Looking for help on prairie dog hunting rifles

[HunterMann]

@mtudn24 , I shoot about 5,000-10,000 pdogs per year... and I can tell you unequivocally that anything you bring, can kill a pdog. However, there are some things you should know, in no particular order.

Big loud rifle scare them. Use suppressors if you can.

Vehicles, tables, and other large objects on the edge of their town, scares them. If you want more shot opportunities, pack in and lay down.

Hitting pdogs with light weight lightly constructed bullets, makes for comical impacts... however, hitting those little guys in actual Dakota field conditions is not conducive to those lightweight high velocity bullets. Instead, bullets with high BC's are what makes the hits happen. The wind blows here, nearly every day... and it blows hard. As I type this, its a sustained 35mph out there. If you want to make a bunch of noise and hit a few, the lightweight bullet thing is fine. If you want to really do some damage to a pdog town... high BC bullets in a very accurate/precise rifle will win the day. Fast twist 22cal or 6mm. Either will do. If I could only have one colony varmint rifle... it would be a 6mm BRA or 22 BRA.

Everyone should show up with a 17WSM. ... and I mean everyone. A .17WSM, at least 1000rnds of ammo for each (probably 2000) and a tripod for each. When you first roll into the town, you can just walk around taking kneeling/standing shots on dumb pups with 17WSM's out to 250yds... and you will kill HUNDREDS of them and have an unbelievable time doing it. Everyone will have fun doing that. If the wind is above 10-12mph... leave the 17WSM's in the truck.

Don't bring a wide range of cartridges. You'll spend the entire time trying to get the various rifles dialed in. Instead, just bring two cartridges if you can. .17WSM, and then all .223's or all .204's or all 6mm's. All running the same bullet at roughly the same velocity. That way, the whole party can be dialing in the wind call in mils or moa for every shot fired. All run the same optic configuration. If its mils, then everyone should be on mils. By the time a couple hours passes... you'll all be locked on and crushing shots all over the town. Fast twist barrels with high BC bullets wins the day.

I go out with guys that run light bullets, and it's pretty comical when the wind gets up over 5mph. Consider the following.

500yd with a .223rem in 10mph breeze @ 9:00
Bullet - Elev - Wind
55gr - 2.8mil - 1.9mil
80gr - 2.7mil - 1.1mil

That's a huge difference, and only gets worse, the more the wind blows. So if you like hitting your intended target, focus on precision and accuracy.



-----------
Follow on Instagram
Subscribe on YouTube

Sage advice from the experienced one above. We always start with our small guns (22mag & need a 17WSM ) and work our way up. You should learn a lot about the wind in your very first session. Keep on learning! 223'are a fine place to start. I usually shoot 62gr military in my AR (long rifle config) and when the wind picks up go to heavy bullets in a bolt action. I have shot 22-250 and 220 Swifts but find the 6mm's are better in the wind. Unless you are shooting from far far away big muzzle blast puts the PD's in their holes for a while. Suppressors help if you have them. Bring extra rifles, because the barrels really heat up when you shoot 400 rounds before lunch.

 

[DukeSilver]

My 3 buddies and I have been making the trip out to S. Dakota for a few years now. Here's our spread: .22LR, .22Mag, .17hmr, .17hornet, .204 ruger, .22-250, .223rem, .220 swift, .22 hornet. And me and another guy will usually bring something obscure; 6.5 creed, .270 weatherby, .308 win...lastyear I smoked one with my .375H&H lol.
Bring rimfires! the ammo is cheap and I guarantee you'll have the most fun with them. I us to take my 17wsm but ammo is expensive and an HMR is just as accurate. We probably shoot .22LR more than anything. What's nice about the zero recoil rifles are the follow up shots. When you're at full magnification even a .223 will lose sight picture. Yes it's cool to reach out and touch something with the centerfires, but just as fun to see how far you can drop in a .22lr. Other than guns, I recommend long sleeve fishing UV shirts, pants and boots - the biting flies are a son of a b. Pop up canopies, 360° swivel benches and watch out for prairie rattlers

 

[IHFarmer07]

The Valkyrie can be up to the task with ammo available at target sports. Now I have one and really like what it does and how it does but it's NOT an out of the box accurate caliber. I'm shooting 80eldms around 3000fps in my bolt gun Valkyrie and it took a long time to get an understanding of how tedious it is to load for…..just to think, I started reloading not too long ago and it was the first I reloaded for.

I would look into a 6arc for sure and ammo is available there to.

 

[chav0_12]

I'm a fan of the 22-250 and 204 Ruger. If it were me I'd be buying one of each and leaving the 17 WSM. I plan on building a couple rifles soon, one a 22-250AI and something in 20 caliber like a 204 Ruger but sometimes I think I want something a little more fun.

 

[Chuck sm]

don't over think a prairie dog shoot. a 223 will be easiest to find ammo for and far cheaper than any other center fire round. the enjoyment, especially for new shooters ,is the volume of shooting and the social aspect of the adventure. a couple of things i have found that increase the fun is a good mobile bench and a good brake that allows self spotting on long shots.

 

[bear52157]

My savage 224 valkyrie did a fine job on them this fall in Wyoming!

 

[7MMMagnum]

@mtudn24 , I shoot about 5,000-10,000 pdogs per year... and I can tell you unequivocally that anything you bring, can kill a pdog. However, there are some things you should know, in no particular order.

Big loud rifle scare them. Use suppressors if you can.

Vehicles, tables, and other large objects on the edge of their town, scares them. If you want more shot opportunities, pack in and lay down.

Hitting pdogs with light weight lightly constructed bullets, makes for comical impacts... however, hitting those little guys in actual Dakota field conditions is not conducive to those lightweight high velocity bullets. Instead, bullets with high BC's are what makes the hits happen. The wind blows here, nearly every day... and it blows hard. As I type this, its a sustained 35mph out there. If you want to make a bunch of noise and hit a few, the lightweight bullet thing is fine. If you want to really do some damage to a pdog town... high BC bullets in a very accurate/precise rifle will win the day. Fast twist 22cal or 6mm. Either will do. If I could only have one colony varmint rifle... it would be a 6mm BRA or 22 BRA.

Everyone should show up with a 17WSM. ... and I mean everyone. A .17WSM, at least 1000rnds of ammo for each (probably 2000) and a tripod for each. When you first roll into the town, you can just walk around taking kneeling/standing shots on dumb pups with 17WSM's out to 250yds... and you will kill HUNDREDS of them and have an unbelievable time doing it. Everyone will have fun doing that. If the wind is above 10-12mph... leave the 17WSM's in the truck.

Don't bring a wide range of cartridges. You'll spend the entire time trying to get the various rifles dialed in. Instead, just bring two cartridges if you can. .17WSM, and then all .223's or all .204's or all 6mm's. All running the same bullet at roughly the same velocity. That way, the whole party can be dialing in the wind call in mils or moa for every shot fired. All run the same optic configuration. If its mils, then everyone should be on mils. By the time a couple hours passes... you'll all be locked on and crushing shots all over the town. Fast twist barrels with high BC bullets wins the day.

I go out with guys that run light bullets, and it's pretty comical when the wind gets up over 5mph. Consider the following.

500yd with a .223rem in 10mph breeze @ 9:00
Bullet - Elev - Wind
55gr - 2.8mil - 1.9mil
80gr - 2.7mil - 1.1mil

That's a huge difference, and only gets worse, the more the wind blows. So if you like hitting your intended target, focus on precision and accuracy.



-----------
Follow on Instagram
Subscribe on YouTube

10,000 prairie dogs a year. That is an average of 27 dogs a day. Do you have a day job LOL or just an obsession for killing prairie dogs?

 

[Mike Matteson]

Should be able to fine a 22/250 rifle. That should take you out to 400+yds with a 55gr SPBT bullet. Depending on what type of scope you have on top of the rifle. The heavier the barrel the better. You will need to develop a load for it. Personally I use a 220 Swift with a 55gr SpBt bullet at 3900fps in1-14 twist. The biggest problem is getting components to reload with. 22/250 possible you can purchase factory ammo on the shelf or order out by internet. There's to many choices out. Have fun!

 

[257WTBY]

First off there are a lot more experienced P-dog hunters than me, but Ive shot quite a bit. Yearly trip to Montana at least once a summer for past 20-25 years. About 4-5 years ago I quit taking 8K rounds with me. I wanted to use P-Dog hunting as kind of training. Ive taken AR's Bolt actions Break actions in about every small mainstream caliber. Last year I took a 22 Creedmoor for the first time and I was shooting light weight bullets primarily 52GR. I took 1000 rounds to shoot. I also took 3 bull barrel target .223's to shoot and about 3000 rounds for them. 50 gr BT bullets for 223. I really concentrated on accuracy more then volume. First year I took 22 Creedmoor I logged every round I shot for distance and +/- for hits. Ive been doing this for a while so I have note books full of info. I shot 592 rounds of 22 Creedmoor last year had 537 dead P-Dog's. All my shots were 250 to my longest at 524 yards the majority in the 300-450 yard range. I cant say I did as well with 223 but I was right at 80%. I really work on set up and dialing I had my 22 creedmoor built off a rem 700 action and it is exactly the same as my primary deer rifle from action trigger stock and scope minus the difference in action length and barrel length. Right now I have a rifle at the smith being built to duplicate those two rifles but in 33 Cal. Hopefully in my mind using the stuff all the same will help me out when I pick up the deer or elk rifle to go hunt.

Your question on caliber I love 204 ruger but I use it on coyotes. Never shot 17WSM but have went thru 4 barrels on my 17 Rem over last 20 years. 17-22 cal wind effects alot. You can cheat it a little with heavy for caliber bullets and fast twist barrels but wind will be the constant enemy of small calibers as well as large. I'd say take it as a challenge use P-dog time to try and get better at reading the wind, calling the wind and then testing your read of wind with the shot. I dont think you are wrong at all in your choices of calibers. 22-250 and 220 swift I own one of each great rounds in their own right. I shoot them but not to the degree I shoot other rifles. I really like the 22 Creedmoor for my big 22 Cal. I used it all winter last year on coyotes bang flop was a constant. 224 Valkrye (sp) I know zero about other than reading online. Most of all go have fun shoot the crap outta them. Take your first trip to gather info cause if you go you will go back its to much fun not too. Good luck

 

[wolffo]

I shoot wyoming couple times a year
lots of wind
my go to pdog load in 223 is 40gr vmax with RL-10x going 3,500 fps
very dynamic hits to 350 yards
I would not want anything less than this level of performance
the dogs go down on noise but come back up
so take turns shooting
if you stretch your distance out a lot you can improve all this
so much fun!

 

[wolffo]

you'll want a heavy/stable table
stable chairs
rests/sand bags

if 2 guys are trying to share a table….
you'll quickly realize that does not work

 

[wolffo]

be prepared to pick up and change locations

 

[HRM Johnny]

Big loud rifle scare them

I love the way you phrased it! I LMAO. Thanks

 

[cvixx]

A while ago I posted about the overpopulated, and protected, and later dearth, of dogs in S Utah. Got to thinking, if anyone knows a good area within 150 miles or so of Cedar City, please let me know or post where it is! I have a Winchester 70, post 64, with a heavy 243 barrel that really needs to get out.. A real SWAT rifle, believe it or not. I worked LAPD and after probation we were rotated to various non-patrol assignments. I got to work the jail. One day I noticed an ad for this rifle posted on a board. Bought it and was talking to the seller (this was in 1976). He was a SWAT officer and when SWAT started, in LA, they used their own rifles. In the mid-70s, the Department wanted uniformity, so purchased .308s. No longer needing the .243 he sold it. Used it at the SLA shootout, he did. I know, buy the gun, not the story, but I know he worked SWAT, so there it is. these early varmint rifles were set up with a twit's rate for lightweight bullets, so a prairie dog would be an ideal target…but I need a place to shoot!