Prairie Dog'n changed

[dogz]

Not a question of not enough targets.
Question is getting the gun loaded, aiming it, maybe have the dog duck back down in his hole, picking another, then re aiming at that one before getting a shot off.
Id like to watch how somebody can get 125 shots off in an hour.

L Sherm was talking about shooting gophers, and yeah it's not rocket science to get in 125 rounds in an hour on them. In good PD fields one can do so as well....get a good field, get a good AR, gain elevation and viola................again it's just not rocket science.

I do totally get it that in marginal and or fields shot hard this wouldn't work out at all.

Especially if one is suppressed and or shooting when the pups have arrived

 

[oldfortyfiveauto]

Is that $500 per hunter and or for you group of 10?

Per hunter

 

[dogz]

5K to shoot Pd's, for how many days?

 

[oldfortyfiveauto]

5K to shoot Pd's, for how many days?

4 days 5 nights at his house

 

[dogz]

yepper that's quite the deal, not hard to see how the pding has changed eh......

 

[sw282]

l don't mind paying. Being 1200 to 1500 miles away, the LAST thing l will do is an ''Easter Egg Hunt'' for prairie dogs. My youngen will be doing her first PD trip in MAY. Place is already picked out. Deposit on the way.

 

[Ol' Red]

I use a portable bench with adjustable legs so i can level the top in uneven terrain.
I use 3 bolt action guns, a 223, a 22/250 ai, and a 6x284.
All have bipods, and i use a rear rabbit ear bag.
I single feed the guns only.
A full day for me would be somewhere in the vicinity of 125 rounds fired, and some days less.
I just dont see how its possible to shoot more unless your just winging away at running dogs with ARs.

I enjoy winging away with an AR15 some days. I have killed six rodents in the first minute before. Sometimes I use my 270, 300 Win Mag or even the 338 Win mag. just to practice real hunting situations instead of shooting from a bench at the range. This fall I helped a friend cut out eight cows with leg injuries from stepping in holes. We shoot prairie dogs at any opportunity, with any firearm in the truck. And yes, it is a good time.

 

[oldfortyfiveauto]

l don't mind paying. Being 1200 to 1500 miles away, the LAST thing l will do is an ''Easter Egg Hunt'' for prairie dogs. My youngen will be doing her first PD trip in MAY. Place is already picked out. Deposit on the way.

That's my situation also. We're burning vacation days. My buddies who refuse to pay anyone for "fixing the rancher's problem" spend half their time finding and getting permission.

 

[vonb]

I've been out to SD twice on paid p-dog hunts. The first time was with a guide that did a LOT of advertising. We shot South of Ft. Pierre and being new to p-dog shooting, I didn't know any better. However, the dogs stayed way out there and there were few shots to be had under 300 yards. This told me this colony had been shot over a lot. The "guide" put us up in a motel and dinner "provided" was with local establishments around Pierre.

The second trip out was much more of what I was looking for. We stayed there on the ranch in a guest house. The wife had dinner for us every evening and the shooting was excellent. 'Dogs were close in and stayed there as well as some long shots as well. I probably shot 300-350 rds/day which was plenty. The guide was the rancher's Dad who was a great guy to hang out with....Really enjoyed him.

In the end, I think both trips was around $350-$375/day which including lodging, transportation to/from field and lunches in the field as well as dinner. I tried to go back last year and the rancher mentioned that the plague had hit pretty hard and that he didn't want to book as we'd be unhappy. I can respect that and appreciated his honesty. I do want to use this guy again though.

On the topic of traveling with someone else, traveling with someone and being side by side cross country brings out the side of people you wouldn't see normally. I can only recommend to be as up front as possible about costs prior to the trip.

 

[woodnut]

I started in S.D. with some guys who had access to a pheasant lodging place. We had to go into town for food and bring all the tables to shoot from. I had a list of farmers who would allow PD shooting so we had places to go. All charges $50. a head per day. Later on as we broke up, I booked a hunt at a lodge. It was a bit pricey, but everything, including great food , was inclusive. But, they had some very rich hunters come in and the rates went up; too much for me. Found another and loved it , but he went up in price too. Now I'm heading for Kansas for maybe the last time. We are only doing a 3 day hunt as this place ain't cheap either. I am gonna miss those trips, but I'm getting older and the costs keep going up. Sad.