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Full Version: Ground Squirrel and or Prarie Dogs
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[shocked] got a few questions to post over here on the huntin board for the 1st time.. I spend 99% of my free time fishin up here in utah.. ive been up in the ogden area for 3 plus years now and a have not yet done any huntin or plan to because of all the people.. I make frequent trips down to northern nevada to shoot squirrels with my good buds.. Anyhow i just got a brand new toy this last weekend.. its a NEF 17.cal mach 2 .. a dandy of a varmint rifle.. My pals and i shot over 500 rnds last weekend shootin squirrels on the local farms doin our part to help out the farmers.. so is there any ground squirrel shootin availabe up here in the northern utah region ? any info would be greatly appreciated.. I am willin to drive up to 100 miles round trip if necessary.. I am also willin to meet an greet up with anyone whos interested too .. thanks for any an all.. FISHAMANIAC..[Wink]
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I am also from the Ogden area. There are not too many spots to shoot prairie dogs around here. In Utah there is a season for shooting them. The best place that I know of in Northern Utah is out in the Vernal area.
Your best bet is to head up to Wyoming and shoot some up there. I know a few guys that go up there and blast the begeebers out of the dogs.
There used to be tons of ground squirrels all over nothern Utah but they have vanished in most places. You can still find a few here and there, but for the most part they are gone. Ant flats used to be a killer spot, and up by Lost Creek was awesome too. There are almost none up there now.

If I was you I would look a little more into shooting some rabbits if you want to stay close to home.
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Hopefully one of the guys can answer your question about ground squirrels but I don't know of anyone that hunts them or prairie dogs in Utah and I think it might be illegal to hunt P dog here. In Colorado, where I grew up, I hunted P dogs all the time, when I got to utah I found them in short supply and like I said, they might be illegal to hunt, something about being endangered or something. I could be wrong but that is what I heard. Most the guys I know hunt either bunnies(jack or cottontails), or coyotes and red fox. WH2
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[Wink] thanks guys for the info .. i have also heard that Wyoming is good place to go from several people.. I might make a combo trip up to the gorge squirrel an burbot mix. I was also thinkin bout contactin a few farmers out in the bear river area an seein if they had any of the nuisances on their fields.. thanks again ..FISHAMANIAC..
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It is legal to hunt prairie dogs in Utah. It used to be you could shoot them anytime. Now there is a season. I need to double check on the date, but I believe it is around June 4th or 6th? Anyway, first part of June before you can shoot them. Wyoming just this year put a season on prairie dogs too. We used to go to Wyoming because our trigger fingers were itching too bad waiting for the Utah season to open. I believe that they both open on the same day now. I'll do some checking. There are dogs in Utah, but you might have to go a little further than 100 miles round trip. Rabbits have been in abundance this year, and you won't have to drive far to find them.
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June 15th is the official day in Utah and Wyoming. It only actually closes for a few months. April to June.
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I don't know of any squirrel spots but i know where some rabbits are if you are interested
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The ground squirrel numbers around have dropped in the recent years. They usually go through a cycle, but they don't seem to be rebounding as well as you would like. I don't know of many public places any more that holds many of the little pups either.
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Ok............. Question? When you say Prarie dogs, are you talking actual prarie dogs or ground squirrel's AKA pot gutts?

I was always under the assumption that you can hunt pot guts anytime and That it was Illegal to hunt Prarie dogs in Utah. I was told that they are protected here.

Any truth to any of this?

Thanks
RILEYFISH
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Actually there is no season still in Wyoming, I just called the Wyo Game and fish. How ever some grass land areas have a closed season.
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This is a wyo dog . Or what I call a dog and not a potgut [sly]. I didn't think you could hunt them in Utar but I'm no hunter .
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Exactley! Thats what I call a Wyoming Dog[Wink]. Shot hundreds over the years in the windy state! They are getting alot of pressure over there. And as far as I know, they are Illegal to shoot in UTard.[:/]
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Anyone can correct me if I'm wrong, but the way I understand it is...there are 3 types of prairie dogs in Utah (Gunnison's, Utah, and the White-tailed). The Utah prairie dog is protected and lives in southwestern Utah. Gunnison's are found southeast of the Colorado in southeast Utah. They (dwr) have been doing or just finished surveys to determine if they were endangered. Don't know on that one? The white-tailed prairie dog lives in the Uintah basin and in the desert country from Price south through the Cisco desert. You can legally shoot these dogs during the open season.
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The Utah regs are all messed up I think. I am not on that either that is why I go to Wyoming. ..... hehehe I would like to know this as well.
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I wish i could tell the diffrence between them at hose distances that we shoot them at.

I drove to Evanston today and cut across tho Bear lake taking my 5th wheel up to the property. There seems to be more dog towns poping up between Woodruff and Sage creek Junction than I can remeber seeing before. Not much green up that way yet, Just lost alot of snow over the past week or two.

Did not see anything moving in Dogville. Looked like a ghost town[sly]
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From what I understand. Some dogs in utah are protected and some can be hunted. Look at the procs.

As far as pot guts. I have seen a few small ones running around. But if you do the old sit and wait you get lots of good sized ones for dinner. I am not sure if utah has a hutn for pot guts or they are free game.
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South Eden on the east side of bear lake for pot gutts and Wyo for P dogs!! We just went to Wyo by Fontenelle over Memorial weekend and shot a few dogs. We may have been a few weeks early but still made a mess out of the ones we did kill! 204,17 REM,22-250,220 Swift!! Blood & Guts!! it was great!!!!!
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Right On Jaime. Glad to hear that you got to heat up a barrel!

I would like to get out there soon and get after some. I got my 250 all ready to go. And when the wind picks up, the 6mm will buck that and put the big smack down on them. Its total carnage![laugh]
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