Prairie Dogs, some questions. . .

[CoGunNut]

Hey guys. I moved here from Indiana several years ago and have been wanting to go pop some of these critters for awhile.

Truth is, though, I don't know how to go about doing so. I hunted the area where I grew up, so I knew where I could go and where I couldn't.

Is there some way to find out where I can take the wife, who is looking forward to the same thing, and aid in the ridding of this furry pestilence?


Any help at all would be appreciated.

Thanks!

CoGunNut

[ncolz]

The easiest way is to drive around in the boonies, find a field with prairie dogs and politely ask the landowner if they'd mine you popping a few. If they say no, politely leave. If they say yes, agree on a date & time and be sure to clean up any brass and other trash you leave behind.

At least that's worked for me.

[sniper7]

most farmers are more than happy to have you take some of them out. always be nice. Hunting pheasants I have always offered to give them some of the meat, but with p dogs I would advise against it.

[wolffo]

finding good land to hunt east of denver can be time consuming, but it can be done, just need to knock on a lot of doors.

I spent two saturdays a few years ago driving around and scored access to two great pieces of property...so it can be done.

another option worth checking out is wyoming, over 50% of the state is BLM and National forest.
and the cool thing is that accoring to wyoming law even if a rancher has a lease on public land they cant keep you off it, yes they can put a fence up...but they have to let you have access to YOUR land.
and the best part is wyoming is infested with varmints of all kinds
anything smaller than a deer is pretty much fair game (a little exagerated, yes, but almost true, call WYO fish and game and they'll rattle off all the stuff you can shoot without a tag...all you need is a hunter safety card)

not so in colorado, however, a leased piece of BLM land can be restricted to public access, which is total bull$hit

[gnihcraes]

The further east you go, and the farther off the beaten road the better. Pick some small towns and ask the locals if anyone around is interested. I've shot on a farmers land for several years, only stipulation was "don't shoot the cows"... I think prarie dogs are like weeds, the more you kill, the more you get... ha.

some towns you might try, Akron, Wray, Holyoke, Yuma, Strausburg, Stratton, Burlington... all north and east (maybe a little south on a couple of them) Lots of dogs around Kit Carson where I shot lots, but all private land, some farmers not open to the shooting. (no other reason but for shooting themselves usually)

kc.

[GunTroll]

^ Prairie dog managing?? Greed? Trophy P-doggin? Hell I have seen ranches in WY charge to shoot p-dogs! Guided even!

[babirl]

^ Prairie dog managing?? Greed? Trophy P-doggin? Hell I have seen ranches in WY charge to shoot p-dogs! Guided even!

Given what some of those folks go through to BARELY make a living on the high plains, not to mention the transplant asshats they've dealt with over the past several years, I'm surprised they let ANYBODY they don't know on their property anymore. (Liability reasons alone...)

Sadly, Rampart Range is a "classic" example of inviting "public" into your life and onto your property... Let's just say a few have made a VERY negative impact on the ranchers/farmers out east over the past 20+ years. Not sure what the driving factors were/are, but nearly everybody I now talk to are tired of "jerks" that don't respect the privilege.

I'm very fortunate to have 3-gen family connections plus some sweat equity invested in the very few places I have access to. However, I'm about to the point I think the TX "lease system" makes sense!

Don't know the right answers, but ANYTHING you can do to help the current folks trying to farm/ranch is a good thing... I suspect there won't be many "small/family" operations left within 10 years. (Ethanol and Wind-E ain't going to pay the bills... No kids willing to live that life).

[zombiehunter77]

I always get/have the owners mailing address, and send them a $20 bill for their
kindness, every time i hunt on their property, it may not be alot, but it will buy them some badly needed gas for their truck that week, and they really do appreiciate and remember it ...

[VDW]

I haven't taken the time to get into it, but wouldn't mind if I had a connection. Just be respectful and don't ruin it for the rest of us.

Just out of curiosity for those of you who do shoot dogs, what do you do with the carcass? Are landowners OK with leaving them out?

Oh yeah, I have to say it...aren't prarie dogs on the top of the list to be added to the Endangered Species Act as threatened?

(Seriously though, they are trying to get them added).

[GunTroll]

Coyotes,birds of prey,owls?,flies, crows and other things clean up the mess for you. Shoot em' and forget em' ! I might walk to them and see the damage but I NEVER touch em'. Nasty little things! The landowner that lets me shoot em' on his property wouldn't want someone messing with the confetti pieces. I mean carcases.

Its the black tailed ones the tree huggers are concerned about. I know for a fact that I haven't ever shoot one of those! They are so much cuter than the regular brownish colored tailed ones. ! are allways trying to backdoor us! Get the black tailed one on the list and someone if not many will get caught blasting one perhaps and have to pay up.

I haven't taken the time to get into it, but wouldn't mind if I had a connection. Just be respectful and don't ruin it for the rest of us.

Just out of curiosity for those of you who do shoot dogs, what do you do with the carcass? Are landowners OK with leaving them out?

Oh yeah, I have to say it...aren't prarie dogs on the top of the list to be added to the Endangered Species Act as threatened?

(Seriously though, they are trying to get them added).