Prairie Dogs

J

John/az2

New member
I posted this in "The Hunt" forum, but I'm guessing it doesn't get that much activity as there are no posts about the best methods to use for politicians (sp?).

Forgive me for posting this here... I just want some input. Maybe if you could answer the original post in "The Hunt" forum...

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>I went out this Saturday for a few hours to hunt prairie dogs...
I found that they have a good eye on you at about 150 yards and take the dive between 100 and 150 yards.

Shooting them ain't no piece of cake!

I had my .223 and had a couple of close shots, but not the results I desired.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

[/quote]

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John/az

"The middle of the road between the extremes of good and evil, is evil. When freedom is at stake, your silence is not golden, it's yellow..." RKBA!

http://www.countdown9199.com
 
I used to get a lot of them with a whole lot of patience at about 50 yards. Good camo, walk up to your spot about 50 yards (they will go down their holes.... set up with camo and hold real still... they will come back up within a half hour or so. Just make sure that their holes are up wind of where you set your stand. Laying down is the best, maybe behind a couple of bushes.

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Richard

The debate is not about guns,
but rather who has the ultimate power to rule,
the People or Government.
RKBA!
 
We shoot losta dogs out here. Folks even guide hunters for the little critters. Shooting a p-dog at 100 to 150 yards is no big deal. You just need an accurate rifle, a good rest, and lots of practice.
 
You found what I found at the first of this year - I had to swap with Rob for a scope.
I would recomend a simple 3X-9X Bushnell for the optics - And Hornady Molly Coated VX rounds...

PDogs are tricky. And spook easy. You want a lot of range - which means a rangefinder...

And most important - A LOT of AMMO.

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"We learn from history that we learn nothing from history."

-- George Bernard Shaw

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
The Critic formerly known as Kodiac
 
i go with one or two other shooter's. i wear bi-focal's and i can't see them for nothing. however i have a burris sig. in 6x on my ar 20" ultra-match and i am hitting them at 5-600yds!! never know what hit em' the only way i can do it is with optic's. btw i am taking out my fn with 6.5x40 nikon on the next shoot betcha them dog's jump real high when hit with .308! and for all the touchy feely's who feel bad for us shooting vermin stop eating meat!
 
Sportster,
No argument there, but let's take it a few steps and see what happens.

1. Killing for food is okay.
2. If prarie dogs do little more than aerate soil, but in so doing cause the demise of cattle raised for food, then the prarie dogs are a menace, a vermin, to be destroyed.
3. If vermin which destroy food and property are to be destroyed, and the rancher is unable or unwilling to do it, he permits riflemen to do that for him.
4. If the riflemen enjoy killing pests (which cause cattle to be destroyed), cleanly, without wounding and pain, that is not a bad thing. (Sure beat poisoning!)

Not a challenge, just taking into account where beef comes from. If my chain of thought is faulty, please correct me.

By the way, I believe we agree in intent. Hunters who kill edible game (deer, pheasant, etc.) for sport and let the game rot in the field are among the lowest scumdogs.

[This message has been edited by Dennis (edited September 02, 1999).]

[This message has been edited by Dennis (edited September 02, 1999).]
 
Dennis -
Good info, but you left out one interesting piece...

The "left to rot" PDogs will attract and nourish coyotes who will then find a "natural" source of food, allowing them to become the secondary vermin control agent. This secondary controll agent works 24x7, not just on weekends, and is part of the natural food chain.

Just another thought...
HTH
 
Pdogs also carry diseases that can infect cattle...

"They also have sharp and nasty teeth! Look at the bones!"

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"Supreme authority derives from a mandate from the masses. Not from some farsicle aquatic ceremony."

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
The Critic formerly known as Kodiac
 
Ahh' but they are soo doggone cute! I have enjoyed watching them, but suspect it would take a monumental effort to put a major dent in the population with just a rifle unless an unusual "natural" pressure existed at the same time. And that's taking into account the # of crack shots out there! Hate poisoning-expensive and too easily hits unintended targets. My own "cute animal" war has been with beaver mostly.
 
Sportster:

I don't think you would believe that about ground squarrels and PD's if you ever had to put down a horse or a cow who had steped in their hole and broke their leg. I have and I'll guarantee it hurts a whole lot more to have to shoot a life long friend (horse). As to shooting an animal for no reason what so ever and letting it lie to rot, I agree with you.



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Richard

The debate is not about guns,
but rather who has the ultimate power to rule,
the People or Government.
RKBA!
 
Never heard of p-dogs infecting cattle. Around here, landowners want rid of the little pests because they dig so many holes you can't ride a horse through the "towns" to gather cattle. I had to kill a colt several years back when he stepped in a hole and busted a canon bone. More than one rider has ended up in the hospital (or morgue) when his/her horse stepped in a p-dog or badger hole and fell. I'd rather shoot p-dogs than registered quarter horses.

I don't want to argue ethics and morals, but a lot of people shoot p-dogs just for sport. It is part of the culture out here. Precious few shooters in my state believe shooting a p-dog for sport is really all that big a deal. However, I respect a person's right to believe it is wrong...but it isn't.
 
I reckon it's a bit like hunting rabbits. They are a pest but I do it for sport pure and simple. The benefit is that it keeps pets down a bit but shooting never makes a real big dent in rabbit populations.
I don't take them for meat unless they are big enough, but I apologise to noone for it.
C'mon fisherman don't fish to eat fish-the fish are a nice side benefit. Why do hunters have to be so apologetic and make up reasons why they hunt that are trendy.
Hunters should never waste good meat, we shot some deer here recently and still are feeding on it - it would have been wrong to waste that good meat.

A question , I should get to the USA next year and I want to hunt a prairie dog - I don't want to pay $1000 for it either - any suggestions?


You think their burrows are bad - you should try wombat burrows - we had a little suziki 4wd lj50 once(motorbike size motor) and the back wheel got stuck in a wombat hole. Id swap wombats for prairie dogs anyday.
 
rabbit assassin, I see your in Australia or is that just OZ now ;-) An off topic question that I have been very courious about for some time. Are your Rabbit numbers that high down there that you now consider them "pests". Sure wish that was the case here. Rabbits seem to be declining year after year, at least in the areas I hunt. Then I also hunt without a dog and that makes things a lot more difficult, even where there are Rabbits to be found.

Rob

RKBA!

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It's amazing what a large group of stupid people can accomplish.
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Rabbits have always been pests here. In the 50's(around then) they introduced myxamotosis a disease carried by mosquitoss and fleas to control them.
Before that rabbits were in plaugue proportions. My grandfather rembebered when it looked like the whole hill was moving just because of the rabbits.
Myxo controlled them well in the coastal and wetter areas but there have always been the numbers to regard them as pests. Althougfh in the last 10 yearsthey have declined in numbers where I live but I don't know why.
Rabbits have gradually developed resistance and numbers built up again.
So a few years ago they introduced the calicivirus to kill them. That has had spectacular success in drier areas but limited on the coast.
Each area is really different so the situation where I live isdifferent to inland areas and even different to 20km away.
Calicivirus hasn't got our rabbits and probably won't get a lot on the coast because a lot of the rabbit populations are isolated.
They reckon the rabbits will build up resistance to it again so in another 30 years they will have problems.
Rabbits are here to stay.
I wish I had more around here.In spring and summer they build up and I'll have some to shoot.
When the grass is long I use a 12 gauge otherwise when it's short I use a 22 or a 22magnum.
 
Greetings,

Were rabbits imported into Australia?

If this is so, and I believe it is, I wish you all the luck in the world in ridding Australia of them.

As for prarie dogs, encroaching development is doing a far greater job at wiping them out than coyotes or scoped rifles....oh yay, another strip mall.

Still, if anyone is killing for the pleasure/sake of killing, or just to watch them explode, they are what I call a sadist.

I've never liked sadists.

Duncan
 
Rabbit Assassin,
What part of the U.S.? Most of the states in the high plains have high #s of p dogs that can be shot for the price of ammo. Wyoming, South Dakota, western Nebraska, and eastern Colorado make up a great area to visit and hunt (not real familiar with the southern plains) and cover a lot of the real "wild west" and the "Indian Wars" if you have any interest in that, or the famed Sturgis bike rally near the Black Hills. Anyway p dogs (huge towns) can be shot on some of the Federal Grasslands near the Black Hills with no hassles at all- in fact they will tell you where to go to find good towns.
B
 
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