all the hippies migrated there.. Boulder used to be a cool college town. Anyhow still a metric butt ton of p-dawgs around there..

And here in Wyo numbers are down. Might be cause I spent all summer blasting the bumper crop that appeared around here..
 
Greg Taylor said:
We stopped by 4-5 towns on the way home. All over 25 miles apart. All desolate.

I am ruling our plague Bc of the distances.

I had no clue dogs went under to breed/nurse young. Both males and females.
Click to expand...
Greg, you can't rule out plague because of distance. Coyotes act as vectors for the fleas that carry the plague. They can easily cover 25 miles in a day if they want to. That's the primary way the plague moves is by hitching a ride from one dog town to the next. It took a couple of years for the plague to cross the White River in South Dakota but when it made it across it wiped out towns I had shot for 30 years. Some of those towns have never come back.
 
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