Prairie Dogs in SW WY (Evanston, Kemmerer: lease, live in, shops)

[chadmacb]

I am trying to find a great prairie dog spot somewhat near Evanston (I am coming in from UT). My dad, my brother, and I want to go pdog hunting for our first time. We have all been hunting for quite some time, just never gone for pdogs.

I understand April is still pretty early in the year, but it's all we have for now. I drove up through Evanston and headed up 189 about 6 miles past where it branches from the 15 (heading towards Kemmerer) and found a few turnoffs leading to some BLM land. The ground was too wet though and my little 2wd couldn't make it too far to really see what was out there.

It looks like land in that area is a checkerboard of gov't land and private land based on the BLM map: [Mod cut]

Seems like it would be really easy to accidentally be shooting on private land. So what's the deal? How do I find a good spot for us? Any way to find out who owns what and possibly talk to the people who own the private land? Anyone local and care to lend a helping hand? Really hoping our first experience with pdogs is a positive one, but I am worried given the timing, lack of familiarity with the area, and white-tail pdogs (I understand this is the type in the area and they tend to not live in as dense of colonies as other pdogs).

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

[ElkHunter]

If you see a prairie dog town, find the owner of the property. MOST of the time, they are more then happy to allow you to shoot dogs. In some cases, I've had ranchers hand me a brick of ammo and tell me to enjoy myself.

They may say no, if they have livestock in area. But out of about 100 times going dog hunting, I've been turned away twice.

The hard part is figuring out who owns the land and where they are located.

BLM land is marked and hunting is allowed. However, the BLM land may be leased by a rancher and he runs livestock in there. Even though he is not the land owner, it's common courtesy to stop in and check with him first.

The next best thing is to go to the local watering hole and ask around. Or maybe the morning coffee shop. Not the coffee shop with the energy folks in it, but the coffee shop with all the cowboy hats, dirty pickups parked around it.

[chadmacb]

Yeah, obviously you have to get permission to hunt on private land. It seems difficult to tell when you are on public or private land because it seems intermixed. And I agree about the hard part being figuring out who owns the land and where they are.

Evanston is larger than I expected and there seems to be a few "watering holes" and coffee shops. Just wondering if there are some resources available to help out. Or if anyone on here could recommend a spot or rancher to talk to.

I'll probably call a few gov't agencies tomorrow and see where that gets me. If anyone has tips or suggestions, I am eager to hear from you.

[molon labe]

That's a great idea... been looking for a spot up here. I think I'll start a thread as well. Good luck!

[chadmacb]

Ya, if you live up there it should be really easy to track someone down. I am sure you know someone who knows someone or something like that. I just am not close enough to go track down people to talk to for a day. The last day I was pretty brutal... my wife was a trooper, but my 18 month old was totally over it.