Posted: 2/20/2008 10:33:58 AM EDT
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Guys, I used to hunt prarie dogs on on a friend of mine's land near the Rosebud reservation in Southwest SD, about 40 miles north of Valentine, NE. It was great shooting, but I called him to go out there this Spring and he and his neighbors have poisioned all of their dogs recently and I don't have any other leads (other than Indian Reservations) at this time. I was hoping to shoot on some non-reservation land as I have heard quite a few horror stories involving theft toward hunters and questionable Indian guides when hunting on Indian land...not to mentioned the added expense involved with dealing with the reservations. I was hoping some of you might have some suggestions for me in regard to shooting in western NE or SD for free. Money is very tight and this would be the only vacation for me this year. I reload my own ammo with a cheap-o single stage reloader, so the only main expense would be gas and $25/night for a hotel in some small town somewhere, which is affordable for me at this time. I was looking online and some of these people want $300/day to shoot prarie dogs! YIKES!!!! I know there are ranchers out there that don't mind if you shoot on their land. I was wondering if any of you knew anyone I could get in touch with via telephone to maybe get permission to go out there and shoot on their land. Anyway, much help would be appreciated. Thanks, Joel |
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I am in NW KS, about an hour from Colorado and and hour from Nebraska. I have quite a few dogs if you are interested. I also have a place in Colorado, about an hour east of Denver that has them. I am needing to get them poisoned but like shooting them better. If you or anyone is interested let me know. EDIT: I bought some pasture up by North Platte last year, but haven't really been out on it to see if there were any dogs there...I'll check on it though. |
If you have some Dogs near North Platte, let me know, I'd be happy to smoke a few-dozen/hundred for you. I am in N.P. |
| There are some towns out west and north of Crawford on the Ogallala National Grasslands. Google Earth helps to locate dog towns pretty well, if you know the area, the mounds are easy to see. There are some at the War Bonnet Memorial and east of there, and north of there. |
Well now I know where to stay if there's dogs on the ranch.  I've never shot them before, but would be interested in trying. |
If you feel like driving to SW N. Dak we have more shooting AFTER spring planting until mid Aug. than most people get in a lifetime of killing PDawgs. About the poisoning, dont worry it doesn't work that way and they will be back in force the following year. it's how it works, nothig short of an H-Bomb will knock those critters out. IM me an I will give you this years stats for my BIL's land from the fish and game dept. It might get you inerested.
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Dont even get me started on this topic. I moved from the southwest to South Dakota when i had a job offer and figured it would be a great opportunity to be close to prairie dog hunting. What i found out was that everyone wanted to get paid to hunt on their property and i just couldnt fathom paying a few hundred bucks to go shoot a nuisance animal. This is especially true as i read the Rapid City or Sioux Falls papers talking about ranchers demanding that the feds poison P-dogs and bitching how fed money wasnt paying for the eradication of such an animal and then getting all pissed off becuase i wouldnt pay them $100 bucks to go "walk" onto their properties to shoot them. Now though, i'm happy to say that i have acquired employmetn out west and will be leaving this damn state here in a few weeks. I will never understand a place where you must pay money to help ranchers erradicate an animal they demand the federal governemnt to kill.. I have further never met such money hungry ranchers who bitch and moan about their farm subsidies and then demand money to go walk on their property. Because of this i cannot wait to move back out west to the land of federal property wehre you dont have to pay off some landowner to hunt. So best of luck on your search for a place to shoot prairie dogs where the ranchers act like they are doing you a favor and demand a crisp $100 bill for their troubles. |
Try the New Underwood area of SD. It's full of Prairie Dogs. You can check with the State for maps on public lands (School Sectionals) that you can hunt on. Quite a few ranchers have'em too but some want to charge you to hunt on their land. If I had my maps still I would send you to a nice spot I used shoot P-dogs, but I got rid of them when I moved. |
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I know what you are talking about, azcactusbrew. I actually contacted someone that offered to help me find some prairie dog land. he then told me he did guided prairie dog hunts and it cost $750 (but he shows you the best land, says he)!!! Can you believe that?? I told him there was no way I could afford $750 to shoot at pests. What kind of idiots hire people like this? Joel |
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I did some calling around and found that there are a few resources at my disposal. Apparently there is the Winner Chamber of Commerce, which keeps a list of landowners that allow shooters on their land. This is in Winner, SD. However, I don't know if these owners charge or if they just want shooters out there. The Cheyenne (SD), Lower Brule (SD), and Standing Rock (ND) reservations all allow shooting on certain landowners land (within the res.) if you pay the one time yearly fee of anywhere from $100 and up, depending on the res. They said that some of the landowners try to charge but THEY AREN'T SUPPOSED TO, according to the Indian broad I talked to at the Cheyenne Res' Game and Parks office. They also recommend to call the numbers of hte landowners listed to find out ahead of time if they are still accessible or if they don't want shooters anymore. The Indians are supposed to update their land owner "list", as well as the state updating the Winter Chamber of Commerce land owner list, but they don't always get to it as quickly as they would like. Anyway, I'll keep you updated. I can't believe it is so complicated to shoot dogs. They are supposed to be a pest, for Christ's sake! Joel |