Thunder Basin National Grassland, WY

claimbuster

claimbuster

New member
I've been flip-flopping on which direction to go for a little PD scouting trip this weekend. The Thunder Basin area in eastern Wyoming interests me. Any of you shoot the public land? Comments? Any targets? Lots of shooters? What did you find when you asked to get onto private land?

I will be stopping at the Douglas Rangers Office in Douglas, WY as they have a map that points out the restricted areas.

At the price of gasoline anymore, one hates to make many dry runs. No intent here of starting another gasoline pricing discussion.
 
Last October the dogs haven't returned in any numbers on the north end by HWY 450. I think most of it is closed to shooting till after June 15th.
 
I called the Douglas Rangers Ofice this morning. Nothing is closed except for a "restricted" area. I assume that has something to do with that black footed weasel or something like that. I keep trying to tell those folks that I have no predjudices, I will shoot anything that crawls, walks, swims or flies.

I did notice that South Dakota does close down shooting of PD's on public land from early May to the middle of June. They don't want a shooter to take out a nursing mother and have pups starve to death. I am in total agreement with that concept. If I help starve 5-7 pups, that's 5-7 adults I can't shoot next year.
 
Thunder Basin? That sounds like something I'd be sitting on after a couple bowls of your chili.

No nursing females down here in CO. Pups are out and gnawing weeds. My "PD Indicator" says it's time to go get 'em. There were 8 RK's on the West Flatirons Mall offramp this afternoon. A sure sign. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
Just got back from Thunder Basin. As a bit of information, the dogs in the southern of the National Grassland are all but gone. Plague, I understand, about two years ago has wiped out most of them. In one area I found towns that were miles long, but they were "ghost towns". There are a few here and there but in the interest of future generations, I did not shoot them. I wonder how many hundreds of thousands the plague wiped out? The Forest Service folks think the population is coming back.

There is a significant amount of land located somewhat in the center of the basin that is a black footed ferret preserve. That means NO PD shooting. It takes a bit of care to understand the maps and where you can and cannot shoot. If you just paid attention to the signs, you will lose shooting possibilities. Where they post "NO PD SHOOTING BEYOND THIS SIGN" they fail to mention that is only on one side of the road. Common oversight.

Up north I found a few "live" towns but they were few in number. Did find one that kept me busy for four hours.
 
I just got back from checking out the Pawnee Natl. Grasslands. There are a few PD towns there as well. Not very many residents, though. Could be the same plague? Never fired a shot.
 
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Aaaaaah yes, thunder, chili and the basin.

Question, can one be charged with vehicular homicide for running over a PD in Boulder?



Yes Might as well run over a bicyclist...
 
Had another of my "great" ideas last night. Amazing what 2-3 glasses of cabernet do for my creative thinking. Why not get the feds to approve a transplant of the excess Boulder PD's to Thunder Basin. There we have a gazillion acres of land desperately needing residents, that has the eco-structure to support them and very few bunny lovers should the population reach a need for thinning. Boulder could go back to playing softball in their parks knowing that their beloved PD's have gone on to a better place and we would be able to recreate as well.

Damn!
 
I agree a hundred percent I have literally thousands on my place, but insurance, liabilty, and all around PR does not allow me to do a damn thing about them. Although my job (which own the property) spends thousands of dollars a year to eradicate them. Figure that one out.
 
Quote:
Just got back from Thunder Basin. As a bit of information, the dogs in the southern of the National Grassland are all but gone. Plague, I understand, about two years ago has wiped out most of them. In one area I found towns that were miles long, but they were "ghost towns". There are a few here and there but in the interest of future generations, I did not shoot them. I wonder how many hundreds of thousands the plague wiped out? The Forest Service folks think the population is coming back.



I deer and antelope hunt in Thunder Basin every year. The "Plague" hit there about 10 years ago. It came in little pellets placed in holes by the Forest Service. They won't admit it but what else can explain why the "Plague" stopped at the grassland border.
 
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