South Dakota

[PHATINJUN]

Heading out Sunday morn for SD Prairie dogs. H&R's that will make the trip this yr include
M157 .22 Remington Jet Magnum
M158 .22 Hornet
Fluted .204 Ruger
NTA .223 Remington
Fluted .22-250AI
None of the Rimfires made it this yr as I will be taking my M592 Remington 5mm also a Custom Savage 110 in .223 Rem. Going to camp right on the prairie this yr again although it has been very wet the forcast looks decent and the early forcast of winds looks very managable.Have not been able to get a report from the rangers as thier office has been flooded and they were evacuated but have not set up phone for thier new location. We may even try to see how close we can get to the dam in Pierre to see what 150 million cubic feet of water per second looks/sounds like .Will give full report upon return. Kurt

[bulletstuffer]

Please take some pics of the water for us   I have been watching the weather in the Dakotas as I am ready to do some PD whackin myself   Wishing you sunny dry weather no wind and lots of dogs

Good luck,

Bulletstuffer

[Qualitymilk]

Where bouts do you guys head in SD for dogs?  Public land or do you know some ranchers who need the varmints eradicated?  We go to Wyoming annually where we know several ranchers, but are looking for a closer spot (not such a long drive) to hunt the little buggers.

[PHATINJUN]

Public National Grass lands because it is not open for hunting PD til the 15th of June every yr. Kurt

[PHATINJUN]

I'm back. We had 3 very good days of shooting... the H&R's were flawless the Savage 110C bolt started to fall apart and the extractor from the Remington 5MM stopped extracting. Haven't taken inventory yet as to rounds shot but should be near 1000 centerfire and 250+ rimfire. Was not able to get near the dam to get any pics of the water coming out of the tubes We did find out that what is actually taking place there is overblown in the media and that the city went way over board with sand bagging but they all agreed better safe than sorry. There was some flooding near the river but they had stores and such sand bagged 4 blocks in. 90% of the stores were open though with wood steps and bridges over the 4' wall of bags. Not sure how this will effect the PD population but starting July1 2011 there will no longer be any closing of the PD shooting on the National Grasslands in SD as long as there is little impact on the populations. We did put my wall tent to the test one night with a front that came thru just about an hour after sundown 60mph wind with torrential rain. Luckly we had the tent tied on the east side to the fence and that is the way it came from if not for that I do not think we would of made it. Got some damage where the center pole is but did not rip thru the storm fly as you can see in the pics Old Glory did not fair as well. If I had it to do over I would probly pull the center pole and the wall poles cover the whole thing with the storm fly and stake it to the ground and watch the storm from the hotel bar First 3 are of a front that was just a tease. Next 2 are the full moon coming up and going downKurt

[PHATINJUN]

Pic of camp  "Handi" work and the morning after.Kurt

[thayer]

Hi Kurt--It looks like you had another good hunt for PD's last year. Are there any chances of me inviting myself along in the future. The advantage is that I come with a 34" motor coach. That would allow us to eliminate the more exciting aspects of camping/storms in favor of a simpler base camp if that would work in the area you hunt. I sure do miss out on those OK PD Hunts. It sleeps 4. Some of the emenities don't work as well as they used to, but the stove, microwave, and A/C still work just fine. Let me know sometime. Ps I just had a double neck fusion in Dec. Does that sound familiar?
Thanks
Thater

[PHATINJUN]

Hey Rob sorry to here of your neck woes.Hope your holidays went well. I will PM you in the next couple of weeks. Wife is having surgery friday. But your proposal should be doable. Good to here from ya . Kurt

[thayer]

Hi Kurt--Thanks for the reply. I hope all goes well for your wife. We seem to be getting to the age when we spend more time with docs than shooting. I have a cataract that needs to be removed yet this winter too. I look forward to hearing from you.
Thanks
Rob

[wganzWork]

Sounds like a great time. I got permission from my own 'High Command' that my summer leave request was granted so that I can go PD hunting up there.

Don't get set the population so far back that there are none left for me! 

[PHATINJUN]

This yr may be a little differant than past yrs. As they have now left the federal grasslands open yr round. Which means residents will now be able to shoot anytime. In the past the areas I hunt did not open til June 15th so other than an ocasional drive by pot shot by residents the did not get hunted til then and I have always been there a day or 2 before it opened. My biggest fear is residents shootin them up the whole month of May. I was looking to go maybe as early as the middle of May but the pups are still very small at that time. Got lots of desicions to make before setting a date. Kurt

[Dogmann]

Kurt
PM sent....