Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints Montana- Prairie dogging

I love shooting prairie dogs. I’ve been three times, and working up to a fourth trip before I get too old to make the trip. The part of Montana I’ve hunted got hit pretty hard by the plague a few years ago though. A lot of our favorite towns were pretty well wiped out.

Well, just got back from vacation to see my SIL, daughter, and grandbaby but I've been keeping tabs on the thread as best I can. Only reason I can think of for hunting Montana in particular is I'm heading to ND for a family reunion in June and will have a couple extra days to spend on the way back, hopefully and have always wanted to shoot over a PD town. Won't have a ton to spend, but if I need to contact an "outfitter" to make this happen, I could do that if the price is something I can squeeze in. I guess I was of the impression that if you knew a general area, prairie dog towns were around if you did a little driving and sightseeing- the same way I find sage rat colonies.
Thanks for the info- still have a little time to come up with a plan and reload more ammo....

Bob

Bob,

From the reports I've heard this spring, there are plenty of prairie dogs in southeastern Montana, close enough to Interstate 90 (which I assume will be your route) to make it feasible to find some. The reason I suggested an outfitter wasn't to find PD's, which can indeed be done by cruising rural roads. But just finding some doesn't mean you can shoot them. You still have to find out who owns the land.

Some PD's are on public land that can legally be hunted, but if it's Bureau of Land Management they've probably already been shot pretty hard. If it's state land, the area will be much smaller, and you'll need to buy a state permit to shoot. While Montana doesn't require any sort of hunting license to shoot PD's, shooting on state lands does require the permit--and possibly also permission from the landowner who leases it.

Finding landowners can take considerable time, even if you have a land ownership chip in a GPS. In fact you may NOT find them because they went to Billings to shop or out working cows. And when you do find them, they let you shoot for any of a variety of reasons, including leasing the PD shooting to an outfitter. But they also not give permission to anybody they don't know, or at least doesn't live in the area. Or they may have already given permission that day to to a friend or relative.

The big time-eater isn't finding prairie dogs. Instead it's finding prairie dogs you can shoot, the reason I suggested an outfitter.

I completely agree with John, especially regarding the p-dogs on public land. Not sure what time of June you're coming through, but by mid to late June, the readily accessible public land p-dogs will be pretty well shot over. In fact, I went to Miles City yesterday, and a public land town along the highway had someone shooting on it as I drove by. By June, you'll pull up to that same town, which looked to have a healthy population, and after one centerfire rifle shot, most p-dogs will be down their holes. I know this, because I sometimes stop at that town to fling a few rounds in order to break up the trip! Anyway, you may still get a little shooting in, but it won't be nearly the same as a good outfitted hunt on a town which has seen limited shooting.

There are other benefits to the outfitted hunt - if you're using his vehicle, it saves a lot of wear and tear on your own, particularly flat tires on gravel roads. Or it allows you to drive a car on your road trip and leave the gas guzzling pickup at home. He may have shooting benches and other accessories, which makes the hunt more pleasant and also saves you carting such items across the country. If it's guided, he or she will often be able to provide interesting info about the area, which I personally find to be more fascinating than the hunt itself....for example, you may hear something like: "That fallen down cabin over there is the Smith Place. Old Man Smith came to the country in 1920 after fighting in the Great War. His wife birthed six kids in the cabin, one of which died from a rattlesnake bite, which happened just down in the creek there. His son Jim went on to become a State Representative, and now the family owns a real estate business in Sheridan." If you'd seen the fallen down cabin on your own, you'd drive right past it and have no insight into the history. There are also a few tricks a guide will probably know which will get you into more dogs, for longer...for example, approaches and shooting locations on a town that maximize visibility while minimizing your silhouette (handy if you're willing to do a "stalk" type hunt), while taking advantage of the prevailing winds to minimize cross-wind shots on windy days.

^^^^^^^^^

All excellent points!

This guy nailed it. I've done it both ways. I'm willing to spend my money on a guide these days as my time is limited.

Are you going to be going across Montana on I-90? If so when you head back through Montana take the Columbus Montana exit which is about 40 miles west of Billings and take the Rapelje road north about 20 miles. When you get to Rapelje stop at the café and ask about prairie dog towns. They will give you advice as to which locals will let you shoot and where the State land is that is open to anyone. Also you can get a BLM map and it will have the state sections on it. All of the state sections out there have Prairie dog towns and offer good opportunities for shooting.


Bart

Thanks Bart, that should handle it. I will probably only have a day to shoot now that I found out my wife will be making the trip with me.

I tried emailing Perkins Outfitters, but haven't gotten a response in over a week now so I'm not sure what to make of that. I don't usually throw aspersions at someone in short order when I suspect he is probably busy pursuing his living.



Skitish- haven't been back to the homestead in very many years so not familiar with the landmarks, but we will be in Dickinson. Is this anywhere close to there?

Bob

get a Grasslands map for N Dakota.....you should be able to find some shooting without alot of hassle , and I would think not terribly far from Dickinson


maybe not burn out your barrel hundreds of rounds all day marathons , but still some fun shooting........

Thanks, I'm betting some of the relatives may also have a lead or two for places to shoot. May even want some removed from their huge farms. Should be an interesting reunion.....

Bob