rangefinding prairie dogs

Natty Bumpo

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2008
Messages
175
Location
Missouri
Just wondering how you guys determine range to prairie dogs or range of a kill you made. I've never used a Swaro or Leica rangefinder but I find it hard to believe they can range something as small as a prairie dog out past 400 yards. Do they work that well?

When I've wanted to see how far some of my kills were, I walked out to the carcass and ranged back to the truck (but I've got a cheap rangefinder, ill suited to varmints). By the way, their little bodies might be real clear in the scope, but it's hard finding those little guys when you walk out there a few hundred yards. I used to try and keep my attention focused on the mound where I thought the dog was, but after nearly stepping on rattlesnakes a time or two, I look at the ground in front of me a lot more frequently.
 
most the time i range back to the truck even though i have a swaro i can range the big mounds to 8-900yds most of the time i take 4-5 five gallon buckets with me and spread them out kind of give you a referance point
 
The leica and the swaro work very well for ranging pdogs and you would be amazed at how far out they work. when you cant confidently get a range on a dog what we do is try to range things very close to the animal and then make adjustments. range the ground around them, the mound they are near, whatever. sometimes you can only get close but you do what you can.


have a good un
steve
 
The longest range I've been able to get on a single prairie dog, standing out by him/herself was 711 yards with the Swarovsky.

FWIW
Stork
 
MOst of my PD shooting is with a 17 Fireball XP-100 handgun, and it's not a problem at all to range them or the surrounding terrain. Usually we're above them a bit tho.
 
YO, yo!! Hey Ernie, how's it going? No, it's not mounted yet. I'm still waiting on the stock. Supposed to be almost done. Still considering sending it to T.K. Lee for a custom reticle.

I've actually tried reticle-ranging the dogs, and was able to get within 10% of lasered range so far to 300 yds., but that was on a hot day, in an uncomfortable prone position laying on rocks. Next time i hope to do better. Was using a 6-18x Nikon Buckmasters mil-dot at 18x (2.4 IPHY between dots). I actually measured 3 adult dogs and they all measured 3.5 x 11", tho the Leupold Varmint Hunter reticle uses a height of 7.3" for their sitting-dog rangefinding tool.
 
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YO, yo!! Hey Ernie, how's it going? No, it's not mounted yet. I'm still waiting on the stock. Supposed to be almost done. Still considering sending it to T.K. Lee for a custom reticle.

I've actually tried reticle-ranging the dogs, and was able to get within 10% of lasered range so far to 300 yds., but that was on a hot day, in an uncomfortable prone position laying on rocks. Next time i hope to do better. Was using a 6-18x Nikon Buckmasters mil-dot at 18x (2.4 IPHY between dots). I actually measured 3 adult dogs and they all measured 3.5 x 11", tho the Leupold Varmint Hunter reticle uses a height of 7.3" for their sitting-dog rangefinding tool.
steve,

good to hear from you.
i can remember t.k. lees name at least 50 years ago. ive always used premier, but they no longer operate in a way suitable to most of us. id be interested in knowing how it works out.

have you ever tried a coincidence rangefinder on dogs? units like barr & stroud, and wild, would be the ticket for those things. not very portable, as they are about 15# and require a tripod. but they work every time in all conditions. accuaracy is excellant. jerry had several units of swedish manufacture. knife co. coated optics, read in meters, excellant condition. as i recall, they read to 10,000 meters. he paid $250 for them. ill send you one out if you like to try out. ernie
 
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