Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints P Dogs

We've done West River area in SD and around Casper in WY and are willing to go almost any where public and or private.......Can any experts out there suggest some specific destinations for quality prairie dog hunting? Thanks so much in advance!

Rosebud reservation in SD, but you have to have a guide and finding a good one is expensive. Lower brule reservation in SD also has good towns, but once again you have to do some research or know the right people. I haven't hunted p-dogs for a couple of years because it has become quite of a hassle to find a decent place to shoot. Good luck, T.S.

you might consider subscribing to Varmint Hunter magazine, there are numerous ads for guide services listed in it, here is a link to their website - http://www.varminthunter.org/.

I have never used a guide service myself but it may be worthwhile for you to check out to get an idea of what is available and what the cost may be.

drover

Thanks guys!

I went that route three years ago and the experience was enough to sour me on it for a very long time. The "guide" that we used seemed to take everyone to the same spots, because the dogs all dove in their holes at the sight of a vehicle and stayed down.

I don't mean to imply that all experiences on the reservation will be bad, because I'm sure there are good guides and excellent shooting. I'd just suggest being careful about guide selection, as Bowman suggested.

Jim River Guide service gets very good reviews. If I was going the guide route I would look at him.

If not, do some research and find a place with some decent public ground. Give yourself a day on the front end of the trip and knock on some doors and ask permission. Not hard to get permission for Pdogs. You always have the public ground to fall back on.

We did it this way and we had decent shooting the first year. We have more and more places to shoot every year doing it this way. We actually call ahead now and don't even need to spend the first day doing that anymore but we enjoy talking to the locals and meeting old friends. A little more work but alot cheaper.

I and two friends used Jim River Guide Service (Willie Dvorak) this past summer for a 3-day prairie dog hunt. We had never been before and after looking around and talking to Willie, we figured this was money well spent in the shortest amount of time to get up and running.

Willie provided lodging and lunch and dinner for two days. We usually ate donuts/coffee at the motel where Jim put us up.

For newbies looking at p-dog hunting, here are some lessons we learned:

1) Ask yourself what type of lodging is important to you. If looking for a lodge and not a motel, check around.

2) After answering the first question, ask yourself what plans are in the event of rain. With Willie, he had enough land leased that if it rains in one area, we would move 100 miles to another ranch to get out of the rain. If hunting on one ranch (i.e. a lodge), you might be rained out.

3) Ask how many times and how often a dog town is hunted over? This could mean shooting a lot or waiting a lot. We went late May and shooting was good. However, the dogs would wise up and move beyond 400 yards after a few minutes of flat out shooting.

Excellent points.

Having a backup plan if the weather is sour is a good idea. WE keep pretty good tabs on it the week before we head out. If it was a terrible forecast we have the option of not going. Haven't had that problem yet.

The ability to move to new ground in a new area was a benefit for Jim River when I was researching.

Some of my friends think it is nuts driving across the country to shoot "rats". Makes for a fun trip. We take the kids, and they absolutely look forward to this trip. Great trigger time for them.

Rumor: Rosebud requires lead free bullets.

Fact: it is illegal for the guide to leave you alone(they all do it) but the shooter will pay the fine.

Some of my best shooting has been by Parmelee. There used to be a list of guides on Rosebud site. Get references.

HM

Halfmile has it right. I had been warned about guides on the reservations. Don't know whether it is fact or fiction as I have never used one but that is another item I would be sure to look into if I was going that route.

The Rosebud guide issue of them leaving you was told to me by the owners Of Lock Stock and Barrel in Valentine , Nebraska. This was at least 6 years ago.