Predator Xtreme - Feb 2012
81 www PredatorXtreme com FEBRUARY 2012 Fast Facts OUTFITTER Central Montana Outfitters Phone 618 781 7328 Costs 250 per day per person HUNT INFORMATION You can fly into Great Falls and rent a vehicle for the short drive to camp or Central Montana Outfitters will pick you up in the morning at first light where you will be pursuing prairie dogs with vigor on a 30000 acre private ranch within a couple of short hours Accommodations You can stay at the Hampton Inn at Great Falls 406 583 2675 for the duration of the hunt but it is a lot more fun to stay in a tent camp and have breakfast and evening meals prepared for you Noon meal with cold soft drinks and sandwiches will be brought to you in the field Tents have beds mattresses wood floors wood stoves and can sleep three comfortably And an evening spent around the campfire with friends is part of the adventure HUNTING REGULATIONS Prairie dogs are considered a non game species in Montana There is no license or Hunter Education required to hunt them on private land and you can hunt them year round with the months of April through August the times prairie dogs are most active Hunter orange clothing is not required and there are no bag limits Archery tackle muzzleloaders pistols and modern rifles are all welcome Prairie dog hunting is not allowed however on many wildlife refuges managed by the U S Fish and Wildlife Service If you are hunting on state land you will need a state land recreation license available from the Montana DNRC www montanafishandwildlife fws gov Skill Level Moderate You should be able to walk short distances and shoot all day long without getting tired Estimating shooting distances accurately from 100 to 300 yards will greatly improve you success ratio Range finders are always an asset If you talk to farmers and ranchers in the area these predators dont eat enough In areas of high concentrations prairie dogs can desolate the landscape chomping down grasses forbs farm crops and other vegetation leaving the ground almost bare in some places adds Bryce Maxell senior zoologist for the Montana National Heritage Program Their burrows can also prove to be hazardous to cattle and horses and other livestock In addition prairie dogs can carry nasty diseases including monkey pox and tularemia when held in captivity and the worst of them all fleas infected with bubonic plague which can wipe out a wild dog town The odds of humans contracting the black plague from infected prairie dog fleas however is very low Its no wonder with all these problems that shooting access to dog towns is so easy to obtain PRA IRIE DO GS BEGONE It seems obvious but start at the beginning of the dog town and work your way from one vantage point to the next stopping long enough to locate clusters of dogs shoot and then move on to the next hotspot In many dog towns there will be literally thousands of dogs Sunny days see the most action sunscreen and a billed cap are a must With practice prairie dogs can be spotted with the naked eye out to 200 yards and beyond but it helps to have a quality pair of 10X binoculars to scan the town for targets The dogs can scamper about at unknown distances forcing you to quickly estimate yardage and if there is a wind you will promptly learn how a slight breeze can adversely affect bullet drift Even a stationery dog at 175 yards across open flat terrain can test your yardage estimation and shooting skills Youll want to bring bipods shooting sticks or a pivoting and rotating Dead Shot Shooting Pod from Battenfield Technologies to help steady your aim and a comfortable a chair like the Stag Seat by Quake that swivels to help with target acquisition Youll also want a second or even third rifle with quality 3 12X or 20X scopes so you can switch from one gun to the next as the barrel heats up Oh yea plenty of ammo too At least 500 rounds for every day you plan on pulling the trigger or a box of 20 for every ten to fifteen minutes of shooting We shot 222 223 22 250 and 243 rifles fitted with Bergara barrels After two lazy days four of us touched off 3500 rounds of Bitterroot Valley ammo with 90 to 95 percent accuracy
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