First prairie dog trip

[sube01]

My family and I are going on our first prairie dog hunt this summer. We are hoping to make it an annual thing. Any advice on needed equipment or just something that makes the hunt more enjoyable ?

[lefty o]

at least 500rnds a day per person, better to have 2 guns or more per person. some kind of shooting bench doesnt hurt. and dont forget sunscreen, and bug spray.

[Asphalt Cowboy]

Originally Posted by sube01

or just something that makes the hunt more enjoyable ?

264 Win.Mag., ads a whole new meaning to the word WoW. BANG, nothin' but chunks.

[sube01]

There is six of us going with four of us shooting. Our weapons we are taking is two 22 250 and two marlin 17 hmr's. Being from Mississippi this is going to be an awsome trip for us. How far of a range finder will we need ?

[ArkansasHunter]

I'm just curious but what state are yall going to ?

[sube01]

We haven't made our final decision yet, but most of the places we are looking at are in South Dakota although that may change if we find somewhere that offers a better price. Right now we are leaning to Badlands Ranch in Interior, South Dakota. It offers a three day hunt for $400 including meals and lodging.

[lefty o]

you'll find most prarie dog shooting to be done under 350yds, so get a 400 or 600 yd rangefinder minimum. if you desire to try farther out, plan accordingly. if you want to shoot farther, you can find places in SD to shoot as far as you would ever care to try. $400 is a good price, if they put you on a few good dog towns.
if you enjoy shooting, its a good time!

[Onesonek]

Originally Posted by sube01

We haven't made our final decision yet, but most of the places we are looking at are in South Dakota although that may change if we find somewhere that offers a better price. Right now we are leaning to Badlands Ranch in Interior, South Dakota. It offers a three day hunt for $400 including meals and lodging.

The equipment mentioned, specially the bench and rest, is almost as important as the ammo. But I would check where you are staying, they might supply that. If not, you want it solid/steady what ever you bring. If you have one a machine rest is nice also. You hear of guys shootin a 1000 rnds a day. Maybe, but 500 is plenly in mind, you take 10hrs of straight shooting, and thats close to a round a minute. At that rate, better have 3 guns or you'll burn out a barrel in a couple thousand rounds. I go with 3-400 per day and get all the fun I need. Generally though if you each got your own gun, I find what works best specially on the longrange work, is one guy spot, for one guy shooting. , rotate every 3 rounds or so,. This don't get the barrel too hot, and allows alil cool down time. and I still switch guns.
As far the rangefinder,,, at first you'll have short shots well within rimfire range, but eventually the close one will stay down. If early in the season the young ones will pop back up at short ranges. Beyond that, in some dog towns the range can go as far as you can see. For the most part, you'll be playing around at 2-300 out 1000 + yds. The less costly rangefinders rated to 800 don't cut it much past 600, and the 6's about 4-500. yds. If you are buying one for the trip, and plan on doing this regularly, buy the best one you can afford. You'll be more satisfied in the long run. My choice is Swarovski followed by Leica, a distant 3rd would be Nikon. They cost 2-3 times more, but you'll be a 10 times happier.

Here's some of the gear I use.
b4 i painted it, homemade with purchased thermalplastic top, and legs bought off the net somewhere. I did beef up the bottom wit a 2" piece of extruded alum.

220 swift

6mmAI

my son checking out the new shootin chair

243AI

contvertible machine rest with ambi. windage top

My "trail bench"

and friends

currently being rebuilt for my ultralongrange handgun

Dave

[sube01]

That's a pretty nice setup you got there. I betr the little pdogs run when they see you coming. Ha ha

[nathangdad]

I now live in the Texas Panhandle. Lots of relatively (and actually)
flat plains so I totally recommend a higher quality scope as, once the shooting begins, they are often small targets at an uncomfortable distance. Otherwise, be sure your are sighted in and comfortable with prone shooting (for here, anyway).

Good luck and good hunting!

[Onesonek]

Originally Posted by nathangdad

I now live in the Texas Panhandle. Lots of relatively (and actually)
flat plains so I totally recommend a higher quality scope as, once the shooting begins, they are often small targets at an uncomfortable distance. Otherwise, be sure your are sighted in and comfortable with prone shooting (for here, anyway).

Good luck and good hunting!

Nathan has a point, I forgot also, I just don't use it. You can easily position yourself to shoot prone off the ground in most dog towns, even in broken country. But, take a ground mat, such as 30" wide piece of used carpet or similar. There is small cactus in that country(sometimes un-noticable, till a body part with weight is on them), and even small rocks can make for uncomortable prone shooting.
Good glass is always plus, I use Burris or Leupy's for the most part. I'm putting a Leupy 45x Comp on the XP when it gets back. And there are others, that make Leupy's look cheap. One know of, can't quite recall the name, probably cuz of it's price. But, it has a ranging reticle thats tied to its own PDA, use the reticle to range, and a couple of key strokes later it tells you where to hold using the grid in the reticle. I think they were only like $2300. But NightForce, Swarovski, Schmidt-Bender, I know theres a few more I'm forgetting, all good pushing the high end. On the other hand, I put a Swift on my son's gun, it tracks like it should, and clarity ain't too bad. It does start to get a little less clear on the perimeter on the highest setting. I wouldn't hesitate recommending them with a tight budget in mind.
Given a choice, I would rather go with 3-600 dollar scope and a 8-900 dollar range finder, than the other way around. Not saying that thats the right way, just how I look at it.
Shooting PD's is just plain fun no matter what your equipment and gun. But it seems, once you start busting PD's consistantly at the 3-5 or 600yd. range, it starts to get alil boring, for me at least. Some keep pushing the distance for the challenge. Then too, longrange shooting can become addicting, and striving for those longest shots can get costly if you choose to go that way, Spending top dollar has it benefits without a doubt in my mind, but it ain't always necessary. First and foremost, are good consistant shooting fundamentals.
But you'll have a blast no matter what.

Dave

[sube01]

I'm planning on putting a lot of bullets down range between now and then. Any advice on practice techniques ?

[Onesonek]

There's a thread started in General Rifle titled "long range"
http://www.gunandgame.com/forums/gen...ong-range.html (long range)
Check that out, some helpful stuff there.
Dave

[elmer fudd]

I live in Sd but i dont live by were the prairi dogs are but we go deer hunting in buffolow county each year and when we got done killin the deer i used my buddies 17 hmr and we went and killed some prairy dogs you usualy wont get to close to them so use a good scope but if you want to get close to them you have to wait a while but not too long becouse the are very curios. my dad when he was my age and lived in MT would rope them and lead them around like a dog!