**UPDATED** Prairie dogs in October!

IAyoteHNTR

IAyoteHNTR

New member
Just wondering if there is still some good chances at some decent prairie dog hunting in NE and/or SD as late as Mid-August? Possibly Eastern Montana?

I just have an itch that needs scratched and would consider taking off on a long w/e to try it if there's any decent chance at some reasonable shooting opportunities.

I've never gone prairie dog hunting but have been wanting to for more than a few years now. I've got a few rifles I want to use. A 17HMR, a .223, and a 20 Practical and would have at least 200-300 rounds of ammo for each to take with me. I have a post in the hunt swap area if anyone is interested in a SE Iowa Deer hunt this December.

Thanks for any replies.

Trevor
 
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Early morning and late afternoons are still good just gets slow in the heat of the day. It was 103 here today according to my digital thermometer.
 
WIND !!!!
Now till September WIND is a constant problem. PD's don't like it and can't hear or see in a 50 mph wind so the stay close to the hole. Other then that there still very active.
 
A few years ago, we went to Montana around Labor Day. Absolutely the best shoot I've been on. The weather was good, little wind, and plenty of targets. Wish I could guarantee you the same kind of trip, but we know better. We just got back from SD a couple of weeks ago, high grass and the pd's had been hammered. I would not go again in July for those reasons. The closest shots we had were around 200-250 yds, so I wouldn't bother with a rimfire. Good luck if you make the trip.
 
When you ask how is the shooting it is going to be relative to what you are used to. If you are from iowa or other places that don't have anything like prairie dogs and you have never been it wont matter much. You will still probably do more shooting in a day than you have ever done before as long as you locate a pdog town.

To the guys that have been out several times and expect to shoot atleast 500 rds a day they may say that its not worth their time.

It is no doubt usually better in the early part of the year since there are more pups to shoot at and fewer hunters have been out. As the summer goes on the pups get shot, they get wary of people and animals prey on them reducing the numbers some. But they will still be easier to find than woodchucks in iowa.

If you have time go find em its a blast.
 
An interesting 'believe it or not' story: My wife and I hunt prairie dogs occassionaly. Last time out it 15 for 19 shots for me.

The story:

Yesterday morning we were headed to town for breakfast. Along our route is a small prairie dog town; maybe a mile in length. Normally we see anywhere from 3 to 10 prairie dogs at their holes. Not so yesterday!! EVERY hole out there had a PD sitting on it. Very unusual!! Why? There was this coyote meandering along the fence and they were watching it come and watching it go.

I wonder if a strategically placed coyote decoy would have the same effect.

Would make for some very interesting shooting.

PS: NOT trying to hijack this thread.
 
Great point slimjim.
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I'm hoping to find someone that wants to go try it out on a long w/e in August. I've never been prairie dog hunting but I just have an itch that needs scratched if you know what I mean.

If I were to shoot a couple hundred shots each day for a couple days I'd say it wouldn't be a waste of my time at all. I don't expect to go thru several hundred rounds of ammo nor would I really want to I guess. Just want to try it for the first time.
 
I'm looking real hard at the Fort Pierre Nat. Grasslands South of Pierre, SD on Aug 16/17. Probably stay in a hotel in Pierre and go out and see what I can find for shooting.

Anyone have helpful info?
 
Originally Posted By: IAyoteHNTRI'm looking real hard at the Fort Pierre Nat. Grasslands South of Pierre, SD on Aug 16/17. Probably stay in a hotel in Pierre and go out and see what I can find for shooting.

Anyone have helpful info?

Make sure to call first. it was my understanding the plague hit the Grasslands pretty hard.

Quote:USDA Forest Service
Nebraska National Forests & Grasslands;
Samuel R. McKelvie
National Forest,
Buffalo Gap, Fort Pierre,
& Oglala National Grasslands
125 North Main Street
Chadron, NE 69337
308-432-0300

Chris
 
Originally Posted By: Wyoming Winchester

Careful "scratching" I've found that when you scratch an itch it just gets worse. It' great do it.
Just remember, you've been warned.

Yep. I've realized that. But a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.
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Not near enough ammo Trevor for you center fire rifles. Last time we were out we did not even bring the 17hmr out of the camper. Shots were a little longer than normal. Another thing make sure that you bring your 6x45 and ammo for that. The last time we were out there I had a pile of ammo for all the rifles. The majority of time was spent with the 223's(4) and the 243's(2). Shoot one for about 20 or so rounds and then switch guns. There were 3 of us shooting out of my gun bag and then my dad was shooting his. My empty casings after a day of shooting(and it was not that good of a dogtown) was 800 empty 223 casings and 450 empty 243's. The boys spent most of the time with the 223's and I went to work on them with the 243's. If you get into some good dogs but it will be tough this time of the year you could be in short supply of ammo. Better to have it and not need it then to wish you had more.
 
I went out 2 weekends ago here in Montana. Started mountain biking in to an area at 8 am. Got back to the truck about 4pm. Left with 300 rounds in my pack. Returned to truck with 12 223 rounds left. Best day of shooting ever. Temperature in high 60's most of the day.
 
I was trying to get a plan together for this next w/e (the 20th/21st) but wouldn't you know it. Our biggest customer @ work (Ready Mix Co.) is trying to plan a 1200 yard pour starting Fri evening that will go into early Sat morning and it sounds like I'm going to get forced into working.
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I'll be heading up to SD next Saturday to go coyote hunting/prairie dog shooting on Sunday with Willie from Jim River. I'll let y'all know how it goes.
 
I did make it up to SD to go shoot some PD's using Willie Dvorak, Jim River Guide Svc as my guide.

The weather was ok, but very windy. The first small dog town I shot at I made kills anywhere from 380-390 yards out to just under 500 yards. The wind was quartering at about 10-15 mph so making shots out there around 400-450 yards was nice and challenging but I did manage to get aprox 10-12 dogs killed. Several dead ones laying around and more than a few holes had the entrances all bloodied up so some did make it back into their holes before expiring.

The second dog town we set up on later in the morning was even more challenging. The winds increased to 15-20 mph with gusts up to 25 mph and higher and the way we set up to shoot this dog town made the wind almost a direct crosswind. Needless to say with that kind of wind I made a LOT of shots that missed by inches or less and my kill % for the shots I took went way down to around 10% but I did manage to kill well over a dozen, maybe close to 20 dogs if you count the ones that made it back to their holes.

I used up the 250 rounds I had loaded for the 20 Practical and I tried shooting my .223 but I only had the factory Fiocchi 50gr V-Max ammo and even though that ammo shoots really well out to around 400 or a bit more, I was mainly trying to shoot dogs out past 450 or more at that time and with the high winds I wasn't getting nearly as good results as I was getting with my 20 Practical so after about 25 rounds I put the .223 away and went back to the 20 Practical.

I suppose since my 20 Practical shoots 40gr V-max's around 3500 fps and the factory .223 50gr V-max's only run about 3050 fps the wind was eating up the slower .223 stuff out there past 450 yards.

At any rate, I had a good time, I got to finally shoot some Prairie Dogs and I found out how well I liked my 20 Practical, which I like a LOT.
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No story is complete w/o some pictures so here's the 2 farthest confirmed kills I made which when we ranged back to the truck/shooting bench it showed up as 548 Yards.
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2014PrairieDogs_zps878d6c06.jpg
 


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