Varmint shooting in Central Wyoming (Casper, Sheridan: rent, home, to live)

[Jim1970]

Hello,

Wondering if anyone has a prairie dog problem in or around Casper. I am looking for a nice, safe, remote place to shoot prairie dogs. In the past, I have shot these little buggers on rancher's property.

I will check back here occassionally for ideas and suggestions.

Thanks,

Jim

[sixofone]

I'm not that familiar with the rural area surrounding Casper, but since you aren't getting any other suggestions, here's something you might try:

Call the airport (the general aviation folks, not the airlines) and see if anyone up there is doing any crop dusting. The pilots should have a good idea of where the varmints are (I fly in the southeast corner, and some of the ranches look like they were carpet-bombed, prairie dog colonies are VERY visible from the air), plus they probably know the local ranchers.

No guarantees, but it's worth a try.

[Wyomiles]

Jim, are you just looking for a place to shoot or do you have to shoot "popguts" ? There is a ton of BLM land in Wyoming and you can shoot there anytime, just watch your backstop so you are not shooting at anyone. There are a lot of ranges and shooting clubs / organizations also.

[shadowwalker]

Might try the Access book for landowners.Put out by the wyoming game and fish. Back when if first started up some of the landowners let people in to shoot varmints. Only place I know about around casper is out on poison spyder road. Go out , all the way to ALMOST the brooks ranch sign. About a mile before you get there look to the south. You will see a bunch of the potgut holes (about 1/8 of a mile) out in a long medow. It is flat and the road that goes to them goes along the creekbottom. You will have to walk up the bank to get to where you can see them. You will be shooting away from any roads, and off into the prarie brush. So go for it. You are on BLM out here. You might call the Forgey Ranch. I used to get permission to shoot potguts on their property north of casper, in the early 1980's. They had two real good places. You will have to work between their times of moving of sheep around the property, so as not to shoot them.

[Kristynwy]

There are a ton of prairie dogs in this state. I live in a ranch outside of Sheridan, we rent a manufactured home on the ranch. A very nice family owns the ranch we live on and has had the ranch for several generations. Anyways, the hills in our back yard (hundreds of acres) and full of prairie dog towns...

The family that owns this ranch also allows access for hunters and varmit shooters to come on the property and hunt and shoot prairie dogs, cayotes, ect.

To get more info look in the Fish and Wildlife landowner's access maps, and their property is on Soldier Creek Rd. a few miles outside of Sheridan, Wy. She may be one of the only ranches around here that allows people to come her land. More and more ranches here in Sheridan are owned by outsiders that don't want people on their property. Sad but true.. anyways..

She charges different fees for hunting, but I don't think she does for varmits.

Let me know if I can be of any more help..

[libertarian4life]

I am a conservative Libertarian and PRO hunting, HOWEVER I can see why so many liberals are anti hunting. I only hunt for necessity (meat), and I don't waste anything. I have several nice racks on the wall, and all of the meat went to feed my family. I do have a problem with "sport" hunting, especially prairie dogs. They are not "varmints", but are intelligent, family oriented and have a right to live without someone killing them for fun. If you want to shoot something for fun, kill some invasive species. I am sure the WY Dept of Conservation would point out some species that are not native and are crowding out and ruining species that belong in WY. Prairie dogs have a role in the ecosystem. Years ago our forefathers shot and almost wiped out the Buffalo for spite against the Injuns. We can't keep killing and destroying every thing until it's all gone. Man won't be far behind. Waste and destruction is something that is for NY'ers, NJ, MA, and Cali people. I took in a pet praire dog from a local shelter, and foud it to be more affectionate, smarter and a better companion than any hound I have ever had. I'm not telling you what to do, but please think what it would be like to shot in the head for someone pleasure, with a den of little ones wondering where their mother went. If you have a problem call in the "vac truck". CNN - What's that giant sucking sound on prairie? - Dec. 16, 1996
"Bob" and the Prairie Dog Suck Machine

[sunsprit]

Hey, libertarian4life ... try thinking a little bit outside of the box.

These little family oriented varmints dig up my alfalfa fields, tear up my pasture ... and are responsible for a lot of damage to my equipment and risk to my horses and other livestock.

The next time a horse of mine steps in or through a 'dog hole ... I'll not be thinking kind thoughts about people who love these critters. Any of my horses is worth a lot more than a million of these pests.

By the way, they are carriers of infectious diseases which can cause a lot of livestock or human losses. Personally, I don't like the odds of dealing with a plague outbreak on my ranchland ... or my neighbors.

Based upon your comments, I suspect you're really not a libertarian, a hunter, pro-hunting, or have hunted wild game at all to put meat on the table. You apparently think it's adequate to put a label upon yourself and we'll all be thinking on the same page.

You can talk all the "game" you want about hunting, but the proof is watching how you handle your horse and yourself on the ranch.

If you'd ever been in serious ranching and farming country, you'd know that prairie rats are destructive and a serious drain on the economics and livlihood of the area ... and allowing hunters to remove them for "sport" is a lot more cost effective and efficient than calling the folks with the vacuum truck or the smoke bombs or whatever to try to keep the population down.

[Tyster]

Sunsprit is dead on correct. It's true that prarie dogs are cute little critters, and I'm sure they make great pets, but when they create towns in human dominated areas you can run into a number of problems, some of them rather serious...

1) Each PD breeding pair has 4-8 pups each year. They literally breed like rats so any problems they create multiply very rapidly.

2) PD's attract other predators, most of whom are harmless to people but some of whom are dangerous. In particular they attract badgers, snakes and coyotes. Coyotes are usually pretty harmless but can cause problems, snakes (including rattlers in Wyoming) are never pleasant, and God help you if you encounter a pissy badger (and they are all pissy) and you don't have at least a.38 caliber with you. Vacant burrows also attract snakes, black widows and badgers.

3) PD's can eat huge quantities of food, especially if a PD town is larger that a couple dozen PD's. Whole fields can be wiped out in a a short period of time (days) if there are enough of them (see point 1 above).

4) PD burrows lead to radpid soil erosion.

5) PD burrows break the legs of thousands of horses, cattle and dogs every year. They also damage expensive farm equipment, as Sunsprit noted above.

6) PD's do, in fact, bring and spread diseases, including plague.

Having said all of that, sometimes it isn't necessary to kill them. Coyote urine will scare them off. But in a populated area that only moves the problem to the next guy and allows them to continue breeding. In wild areas they should probably be left alone (unless you're hungry). But in the end the herd must be culled in populated areas. Its unfortunate but population control is a reality of life, and life is hard.

[MRVphotog]

Lib4life - It's the Wyoming Game and Fish. I don't hunt but know that hunting elk, deer, whatever, is a very valuable management tool to keep the animals from outgrowing their habitat.....same thing for chislers or prairie dogs except people don't hang them on the wall like you do your kills..

[Yellowstone]

They are not "varmints", but are intelligent, family oriented and have a right to live without someone killing them for fun.

Family oriented??? Is that why they eat a wounded family member alive whenever they get a chance?