Have you been Prairie dogs hunting yet

[redbone]

Hays Guys

Have you been Prairie dogs hunting yet This year .

IF so let us know how you did an Post some Pic,s of your hunt .

Let us know what state you hunted in .

How many friends went with you ?

Let us know us how long was the Prairie dogs shots 300 yards ,500 yards or 100 yards

what kind of Rifle did you use ?

Redbone

 

[redbone]

Hay Guys

I went last week Shot over 600 rounds .

Redbone

 

[Buffalobob]

Well, well, well. I don't see any pictures. Did you kill one or did they all get away.

<font color="blue">Don't get offended --it is just a little funny about shooting 600 rounds but not mentioning killing anything. </font> /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[MachV]

Have you been Prairie dogs hunting yet This year.
Oh Ya

IF so let us know how you did an Post some Pic,s of your hunt.
Well I kilt a few a course....My round count hasnt ben real high(maybe 50 rounds an afternoon)but the hit ratio is up over 80%

Let us know what state you hunted in.
Just Wyoming so far....LOL the dogs are a ½mile from the house /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

How many friends went with you?
So far most of my shooting has ben by myself but school is about out so my Daughter will no doubt wana get out and about with dad again.
Had a couple of guys from Wisc come out last week,they claimed it was the best shooting they have had in 20 years, they had hot 22-250 barrels for two days /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Let us know us how long was the Prairie dogs shots 300 yards ,500 yards or 100 yards
Most of the shooting so far this year has ben 100-300 yards but the range will get farther as my shoulder heals and the dogs get educated.

what kind of Rifle did you use ?
Ruger 77/22 with a Tasco 3-9 mildot scope=great for the real close ones and outa the truck.It tipped one over just past 200 yards to with a couple of walking shots.I like the rimfires cause they dont scare the dogs so bad...if you start shooting an area with the 22 ir 17HMR seams like you get more shots than if you start with a 204 or 223.

After you get all you can reach with the rimfire then a different kind of fun begins.The 243 shooting 55Noslers being my favorite.It shoots flat and can reach to 500 with relative ease.The best part is the <font color="red">Red-Mist </font> Effect it has on the dogs!
Couple of weeks ago when the pups where first out I had the 204 out for its virgin run.It did a great job of wacking pups but the 32 Vmax leaves a little to be desired as far as damage and airtime on a full grown dog but the 40s did alright.

 

[1kstr]

7 of us just got back from PD hunting in western ND. Wet, windy,muddy- oh such a wonderful time, we have had worse and better with regards to weather but dogs were out a plenty and we had the privilege of 3 great days of shooting (it is always a great day when out shooting). I am guessing 3,500 rounds total in between the rain showers for the group of us.

We were flanked on all sides but we were able to hold them off to save the world again. It is so much fun.

I had three guns along- a .223, 22.250 and a 6mmBR. I had a 430 yd shot with the 250 and a 465 with the BR. Not any personal best in the yardage department but did have a personal best in the "launching" distance of one particular critter with a friends 25-06. 22ft from POI. Hope to reach a personal best for yardage once I get the Kirby ray machine later this year.

Didn't post any pics, sorry.

Thwap!!

1kstr

 

[LWolken]

Just got back from a two day trip in the Texas Pan Handle. Weather was great mid 80's with minimal wind 5-15 mph. Sunny but some cloud cover blowing through. Shots ranged from 150 yds to 600+ The two of us shot about 1600 rds over the two days. Cartridges used were .223 one bolt one AR. 22-250 Both bolt one etronx, One 243ack bolt gun. Longest shot was just over 600yds. Average being around 350yds. We learned several things. For starters 50gr bullets minimum in the 22 cal department. The 22-250 will get it done farther out than the .223 but will heat up and neads to be heavy enough to spot shots. The 243 ackley was the go to gun for consistent 500yd plus kills. One shot kills were not uncommon after it was dialed in for the range. The 105gr amax is the only VLD that expands. Berger 105's and 95's shot great but just would not put the dogs down unless they were direct hits. I put about 400rds down the Etronx on the battery it came with. Brought extras in case but didn't need them. One misfire in the Etronx. Not sure yet but seems like primer? Need to pull the bullet on that one. Very please with the etronx especially the loaded chamber indicator was great instead of that annoying "click" when your out. A tuned .223 can out shoot the 22-250 at long range especially when you need a couple shots to get there. Amazes me how well the 223 will take dogs up to 500yds.

Lance

 

[killahog]

I just came back from PD shooting In Colorado I had a great time My Equipment was as follows Remington 40x in 25-06 AI shooting 100G Sierra hpbt match bullets 57g H4831 SC velocity 3477 my longest shot last week was 700 yards I think it took 6 shots I dialed the drop in my leupold 8.5-25 boosted to 14.5X34 and was on target in 3 shots the rest was watching wind and a little luck. The best shot was on a PD at 200 yards with my 223AI shooting a 40g vmax 28.2G h322 velocity 3700 fps This shot was very close and not much of a challenge I shot several dogs with this gun at 500 yards but after The shot I was watching the PD flop around and I was getting ready to put another shot into it when a coyote ran into my line of sight and picked up the PD and started running off I couldn't believe this after sitting there shooting over 200 shots, I waited until the coyote stopped and Then put 2 40 grain vmax in him.

 

[tulku]

Redbone : just got back from S, Dakota. Weather was dismal for first two days , so I just scouted the back roads and nearly got stuck twice with just a fwd car . Next 4 days were as good as anything I've seen in over 25 years of Trips to SD , Wyoming , and Montana . I just blundered into some Ranchers who had great shooting Fields and I think took pity on a dumb Easterner who drives a car Pdog hunting . You should have seen the look on some Ranchers faces in the 80s when I drove way back in with a HO Camaro . It's really surprising where you can go when it's dry , and you go slow and straddle the ruts . Sorry no Pics ( I still use film ). Pretty tired yet , but I did count the first good day ....about 400 Rounds . Lots of WIND , lots of rain , lots of green grass , lots of Dogs . And did I ever have to keep an eye peeled on the storm clouds to beat a hasty retreat to hard roads . My favorite rifle was a Rem 700 with Hart heavy Barrel ( 1:14 ) shooting 40 Gr. Vmaxs and topped with a Leupold 16X . With that Wind , I didnt even bring out the CZ 17 HRM except to let a Rancher try some 25-50 Yard shots . He actually sat in his new F150 and spotted for hours for me . I also took a 1:8.5 Swift with 30 inch Barrel . I should have had a Brake installed as I could not see hits very well . The Smith who also did the work ( out of business now ) did not Throat it the way I wanted . I supplied a dummy Round loaded with a 60 Gr. Vmax , but he Throated it so I have to seat the 60 so the Bullet Base lines up with the Neck base . If I had it to do over again , I would pick the long 700 Action ( or a Custom ) , and a heavier Contour with a brake . I put together the Swift to shoot 60s , but it grouped the 40s in the 3s with no load development , so I think I will only put on a Brake and leave well enough alone . I also had knee replacement surgery a while back , so I wanted to see how I would walk . My favorite Dog Town is roughly Rectangular ....about 500 X 700 Yards , and by the time I walked out-and-back both ways ( sorta looking like a gimpy stick-man )..... I was beat . My favorite shooting is off a stand-up Tripod , and I'm pretty good out to about 300 Yards . Trip started out bad , but it sure turned out great . Sometimes it just pays to hang in there for awhile . Oh , those 40 gr Vmaxs sure don't like grass !

 

[tulku]

Wanted to add a couple of things : Poisoning on the Rosebud is supposed to start this week according to those I spoke to in the Area. Locations , amount , and poison supplied by the US Gov't. .....so check ahead if you have planned to hunt Pdogs in that part of SD . I also picked up a bullet for my Collection . It is a 100 Gr. 224 manufactured by Hornady . Lots of strange stories about when these were made and why no one can get more now . It measures 1.144 inches OAL .

 

[Buffalobob]

Tulku

Recheck the diameter. P O. Ackley built a 228 to get around the ban on hunting deer with a 224. Unpleasant surprise for the unwise if you load it up in a a normal barrel.

 

[tulku]

Buffalobob , I just checked the Bullet . Diameter is 0.224 in. , and weight is 99.9 Grains . These were made very recently , in the last year or two from what I heard , and looks like a PSP Design .

 

[Guest]

Had a spur of the moment hunt Saturday. Buddy stopped friday and wanted to go shoot PD,s Wouldn't you know it I didn't have a single gun ready except for my .300 Rum. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif Talk about getting caught with your pants down. Friday night after work I grabbed 4 rifles and started putting scopes on them and getting them boresighted. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif All I had on had was some old scopes I had been given and which worked pretty good but none of them did I trust to do more than hold a zero /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif Oh well were going to go kill something. What more did I need. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif
1st rifle
Kimber K22 SVT .22 LR. It got a Simmons Pro Hunter 6X18X40AO Bought it new in the late 80's I think. Needed a cheap scope and I got it. Holds zero really well though. You have to focus the AO each time as its never focused where it should be according to the range finder. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
Was using a brick of Remington Target Green/Blue box ammo standard volocity. Sighted in it was shooting into 1" at 100 yds. Good enough for PD's to start with anyway.
2nd rifle
Ruger 77/22 Mag Walnut/blue. I mounted an old Bushnell Sportview 6X18X40AO on it. Also holds a zero well but if you add clicks it has to be taped with a screw driver to make it move. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif This was the shocker. All I had for ammo was a brick of HSM .22Mag. After getting it on paper the darn thing settled down and started shooting 1/4" groups at 100 yds. Scope was pretty clear in the center but /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif the edges were bad enough that you couldn't make out a PD with it. Still /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif Its holding a zero.
Third rifle.
Remington 700 VS I had picked up new in the box a week ago. Traded in my 700 Light Varmint for it. Wouldn't stay on target to watch the pink mist. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif That one I mounted a Cabela's 4X12X40AO Cabela's Alaskan guide premium on it. Great scope, just wish I would of had a 6.5X20X40AO on it instead. Worked very well out to 500 yds though. I didn't have time to reload any ammo for the .223 but had 200 rnds of Ultra-Max Nosler BT's in 50 grain bullets on hand. Another shocker. It shot those into less than 3/8" with that stuff. Volocity is only 3100 for it but I think that gun likes the NBT's. Trigger had to be 7 lbs at least. Couple times I reached up to click off the safty and found it was already off. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif Got thats a bad trigger. Its getting a Jewel today. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif
4th rifle.
Remington 700 VFS. .22-250 with Cabela's Alaskan Guide 6.5X20X44 AO
It was already to go. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif Fired a couple of shots to check zero and done. Get this, it loves Federal Blue box 55 grain sp. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif I bought a case of this stuff as it shot so well I figured that what the heck, don't mess with perfection. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif I'm going to have to figure out a load for it sometime when I get that stuff shot up. Too many other guns to get loads worked up for. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif Shoots under 1/2" all day and sometimes 1/4" Keeps me happy. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
Got finished sighting in by dark and headed home to pack spotting scopes, binoculars,ammo,and everything else I needed into the Expo. Finally got to bed and couldn't sleep. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
Got up about 5:00Am and headed out to pick up my buddy. He had only two rifles to pack. His Bushmaster Varmint S.S. And a Ruger 77V in .223. And his shooting bench. Didn't take long. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif Headed north over along the Nebraska Wyoming border to find a dog town to shoot. Did I tell you we didn't have a plan for where we were going. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif I thought he had some places lined up and he thought I knew of a couple. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif Well I did sort of but hadn't been there or talked to the guy since last year.
Driving north we happened upon a small dog town along the road and get this. It had sign's all the way around it stateing that there was public access. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif It also had sighns stating no vehicle access but there were parking areas every so far around it. Well my buddie had a semi-portable shooting bench and I had a folding chair. What more do you need. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif OH, did I tell you that the wind had started blowing about 30 MPH /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif Well we sat up and to begin with there were PD's all over in front of us. I started shooting with the Kimber K22 but quit that very quickly as the only place we could set up without having a house or cattle in front of us was a place where we were shooting into a cross wind. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif Oh well, were PD hunting. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif
I was sitting in a low folding camp chair using my knee as a rest. I would try to get onto a target and about the time I would be ready to pull the trigger the wind would blow me off target. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif You could fire about every 4th time you got on target. My buddy with his shooting bench was doing a bit better and was shooting my .22Mag but neither of us were conecting with much. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif We finally gave up and put the .22's away and grabbed out .223's Me the 700 VS and him his Bushmaster Varmint. Thats when things began warming up for the PD's. We started shooting and were getting about 25% of the dogs we shot at out to 300 but past that it was getting ridaculus. We shoot for about 2 hrs and by that time we wern't getting many that would poke their heads up. I had shot proably 50 rounds and my buddie probably double that as I had been spotting for him on most shots. Thats was ok as watching a PD flip into the air and do 3 360's before making it back down is fun also. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif I did have one at about 150 yds that did come unglued at the seams when I shot him. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif But for the most part neither one of us had many PD's that did that. Most just Bang/Flop and lay there. Only a couple crawlers out of the bunch. Good time but not long enough. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
We then headed north again along the border and about 75 miles from the NE/Wy/SD border where the guy I knew had invited me to come shooting PD's any time lived. We found his house but when driving up we didn't see any PD towns. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif Well we stoped at his place and were informed that he had poisened them and plowed up the town. Why would someone do that /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif He did know of a town that we could shoot about 2 miles away though and we headed there and talked to the owner of that property who informed us that yes we could shoot but there were some requirements. We could not quit till we had gotten at least 100 PD. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif The property was a full half section with a road on two sides. One on the South and one on the east. Shooting south would put you shootin towards the guys house. Shooting west we were fine. Except we were again shooting into a cross wind. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
Well he also didn't want us driving around in the pasture so again we set up just inside a gate about halfway between the South road and his place giving us a good field of fire without worrying about bullets. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif Oh he also said we probably shouldn't walk about much as what wasnt' cactus and wasn't PD mounds had snakes. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif That or be real careful. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif I think he is still laughing about the look on my face when he told me about the snakes. Rattle snakes that is. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
Again we tried that Rimfires but man a 30MPH wind can raise hell with a bullet. We both got a couple before we quit but that got really rough trying to hit one at 100 yds and boring from the misses.
We again switched to the .223's At least you could connect once in a while. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif I was sitting on a wooden chair about 8"s off the ground using my knee as a rest for my elbow and the wind would literly blow my gun sideways. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif Sometimes it would take two or three tries to get a steady rest before you could fire. Something must of been working though because it wasn't long before we were connecting. One I was real proud of was a 450 yd shot (using the range finder) with no clicks on the scope just Kentucky windage /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif and one shot Bang/Flop. I had held about one PD high and somewhere between 2.5 and 3' to the left. My buddie says he can tell when I get one as I always giggle when I do. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif I didn't even notice the fact.
Well we didn't get 100 PD's there but I bet we got close to that. Might of got more but with it being in the mid 90's and the wind blowing 30MPH plus we were getting wore out and then a storm came in and it started raining. I didn't care but my buddie must melt in the rain as he was more than ready to quit by that time. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
All in all a good day and like fishing, my worst day doggen is better than my best day at work. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[acloco]

Four times, so far.

Savage Model 12FV, repeater, in 204 Ruger. Nikko Stirling 6-24x56
Savage Model 12FV, single shot, in 223. Nikko Stirling 6-24x56

Rem 700 in 17 Remington. BSA 8-32x50.
Rem 722 in 243 varmint barrel. Nikko Stirling 6-24x56

Been concentrating on making the shots count due to the cost of ammo. I reload, but it is still in the 20 cent per round for the 17 Rem, 204, &amp; 223!

Longest shot this year, just under 500 yards. Hoping to stretch the 204 and 223 to 600.

The 243 is new to me this past month. Purchased a used 722, removed the barrel &amp; installed a new takeoff Rem varmint contour in 243. Just beginning load development.

Hunting in Nebraska with one other person.

Will post pics at a later time.

 

[Ol'Gator]

After delaying our trip to Eastern Montana the first of June because of daily rains, we finally made it July 26. Glad we waited because temps were in the range of 103 to 106 the week before we arrived. Plenty of targets for the full three days spent. Together we had three Savages two were model 12 LP version, one a standard model 12. I was shooting my .223 the other two were using .204 Ruger.

The first two days we were all over the board with regard to ranges. The last day we agreed to work on dogs that were five hundred plus. The best for all three of us turned out to be 600 plus yards. That's not to say we were making one shot kills at these ranges but when we had a steady wind for any length of time it took fewer shots to come up with the needed sight picture. I was using nosler 40 gr. BT, the 204 shooters use hornady 32 grain V-Max.

Just back an looking forward to the next time.