Prarie Dog Optics

[Beamonk]

Hello all, a new guy here seeking advice. I am going to at some point go dog hunting and one of my rifles will be a 204 Ruger. I have 2 .223's which have 14x optics and I am looking for another scope for the .204 which I have not yet purchased. I am looking at a vortex 6x 24x44. Is 24x sufficient power for longer range shots with a .204? I have never been dog hunting and would appreciate input.

John

 

[psdan000]

In my experience, clear glass is way more important than higher magnification. You will find that you will be using lower magnifications most of the time. Great choice with the .204, it's my favorite for prairie dogs. Very flat shooting and devastating on them. Little recoil so you can watch your hits through your scope.

 

[Beamonk]

That's what my brother said. Brass and bullets may limit me.

 

[psdan000]

I'd also suggest a simple reticle, something small and not crazy busy. I love the target dot for shooting them!

 

[Cemetery21]

I shot a fixed 24X in SD a few years and it was okay. But, I had 4-16s on the other 3 rifles and ran them at 16, so I had trouble estimating distance when switching from 16 to 24. The action was way too fast to range everything with a lazer. Ended up ditching the 24 so everything would be the same. Had no problem shooting up to 500 with 16X (and I have no business shooting farther).
SD and NE rolling hills 24x and up is possible. NM flatland (like my avatar) has serious mirage. Most of the day, you can't see anything over 300 yards with over 12X, sometimes have to turn down lower.

 

[Quackshot]

I have shot prairie dogs for six decades.
My all time favorite cartridge is the 204R.
I use a Leupold varmint hunter reticle at 14X.
Favorite bullet is the 39 Sierra. With a 200 yard zero my load is .7" high at 100, 370 yards on the first line, 460, on the second line, 540 on the third line, 615 on the top of the post. Master that part and all you have to do is figure the wind. Good luck

 

[Gunpowder]

Sounds like the consensus is that 24x is really too much for some, or most situations and I'd agree. My main pdog guns wear 6.5-20 Meoptas and that's pretty close to perfect imo. The others wear 4.5-14 and honestly that's not bad at all. Sometimes 14 to 16 is all you can use anyway. I like to range and dial when practical, and yes, a 204 is just made for pdogs.

Here's another curveball idea. I have 2 of the Burris Eliminators, and normally use them for coyote calling and big game. Last year I tried them on pdogs and I wish I had more of them! Instant ranging, so no getting confused on which mound you ranged. Puts the orange dot right where you need to hold. It's just devastating. Yes, the glass is not great, fov is small, kind of heavy and bulky. But they do increase speed and hits imo and make trajectory kind of a non-factor. Of course the 204 won't need much help out to 250 or so.

 

[2dognite]

I've shot prairie dogs and sage rats quite a few times. I run Athlon Ares BTR's. For the price they are hard to beat.

 

[Browninglover1]

I killed my furthest prairie dog at 1404 yards and was on roughly 14x magnification. I've found magnification over 14x is often useless for me due to extreme mirage.

 

[Beamonk]

1404. Wow. Just wow!

 

[SDPlinker]

1404. Wow. Just wow!

Hmmm! Must not have been running very fast!

 

[Browninglover1]

Hmmm! Must not have been running very fast!

Who shoots at running prairie dogs at over 3/4 of a mile?

 

[SDPlinker]