Texas Hunting Forum

Late fall prairie dog shoot

Posted By: mikei

Late fall prairie dog shoot - 10/17/20 09:58 PM

Getting ready to go to SE Colorado and help out a rancher with his prairie dog infestation. One of the rifles I'll be taking is my Cooper Model 21 in 20 Tactical. Been reloading every chance I get and am hoping that the weather doesn't rear its ugly head and mess up the trip! If it does, the varmints and vermin around Mason are in for a long, miserable winter!

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Posted By: redhaze

Re: Late fall prairie dog shoot - 10/17/20 10:13 PM

clap
Posted By: Biscuit

Re: Late fall prairie dog shoot - 10/18/20 03:12 PM

😎
Posted By: Wytex

Re: Late fall prairie dog shoot - 10/19/20 05:42 PM

Weather coming in this week, Thursday and then again later in weekend into next week. Going to be pretty dang cold with good snow chances up this way. Better check that forecast for SE Colorado, might be chilly.
Safe travels !
Posted By: mikei

Re: Late fall prairie dog shoot - 10/19/20 05:49 PM

Thanks, Wytex; I check it every morning and evening, and it's not looking all that good. . . I'll catch it in the spring if I can't make this planned fall hunt.
Posted By: Jhop

Re: Late fall prairie dog shoot - 10/19/20 10:15 PM

Go get'em Mike! I wish I had a contact in Colorado to go shoot pdogs on.
Posted By: mikei

Re: Late fall prairie dog shoot - 10/19/20 11:28 PM

Originally Posted by Rcinit
Go get'em Mike! I wish I had a contact in Colorado to go shoot pdogs on.



They are hard to come by! I've been hunting this old boy's ranch for about 12 years, and I just stumbled upon him by writing letters to the Chambers of Commerce of a lot of the towns in SE CO. You may wish to try the same approach. The fact that you're retired Army is a plus, and you need to include that in your letter campaign. And, thank you for your service! I am US Navy, Submarine Service, retired!.
Posted By: Wytex

Re: Late fall prairie dog shoot - 10/20/20 03:46 PM

There are some public access areas for hunting in SE Colorado, don't know about PDs though. The grasslands and areas near to Lamar.
Posted By: Chopperdrvr

Re: Late fall prairie dog shoot - 10/21/20 12:37 AM

What kind of license do you need in CO to shoot PD? I have a friend in the Pueblo area that wants me to come up and do a little shooting.
Posted By: mikei

Re: Late fall prairie dog shoot - 10/21/20 02:41 AM

Since I am hunting on private property, eliminating pests at the rancher's request, there have been years when I forgot to get any kind of license. I would NOT recommend that today, particularly since things have gotten just a bit weird in Colorado over the last few years. Ask your friend in Pueblo to do a few inquiries for you to get a sense of what the legal thing is to do. Does your friend own the property? It's important to know that PD's are a protected species in CO, and you need to make darned sure that the property owner has declared them a nuisance and will back you up in case the state officials show up to ask you what y'all are doing!!
Posted By: Wytex

Re: Late fall prairie dog shoot - 10/21/20 02:03 PM

Small game license is required I believe , might be exception to private land. Public land has some season dates for certain pds.

https://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/RulesRegs/Regulations/Ch03.pdf

Also found this online : http://www.ultimateprairiedoghunting.com/usa/colorado/

Still find it hard to believe that folks pay to shoot them but have fun. Tons of spots up here to go shoot for free but it's a drive up.
Posted By: mikei

Re: Late fall prairie dog shoot - 10/21/20 04:14 PM

Originally Posted by Wytex
Small game license is required I believe , might be exception to private land. Public land has some season dates for certain pds.

https://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/RulesRegs/Regulations/Ch03.pdf

Also found this online : http://www.ultimateprairiedoghunting.com/usa/colorado/

Still find it hard to believe that folks pay to shoot them but have fun. Tons of spots up here to go shoot for free but it's a drive up.


Yeah, Wytex, I used to go up to the Panhandle to hunt them; then I moved a bit further north; then started driving to the Dakotas and finally declared that to be nonsense! I'd love to hunt Wyoming but, Lord, what a drive! And the weather is so darned unpredictable in the spring and fall, that a feller can spend a whole lot of windshield time, gas, food and motel money, only to find that the weather has made the destination unhuntable! Been there, done that. I've been blown out a few times in SE Colorado and that's just part of it, and it's basically driveable in one day, so the blow outs don't hurt quite as badly!
Posted By: Wytex

Re: Late fall prairie dog shoot - 10/21/20 06:34 PM

I hear ya'.
Posted By: Chopperdrvr

Re: Late fall prairie dog shoot - 10/23/20 01:20 AM

My buddy owns the property and he would be with me if I get to go, so I have that part covered. I had gone to the Colorado website and tried to find out what license would be required, but didn't really get a good feel for it. I think you guys are probably right that it should only require a small game license, but you never know. Thanks for the feedback. It's hard to believe they would make them protected after hearing about the damage they cause to my buddy's crops.
Posted By: mikei

Re: Late fall prairie dog shoot - 10/23/20 08:42 PM

I just heard from my rancher and he's had to cancel the hunt so that he can go help family up in the fire ravaged section of Colorado; north and west of his location. He doesn't know how long he'll be up there, and is thinking he may have to bring some of his people back with him because of fire damage to their homes. Sad, sad situation.
Posted By: Chopperdrvr

Re: Late fall prairie dog shoot - 10/24/20 12:47 AM

Sorry about your hunt, but more sorry for those people affected by these fires.
Posted By: mikei

Re: Late fall prairie dog shoot - 10/28/20 12:15 PM

Originally Posted by Chopperdrvr
Sorry about your hunt, but more sorry for those people affected by these fires.


Yeah, the hunt cancellation is no big deal. What those folks are going through is a really big deal. Some may have lost everything they owned. Terrible.
Posted By: ColoradoBill

Re: Late fall prairie dog shoot - 11/02/20 09:51 PM

I used to belong to Colorado Outdoor Sports, a fun hunting/fishing club that had prarie dog properties to hunt on. There's a new club that's kind of like a VBRO for hunting properties. I don't know if they're in Colorado yet but they're spreading around the country pretty fast. OutdoorAccess.com.
Posted By: mikei

Re: Late fall prairie dog shoot - 11/02/20 11:17 PM

Originally Posted by ColoradoBill
I used to belong to Colorado Outdoor Sports, a fun hunting/fishing club that had prarie dog properties to hunt on. There's a new club that's kind of like a VBRO for hunting properties. I don't know if they're in Colorado yet but they're spreading around the country pretty fast. OutdoorAccess.com.

Thanks, ColoradoBill!
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