Scope recommendations for Prairie Dogs

My scope recommendation is always the same. Buy the very best. I would rather have one great scope than 20 crappy ones, and I know this from experience. I use the NF ATACR 5x25x56 as I need the clarity and magnification. You can always turn a scope magnification down, but when your zoom bottoms out you are done with magnification. I like to have more than I need, then wish I had a little more. Sounds funny, but a great scope will cost you less in the long run. If you buy cheap scopes, they are basically disposable as not worth anything on used market. So the purchased price is lost. Also, if you spend 2 days in a car, $1500 on food and lodging and other misc stuff, to miss, then you need to ask yourself, what is your time worth?

I have had good luck with arken. For a budget type scope it's pretty hard to beat. I don't have the money to put a NF on every rifle I own. On varmint rifles I usually look for a lower cost option that tracks well and the three arken scopes I have seem to do the job well.

I am curious if anyone else on here has played with the arken line up and what they think

Hunt-wyo said:

I have had good luck with Arken. I am curious if anyone else on here has played with the Arken line up and what they think

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I just bought my first Arken.

On another gun forum there is a strong consensus that Arken tracks well.
Well, that's what matters to me!

Matthias

I've had good luck with elp line of arken. I don't know about the cheaper ones.

I just got back from my first PD trip. VinceMule gave me some pretty good advice and pointers.
I had an Athlon Chronus on one rifle that I was wringing out, backup rifle had an old Vortex PST Gen 1 in 6x24. I figured the old scope would be ok. Shooting in bright daylight. Not so much. Found out quickly on the last morning. It was a bit overcast and hazy. Then the mirage immediately picked up. If that had been my only rifle and scope I would have been limited.

Vortex Gen3 and NF are great if you have the budget. If you cannot see it you cannot hit it. Spent most of my time at 16-20x, especially as mirage picked up. As already stated, you can always dial down, but if you are maxed out, that's it. I like scopes a bit overpowered for whatever I am doing. It seems most scopes sweet spot is just backed off the max magnification. The view just gets so much better. And you have to back off a bit to see the full acrobatics through scope. That's most of the fun.
.223 to 550 yards
Buddy has .20 Practical, hits to 650 yards.
Prob the most fun you can have with clothes on.

Arken EP5 is pretty good, especially for the money. I have had my zero stop slip during a Rifles Only class and had to quickly rezero. I had a backup but wanted to test it out. The eye box on mine, with my eyes, is pretty tight. My eye has to be just right on any higher useful zoom.

NF ATACR 5x25x56 left on 14x most of the time, great glass!

akdad said:

I've had good luck with elp line of arken. I don't know about the cheaper ones.

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I have a SH-4j 6-24 on a 6.5 creed and it have been excellent

Whatever you choose, I recommend keeping your low end magnification at 6x or lower. I had difficulty finding dogs at 8x at times

I can't imagine mounting a big expensive target scope on a Savage Axis to shoot prairie dogs at 200-300 yards. Makes me wonder if you guys have ever been to a dog town.

Quackshot said:

I can't imagine mounting a big expensive target scope on a Savage Axis to shoot prairie dogs at 200-300 yards. Makes me wonder if you guys have ever been to a dog town.

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When you quickly upgrade the rifle after getting hooked, you already have a decent scope.

And if you have a suppressor, take it. Maybe not the best choice if you are a high volume AR shooter. Dogs stay up much more without the muzzle blast. Pups don't seem to have a clue. You can talk to your buddies when shooting and spotting.

Big glass for me on all my varmint rigs. Heck my 17 HMR is wearing a 6.5-20 Leupold. Aim small miss small. I have higher end and lower end scopes that all work well including Burris, Leupold, Vortex, Weaver, Arken, Bausch & Lomb, Trijicon and others. My next trip for dogs will be with a new Arken SH-4J 6-24x50 on top of my Savage 12T dual port single shot 223 Rem on a new untouched ranch permission that I secured. The pups ought to be out soon providing a target rich environment!!

1. Tangent Theta TT735P 7-35×56
2. ZCO ZC840 8-40×56
3. Schmidt & Bender PMII 6-36×56

Man, I love it when people don't give a budget! Let's me give them the very best options.