No Joy in Montana this year

[Steve V]

I got back from my annual outing to Montana two weeks ago. I haven't been on the varmint shooting forums much since then..mostly just because I've been sulking. I had THE worst prairie dog shooting trip since I can remember. Got up to the ranch that I've shot on for the past 9 years to be told by the rancher that the dog population was WAY down...plague had hit this spring. He told me that there were a few and I was welcome to go see for myself. I took off for the huge town that was unbelievable to shoot the first year I went there..360 degree shooting and easily kept 3 guns hot. There wasn't 1 dog where there was a thousand before. Maybe a dozen active mounds. Didn't even get a gun out. Went back and was told by the rancher that the ranch just east of him had a good population and the owners gladly let people shoot. The next day was windy and cool, but I met the rancher and he told me where the dogs were, but he also said that he thought the population was down. I took out my CZ, mainly because I hd the 2 clips loaded and handy. I headed to one of the best towns he told me about only to be stopped by water standing in the path. I shot a couple of dogs in a spread out town on the way back..wind was terrible and 60 degres and cloud cover with mist in the air. Got back to motel and told my wife we were out of there. Went down to the Black Hills and played tourist the rest of my vacation...not exactly what I had looked forward to.
The two previous years the weather had run me out after only a couple of days of shooting, so this year just added to my frustation. going to go sulk some now....

[Mike]

Very sorry to hear about that, Steve. On the bright side, you got to spend time outdoors in Montana. Not many of us got to enjoy a similar experience two weeks ago.

[acloco]

PM or email me next time you go to MT.

[Hotshot]

I know for a fact there are more prairie dog towns in Montana than 2. The Black Hills area is rich with varmints as well.

[WaltherP99]

Sorry to hear about that Steve! Hope ya have better luck next time!

[Rick in Oregon]

Steve: Sorry to hear it wasnt' the best of trips. But I bet it still beat the best day at work, right?

Look at it this way, the next time you get out for dogs, it'll just HAVE to be better. Another bright side is, you don't have any reloading to do, think about all the spendy components you saved for next time, and the best.......all those dogs that were underground when you were there will be willing targets next time.......

[Steve V]

Mike;
you are right. I know I was blessed to be up there in the outback of Montana;I enjoyed talking with ranchers and seeing new parts of eastern Montana, but it still would have been nice to have a few more targets.
Hotshot:
there are more pds in and around the Black Hills, but when the weather is 38degrees and rain (like the day we went thru Custer State Park) there is'nt much point in being out on the prairies (lots of mud and muck and no pds up)
Rick;
I knew someone would bring that up; and yes, it WAS better than being at work.
I really wanted to get all my ammo for my 222 used up so I could put a new barrel on it, but I guess that can wait another year. I didn't have much loading to do for this year's excursion, so I'll have evan less to do for next time.