Wyoming Prairie Dog Hunts: A Long-Range Hunter's Classroom
By Kenzie Fitzpatrick
The devastation that prairie dogs can cause to farmland is something that is hard to understand unless you’ve seen it with your own two eyes. Prairie dogs live in colonies or “towns” that can amass hundreds to thousands of acres. They feed on grasslands and cause major damage to alfalfa, hay fields, vineyards, orchards, and more. When they move into pastures or grazing lands, they can become a real problem for livestock beyond competing for forage. The massive burrows they dig are wide and deep enough for cattle and horses to step into and be seriously injured. In severe cases, this can mean the loss of an animal for a farmer. For all these reasons and more, hunting prairie dogs is about land management.
I went prairie dog hunting for the first time last year, and it was one of the more fun hunts I’ve been on. My friend, Torrie, who also works at AERO Precision and Stag Arms, took me on this fun hunt out near Cheyenne, Wyoming. I knew after last year that I wanted to come out again this year and do it all over again. While I flew in with ammunition this year, she and another AERO/Stag team member, Jake, outfitted the guns and gear. I learned a lot during my first trip, as I had no idea what to expect, and I was much more prepared this year to take down my fair share of prairie dogs. Let me share what I’ve learned about prairie dog hunting, especially on the preparation side.
Map Out the Land
Torrie and other friends have tons of connections with landowners in Wyoming whose properties span hundreds of acres. Many of these landowners are farmers and own livestock they want to protect, so giving us access to hunt prairie dogs is a win/win scenario. One of the first things Torrie and I looked at before setting out to hunt prairie dogs was a map of the land we were given access to.
I rely on the OnX Hunt app for all the information on land size, layout, and property limits. This application has been my go-to for every single hunting trip in the last two years to ensure I’m always on the right piece of property. We looked at the land parcel to ensure we knew where we could hunt, which directions were safe to shoot in, and what our potential limitations would be. This powerful application does so much more than show parcels of land. You can set your optimal wind direction for hunting blind locations, where the app will track current weather conditions and tell you whether you have optimal winds for hunting game with a great sense of smell. Not only does the app have a compass mode for tracking direction, but you can also mark waypoints or identify land markers on your property and get an accurate reading of how many yards each spot is from your current location. The app also includes multiple map layers to view public access areas, government land parcels, state-specific hunt zones, game management units, and more. There are map layers dedicated to current conditions such as smoke, droughts, air quality, forest fires, and CWD-positive counties, to name a few. There are layers for viewing timber cuts, wetlands, soil capabilities, acorn-producing oak trees, and the distributions of coniferous and deciduous trees. There is much more to OnX Hunt than most people think, and it can be a powerful tool to help guarantee a successful hunt.
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Range Finders are a Must
Wyoming land is drastically different than what I’m used to in Tennessee. In Tennessee, you might be able to see out to 100 yards or so, because eventually a ridgeline or mountainside will block your view and limit how far you can shoot. In Wyoming, you can see across the plains for miles, and on big parcels of land, you might have the ability to shoot out to 1,000 yards or beyond. What I learned from the first prairie dog hunt is that a rangefinder or binoculars with range-finding capability are a must-have. A rangefinder can help you identify a target and measure the exact distance from your location. How you use this information to calculate MILs or MOA is dependent on your rifle and scope setup.
Know Your Data
If you’re going to hunt prairie dogs, especially in wide open places where you can shoot long range, you need to know the data of whatever rifle and scope setup you plan to use. What I mean by this is you should know all the specifications about the ammunition you plan to use, the exact velocity of the ammunition out of your hunting rifle, and how to calculate the elevation needed for an accurate shot. It’s also important that you understand the MILs or MOA lines in your chosen reticle.
For the first prairie dog hunting trip, Torrie and I just sort of “winged” it as far as gun data went. We had an AERO SOLUS bolt-action rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor, and a Stag Arms AR-15 chambered in 5.56. We went to the range the day before and checked zero, which I always recommend before a hunting trip. We didn’t have a chronograph last year, so we used the ammunition data as an estimate to gauge velocity. What I didn’t know was how far we could shoot on the property we had access to last year, which turned out to be 600 yards. I used a simple phone app last year to estimate how many MILs I needed to dial for specific distances after I calculated a target’s distance with a rangefinder. The estimated velocity got me super close to making an accurate shot but wasn’t exact without a chronograph to verify the actual velocity.
This year, we had several bolt guns, including one in 6mm Creedmoor, and I brought my Garmin Xero C1 chronograph to get all the velocity data I needed to build a gun profile in my Kestrel 5700 Elite. The Kestrel is the most powerful long-range tool I’ve ever used, as I can input the data of not just my gun cartridge, but also my scope height, barrel length and twist rate, and my exact zero distance. What I love about the kestrel is that you can build a target card to input the exact distance to a prairie dog, and it’ll tell you the exact MILs (or MOA) to dial for that target. If you don’t have a Kestrel, there are a lot of cell phone applications available that can perform similar data calculations. You can also manage your data the old-school way by keeping a DOPE (data on previous engagements) log with known distances in 25- or 50-yard increments.
When in Wyoming, Wind Rules All
The biggest variable when hunting at distance in Wyoming is wind. It’s not a matter of if there will be wind, but how much wind and which way it is blowing. The Kestrel is a tool that can help calculate wind holds and capture real-time environmental data. It can capture environmental factors such as pressure, altitude, and temperature, all of which affect a bullet's trajectory. It can help calculate wind holds, determine how much lead a moving target needs based on its speed, and more. I’ve taken a few of the virtual classes that the Kestrel team hosts, which I recommend to everyone starting out with a Kestrel. I also recommend going through all the settings and taking the time to learn the Kestrel so you’re truly using it to its full potential. If you don’t have a Kestrel, this is where you’ll be experimenting the most. Plan to bring more ammunition than you think for plenty of makeup shots.
The reason I mention wind specifically as a big factor in hunting prairie dogs is that they are so small compared to big game. Prairie dogs vary in size, but on average, adult prairie dogs weigh about 2 to 3 pounds and are about 14 to 17 inches in length. The pups can be even smaller than that. At 500 yards, for example, an adult prairie dog is 2.8-3.4 MOA. Add a 10 to 15mph crosswind to that long of a shot, and you can be off target easily. This is why I recommend an accurate rifle in a precise shooting long-range caliber such as the AERO SOLUS in 6mm Creedmoor. This caliber performs great at long range and, with good wind calls, will hit its intended target with ease.
Shooting Support Gear is Crucial
The last piece of advice I have for a successful prairie dog hunt is to invest in high-quality shooting support gear. This means a good bipod, tripod, and shooting bag(s). As I mentioned in my thermal hunting guide and gator hunting article, I pretty much only hunt with a tripod now. A high-end tripod, such as those offered by Two Vets Tripods or Fat Boy Tripods, makes it extremely easy to set up a stable shooting platform in under a minute. I prefer the Recon V2 Inverted from Two Vets because the legs are quick to deploy or collapse, it can support 100 pounds, and the legs can be widened to be almost parallel to the ground. When you’re setting up in a prairie dog town, having an elevated shooting position is more beneficial than shooting from the ground, so you have a better view of the prairie dog mounds and see what’s beyond your target.
If you don’t have the budget for a tripod, a bipod and a rear shooting bag is a winning combination as well. If you’re able to get a vehicle onto the property, you could also use a support bag to shoot off an open ATV door or a bipod/bag setup to shoot from lying inside a truck bed. Those are just two examples of shooting position ideas, but you can make do with various setups. No matter what, have a plan for how you’re going to build a stable shooting position, especially if you plan to shoot prairie dogs from a distance.
Have Fun and Don’t Touch!
Prairie dog hunting is a lot like “Whack a Mole.” There’s always another prairie dog on top of a mound or beside it. It can almost feel like an endless amount of prairie dogs. Be sure to bring lots of ammunition, sunscreen, and snacks for a fun full day of hunting prairie dogs. Never touch or pick up a prairie dog. They can be infected by the sylvatic plague, which is transmitted through flea bites. Always keep your distance even if you’re sure they’ve been dispatched.
