Prairie Dog "Season" close to being over in northern New Mexico!

T

Tusero

New member
Dudes, /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

There is no actual season for prairie dogs for New Mexico, that I know of anyway, but I was shooting last weekend and it was pretty good on Saturday, but lousy on Sunday. I took the camera along but the batteries went dead and there are no Lithium batteries within 50 miles of where I was, so no pics.

I was up in Mora County, New Mexico and the weather was nice during the day, with just a little rain. The weather was damn cold Saturday night though, and only shot a few dogs on Sunday morning. But I was at 8500 feet, and the rancher there where I was shooting says he gets usually his first frost in mid-September.

I have seen prairie dogs in other places, Texas panhandle to name one, where they were up all day after a 19 degree temperature overnight.

I have also heard of guys shooting prairie dogs in the snow. What is your take and oppinion on when the shooting is over? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
 
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The fifth paragraph down in this link addresses your question about the black-tailed PD and hibernation. I'm not sure, but I believe its the same for the white-tailed PD, also.

http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/mammals/mammals/prairie.htm

If the weather is fairly warm and it's sunny, they will generally be out sunning in mid day in the middle of winter. Maybe not in the numbers you see in summer, but they do not hibernate.

I have shot them in the winter on warm days with snow cover on the ground. It lends a whole new meaning to the words "red mist". - BCB
 
Not even close at 4100 feet elevation....in fact I usually go a couple days early for both antelope and deer hunting just to bust off a few. Roy...out on the eastern plains of CO they never really stop coming out...at least for any length of time. They do like sunshine but temperature never really seems to affect them.
 
I shoot prairie dogs almost exclusively in Southwest Wyoming. The elevation is right around the 7000 foot mark. This area is also notoriously windy and cold during the "off-season." I've never really made efforts to pursue them during the winter, acting under the assumption htat any creature with a brain and a place out of the weather would likely use both. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif From what limited observations I have made in that area, you don't see near the activity in the towns as you would in late Spring and Summer. From what I gather from others hunting that area, it seems to hold true across the board. But maybe one of these times I'll have to brave the sub zero temps and "horizontal snow storms" just to test my theory. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Thanx for the scoop guys! And Steve, if you get any kind of Indian Summer, then lets try a late trip this year. Hope I am not offending any Indians out there, but I did not make that name up for what and Indian Summer is.
 


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