Hunting Prairie Dogs in Montana
-
Last week, a couple of friends and I drove to Montana to hunt prairie dogs over the course of several days. I had my camera with me and managed to snap the images that follow.
We set out from the Twin Cities on Wednesday afternoon and drove 5 hours to Jamestown, North Dakota, where we spent the night. The next morning, we continued on through North Dakota on our way to Montana. The following two images were taken at a rest stop a few hours west of Jamestown, just off Interstate 94:
Farther west, just before the border with Montana, we entered the spectacularly rugged terrain of the badlands region. The following two pictures were taken at a rest stop adjacent to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park:
Finally, after a few more hours of driving:
Continued in next post...
-
The following pictures were taken while we were hunting p-dogs just south of Miles City, Montana, on public land administered by the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management:
Bob all decked out in hunting gear.
Our hunting grounds. It was pushing 90º F and we had to do a lot of walking to get to the p-dog colonies.
Dave looking for p-dog colonies from a ridge.
Dave and I making our way across the rugged terrain
More of the spectacular landscape on which we were hunting.
Bob takes aim with his varmint AR rifle.
Dave searching for p-dogs.
Bob using a laser rangefinder to ascertain the distance to a potential target.
Fencelines here run for miles across the landscape. That's Dave and me in the distance.
Dave takes aim with his AR.
Continued in next post...
-
The next day, we drove to Terry, Montana, and hunted on BLM land just outside of the town:
Making out way on gravel roads to the hunting grounds outside of Terry.
Getting our gear set up for the hunt.
The AR varmint rifles we used on the hunt. Mine's the middle one.
The prairie is home to a variety of wildlife. Curiosity obviously got the better of the hare in the following image as he/she hopped up to within a few feet of us while we were blasting away at p-dogs:
(And in case any of you are wondering, no, we did not shoot the hare as it is a protected species.)
Continued in the next post...
-
Okay, so what does a prairie dog look like after being hit by a 60-75 gr. hollowpoint projectile travelling at nearly 3000 fps? The following images might give you an idea. Due to the somewhat graphic nature of the images, I've provided links instead of thumbnails. Don't click on the links if you're squeamish. You've been warned!
Bob next to one of his many kills.
This p-dog fell into its hole after being hit.
-
poor critters..
do you know that prairie dogs have the biggest vocabulary after humans? and they communicate with their own language which describes all kinds of things like what's in their area, what colour it is, where it is, is it a possible threat, how it is moving and at what speed, and any actions the whole group is to take like RUN!! or ignore..
i know they're considered vermin but they're intelligent critters..
-
So how was the claypot dish?.....ha ha ha....
-
phua seh! im thinking of getting a hunting license here, so satisfying to shoot small animals!
-
next time if there is reincarnation.... u might be recarniated as a pirarie dog and these dogs will recarniated as human.
-
Originally posted by RaTtY8l:
next time if there is reincarnation.... u might be recarniated as a pirarie dog and these dogs will recarniated as human.
they're technically not dogs
-
so do you proud of yourself after shooting those poor and defenceless animals?
b******.
-
Originally posted by vito_corleone:
they're technically not dogs
so next time they will be recarniated as "something worse than dogs"? -
Originally posted by vito_corleone:
they're technically not dogs
You are correct. Technically, they are classified as rodents. Many states, including Montana, also classify them as 'agricultural pests' due to the damage they do to farmland, and actively encourage their culling.
-
Originally posted by RaTtY8l:
so next time they will be recarniated as "something worse than dogs"?Like a PAP minister?
Juuuuust kidding! I'm sure the politicians in Singapore are as honest and hardworking as the ones here...
-
Originally posted by UnLeAsH_cHa0s:
so do you proud of yourself after shooting those poor and defenceless animals?
b******.
Point taken. The next time we go prairie dog hunting, I'll be sure to only shoot at the ones that are armed and shooting back.
-
Originally posted by the Bear:
poor critters..
do you know that prairie dogs have the biggest vocabulary after humans? and they communicate with their own language which describes all kinds of things like what's in their area, what colour it is, where it is, is it a possible threat, how it is moving and at what speed, and any actions the whole group is to take like RUN!! or ignore..
i know they're considered vermin but they're intelligent critters..
From what we noticed during the hunt, their intelligence seemed to run the gamut. The p-dogs in some of the colonies seemed very skittish and retreated into their burrows once they noticed us approaching from beyond firing range; I can only assume these were the heavily hunted colonies that were used to such incursions. We had to walk quite a distance away from the trails to find colonies with p-dogs that didn't immediately dive into their holes upon seeing people.
Most of the shots were taken at distances ranging from 150 to 250 yards.
-
what goes around comes around.... today u may shoot at these dogs, some other days, u might end up the same fate as them...
-
beautiful landscape photos.....can't say the same for the other photos....i'm not big on animal hunting...sorry!
-
Originally posted by lostintransition:
beautiful landscape photos.....can't say the same for the other photos....i'm not big on animal hunting...sorry!
No prob. Thanks for the compliments!
-
The second last picture...
They remind me of oversized squirrels..
-
seems fun
-
I think in SIngapore, we are just not used to sports hunting. Agencies in countries as such are more keen to protect their wildlifes but they do issue hunting licences to hunt certain species of animals. One of the amazing reasons they gave was in fact to control the population of some species because they multiply like rabbit. Dun know specifically abt prairie dogs but yeah that was what I heard in NZ. I am not saying it is always right, just saying this forms part of their culture over there. I think as long it is licenced sport hunting, it is all done within the boundaries of the local laws.
-
Originally posted by gasband:
I think in SIngapore, we are just not used to sports hunting. Agencies in countries as such are more keen to protect their wildlifes but they do issue hunting licences to hunt certain species of animals. One of the amazing reasons they gave was in fact to control the population of some species because they multiply like rabbit. Dun know specifically abt prairie dogs but yeah that was what I heard in NZ. I am not saying it is always right, just saying this forms part of their culture over there. I think as long it is licenced sport hunting, it is all done within the boundaries of the local laws.
actually most people eat what they hunted. such as ELk deer, wild pig or turkey...
-
I'm not a fan of hunting prairie dogs, but the weps are a sweet sight.
-
"FIRERS, MAGAZINE OF 5 ROUNDS LOAD AND READY, OWN TIME OWN TARGET CARRY ON" i miss shooting stuff
-
Originally posted by Meia Gisborn:
You are correct. Technically, they are classified as rodents. Many states, including Montana, also classify them as 'agricultural pests' due to the damage they do to farmland, and actively encourage their culling.
RATty ain't happy you're decimating his cousins
