Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If You  want access  to member only forums on FM, You will need to Sign-in or  Sign-Up now .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member.

Prairie Dog Hunts


tulikow

Recommended Posts

Where is a good place to stay at for a few days to hunt prairie dogs? I have never hunted them but would like to try. We would be a group of about 6 or 7 at least. What kinds of rifles and equipment do you suggest? Any help is appreciated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have heard that PD hunting is excellent in South Dakota. Do a search for PD hunting/outfitters and I am sure you will find something.

I have been several times in South Central Nebraska and found it enjoyable.

I use a 22-250 with no scope and have done fine. I would recommend a scope though for longer shots. A scope will allow for more opportunities.

My hunting partner has a 700 VS 22-250 Remington with a nikon (?) scope and does very well. I would highly consider that gun if I had the $ and shot PDs a lot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We used to go 4 hours into SD to a town called Mcglaughlin.

We have always used a .223, there relly is no reason for more of a bullet. .223s are alot cheaper than most ammo cause it is military issued.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the help. I did some searching and found a few lodges in SD that looked good. I'm looking into getting a CZ 527 varmint in .223 because the ammo was relatively cheap and from my experience they make very good guns. I also looked up the remington 700s but they were a lot more expensive. I might get a leupold scope after I saw one sight recommending them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We hunted near Murdo and down into Valentine NE a few times and had a blast, you don't need an outfitter, just ask around and you will find a farmer that is willing to let you hunt, you may have to give him a few bucks, but is is worth it, also hunted near Mobridge with good success as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

we just got back from 4 days of hunting. we all started with bolts. 223s. now we all have ar15 dpms heavy barrels. they are great. you can also have alot of fun with 22mags & 17hmrs. lost count on kills but 1400 rounds through my gun was hot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just got back as well from a 3 day hunt. I started a few years ago with a No. 1 in .223, added an AR15 Bushmaster Varminter. Use both rifles now, alternate when one heats up switch over to the other. I limit myself to 10 shot strings to avoid barrel heating. Scopes are 4-14 Nikon and a 4.5-16 Weaver. Both work well.

Next plan is to rebarrel the No.1 (6000+ rounds thru the present barrel) to 22-250 for longer shots. We shoot out to 400+ yards with the .223 but that is really pushing that round. Best shot I ever made is 422 yards. 200-300 is the best shooting, but over 250 or so most .22 bullets won't expand well at .223 velocities so you lose some of the spectacular explosive hits. I use a Hornaday 55gr SPSX in the No.1, that expands pretty nicely out a little farther. Heavier bullets in the AR (60gr) help buck the wind. Varget powder burns nice, meters well, and keeps groups down in the sub 1" size.

Later

River

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.


  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • leech~~
      Nope not me.  May want to go nextdoor and ask around?  
    • smurfy
      Looks to me like Leech brought his chair home!!😅😆
    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.