Where can I find the prairie dogs?

[SuperMagnum]

I am planning on hunting prarie dogs in SD this year but no clue where to find them. Can any of you direct me to a good place to go and possibly ask ranchers and landowners. Also, is there some kind of a list of landowners that wants to get rid of them. Thanks

["yote"]

SM, did you get my PM ?

[Swift]

Prairie? :D

[SuperMagnum]

Yote, yes I got your pm, thanks very much.

[Cal Sibley]

As Horace Greeley said, "Go west young man, go west!" And quite a bit west at that. I think S. Dakota is about the closest to you in terms of large numbers of the little rascals. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

[Jonesy]

Actually, there are more prairie dogs in Western South Dakota than any other State, what I'm told. Being a former natural resource manager, one of my jobs was counting PD acreages and PD control. Over the past ten years the PD situation has changed dramatically. The past several years there has been a big push for the removal, so the ag producer doesn't have to deal with the government on any level pertaining the prairie dog. What is left, which is still in the hundreds of thousands of acres in Western SD, are get the rights bought to shoot them. Most personal fees are $100 a day per person. The several guides I know are charging $175 a day, with a 3 day, two guy minimum, lodging and food is extra and a PD shooting day is 4 hours, extra time is extra $$$.

Don't let this discourage you. There are still places to go that are free. Most of the dog towns that are easily found to the public are typically not great dog towns for the fact of over shooting. My suggestion would be to hit the little town diners about six AM, be friendly and polite. When I'm talking little, I'm talking towns from 100 to 800 people, that are in the middle of nowhere. Towns in Western SD like Buffalo, Bison, Faith, Union Center, Philip, Eagle Butte, Martin, Murdo, Interior, etc...

I would love to give you a big list of all the places I have, but I'm sorry to say that if I were to do that, it would make me very unpopular with the friends, neighbors and family. Good luck, you'll have a ball.

[SuperMagnum]

Thanks Jonesy, I just got back from a PD trip today. I found alot on some public land in Northwest NE and it was just covered. I even went to Wyoming and SD and asked ranchers and they were more than willing to let me hunt their towns and even tell me where there were more dog towns so I shouldn't have too much trouble finding more. Just like you, I don't want to reveal the locations either, but all I will say is that I now have 7 spots.

[skb2706]

In several places in my sisters backyard........her backyard is 12,000 acres. Wish I could tell you where she lives. To the best of her recollection nobody has ever stopped and asked about shooting them so you can imagine how different that is compared to the ones shot at every other day. Just a bit off the beaten track...to say the least. Oh yea ....her fees are pretty cheap too, we usually take a meal or two and all of our snacks, beverages. But find the geographical center of the US and you are close enough that you can find some.