how is the prairie dog shooing in SD national grasslands?
- Thread starter 223wylde
- Start date
Nightvisionary
New member
It's been several years since I looked it up but I believe many of those areas were closed to varmint hunting due to the presence of the Black Footed Ferret.
Bits'n'Pieces
New member
My brother said the numbers in buffalo gap are way down. They caught the plague and haven't yet recovered.
The Famous Grouse
New member
It depends on your expectations and how hard you're willing to work as far as scouting goes.
The thing about these areas is that there are thousands of hunters trying to hone in on where the dogs are. Therefore, anything that's easy to get to find/get to is going to get shot out by locals first and then by dozens of tourist shooting parties.
Also, you have to have the equipment to access areas in the prevailing conditions. The last 5 years have seen summer rainfalls of record levels leaving vast areas inaccessible to most vehicles due to "prairie gumbo". You have to have the equipment that is capeable of getting you OUT of anywhere you get into should you get stuck or get out in dry conditions and then have a t-storm turn the roads to gumbo.
If you expect glowing hot barrels and busting out 300+++ round days one after the other, you're going to be disappointed.
If you're willing to do a LOT of driving and scouting and put up with the fact that on average you'll be lucky to shoot 50 rounds a day, there is hunting to be found. That's an average, so on some days you'll fire 0 because you'll spend all day scouting and it'll all be for nothing.
I've done a lot of hunting on Buffalo Gap and after a number of years where you've built up a milk run of decent spots that are hard to access, you can have some shooting. The key is that if you get complacent and stop scouting, your shooting will quickly disappear as towns get shot out, plague wipes them out, or other parties hone in on your spots.
The bottom line is that despite vast areas of accessible land, the shooting on average is very poor and it takes long/hard work to find your own spots.
Grouse
The thing about these areas is that there are thousands of hunters trying to hone in on where the dogs are. Therefore, anything that's easy to get to find/get to is going to get shot out by locals first and then by dozens of tourist shooting parties.
Also, you have to have the equipment to access areas in the prevailing conditions. The last 5 years have seen summer rainfalls of record levels leaving vast areas inaccessible to most vehicles due to "prairie gumbo". You have to have the equipment that is capeable of getting you OUT of anywhere you get into should you get stuck or get out in dry conditions and then have a t-storm turn the roads to gumbo.
If you expect glowing hot barrels and busting out 300+++ round days one after the other, you're going to be disappointed.
If you're willing to do a LOT of driving and scouting and put up with the fact that on average you'll be lucky to shoot 50 rounds a day, there is hunting to be found. That's an average, so on some days you'll fire 0 because you'll spend all day scouting and it'll all be for nothing.
I've done a lot of hunting on Buffalo Gap and after a number of years where you've built up a milk run of decent spots that are hard to access, you can have some shooting. The key is that if you get complacent and stop scouting, your shooting will quickly disappear as towns get shot out, plague wipes them out, or other parties hone in on your spots.
The bottom line is that despite vast areas of accessible land, the shooting on average is very poor and it takes long/hard work to find your own spots.
Grouse
They have implemented a driving law on the Grass Lands in the last couple years and you can only drive on designated marked roads, everything else is foot traffic only. You imagine how many dog towns are near a "marked road" - Yup not many
and those that are have been pounded by people all summer long. So as stated above, it's more hunting these days and not as much shooting. But still better than sitting at home, IMO. Good Luck!
I know this is an old thread but, is it worth it for 3 guys to drive up all the way from Georgia to hunt pdogs? We have never done it before. Just want to go somewhere different, and hunt something that we normally don't get to here in Georgia.
It's a long way, and will take a lot of gas. We don't want to waste time or money.
Please advise, thank you.
It's a long way, and will take a lot of gas. We don't want to waste time or money.
Please advise, thank you.
222 mag
Member
If i were you i would check out the pine ridge reservstion in south dakota. you have to hire a guide there, but you will shoot all day every day you are there. $100 to $300 per day per gun,,, but you can burn alot of gas scouting and not fire a shot in days. And the guides? ya get what ya pay for. Check references. And alot of the private land the ranchers want to charge you to shoot wherever you go unless you get to know them year after year. if i had to hunt public grassland i would stay home... been there done that
I agree with 222 on this, I live here and have private ground but to come from somewhere else and expect good shooting you almost have to know someone or hire a guide or you'll spend precious gas and time scouting and talking to ranchers trying to get something to shoot. I would also recommend planning for the first part of June, as the pups are usually all up by then and the heat is usually pretty good for shooting all day. For a trip you might make once, spend the money on a guide but also do your research on them. I've heard stories of them leaving customer half way through the day and if they do that, technically you can't shoot anymore depending on tribal laws.
I appreciate the advice 222 mag and BWB. We are trying to do this as inexpensively as possible which is why we thought of public land first. However, I don't want to drop $400 in gas to get there to do zero shooting.
If y'all have recommendations on guides etc. please let me know. Down here it's much different on public land. Buy your license, buy your Wildlife Management Area stamp. Check on the demographics. Show up. Start hunting. We have public lands in Georgia that produce any of the game you want to hunt year after year, and you don't have to spend a lot of gas or money to find game. Look at the topo and put in some shoe leather. Our predator hunting is exponentially harder than the midwest and west though.
If y'all have recommendations on guides etc. please let me know. Down here it's much different on public land. Buy your license, buy your Wildlife Management Area stamp. Check on the demographics. Show up. Start hunting. We have public lands in Georgia that produce any of the game you want to hunt year after year, and you don't have to spend a lot of gas or money to find game. Look at the topo and put in some shoe leather. Our predator hunting is exponentially harder than the midwest and west though.
222 mag
Member
i havent been there in 3 years and the guide i was useing was going to quit. Get a list of the guides, contact them, and check references. Some offer meals and lodging, some think 50 rounds a day is good, some think 400 yards is close enough. ON a three day hunt you should shoot 900 to 1000 rounds of ammo at 300 yds or less. At least that was my standard for a good hunt. If the guide dont have references, dont hire him. We stayed in Mission SD, motel was old but clean. excellent steak house in town, nice grocery store. Good luck, ya need anything else, just ask
To answer your rifle, scope, caliber question as someone that shoots a lot of dogs a year in SD: Really depends on the time of year. Early June when the pups are up I shoot my 204 and 223's the most because shots are close and more of them. Smaller the caliber the less barrel heat you get and the more shots before you have to let it set. Later in the year (end of July-August) I tend to shoot the 22-250 and 223AI more cause shots are usually longer and I shoot heavier bullets out of them, so I can still get nice SPLATS at 3-400 yards. I have a 6mmAI I shoot a lot too for longer shots no matter what time of year, it's just fun.
I would recommend a scope with no less power than 20x and since it's usually windy here in SD a reticle with some kind of reference point in it is nice. BDC, Mil Dot, etc...
A heavier barrel will heat up a little slower than a pencil barrel, giving you a few more shots before you have to let it cool down. But if you are walking in somewhere you have to take that into consideration too.
I would recommend a scope with no less power than 20x and since it's usually windy here in SD a reticle with some kind of reference point in it is nice. BDC, Mil Dot, etc...
A heavier barrel will heat up a little slower than a pencil barrel, giving you a few more shots before you have to let it cool down. But if you are walking in somewhere you have to take that into consideration too.
222 mag
Member
Any good 6 to 18 power scope will work fine. I have two 12X leupolds that are fine too. Your guide can tell you what to bring for equipment, binos, range finder, bipods etc. If three or more people are making the trip, put some thought into traveling light. 2 to 3 guns per person, one cleaning kit and share it. Use 30 cal or 50 cal ammo cans, one can per gun. I use zip lick freezer bags for fired brass. Try not to load several different loads for one gun. four guys looking through fifty 100 count plastic ammo boxes to find the right shells for 15 different rifles gets old quick...BWB has good points too, this works for me and makes the trip easier
CritterAcres
New member
We have gone out there the last 2 years. It's not like it used to be. What we did is go to a small town early in the morning and find where the locals are eating breakfast, Then start asking around. We would always get in some hunting.
I had a local warden tell me that about 3-4 years ago the tree huggers wanted to outlaw poisoning of prairie dogs and introduced a bill into legislation to ban it and everybody went out and poisoned all the prairie dogs to get rid of them before they passed the bill. The bill never passed but the damage was done.
Then last summer the property owner where I have hunted for years told us that there was a plague that was killing them off.
In short it's not like it used to be (we wold bring a thousand rounds per gun)but they can be found and it's still better than sitting at home in front of the TV.
I had a local warden tell me that about 3-4 years ago the tree huggers wanted to outlaw poisoning of prairie dogs and introduced a bill into legislation to ban it and everybody went out and poisoned all the prairie dogs to get rid of them before they passed the bill. The bill never passed but the damage was done.
Then last summer the property owner where I have hunted for years told us that there was a plague that was killing them off.
In short it's not like it used to be (we wold bring a thousand rounds per gun)but they can be found and it's still better than sitting at home in front of the TV.
The antis have been working constantly at trying to eliminate shooting. We saw 20 years ago when the park service and forest service asked for public input on grasslands management. A few of us were there in person next to a mountain of mail organized by the antis. We saw what was coming. Consequently the shooting has went away, it is intentionally made difficult to know the areas allowing shooting and the areas which do not.
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