4 sure!
One can't hold up to 800-1K rounds out of a 22 CM on a pd shoot (it's not a hunt....).
Side note, someone actually shooting that many rounds in a day, not over 3 days or so is as rare as they come!
Prairie Dog Rifle Question…
- Thread starter Flea21
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4 sure!
One can't hold up to 800-1K rounds out of a 22 CM on a pd shoot (it's not a hunt....).
Side note, someone actually shooting that many rounds in a day, not over 3 days or so is as rare as they come!
alnpar
Well-Known Member
Agree, I used strictly my .17 HMR. out to 250 yards. I can always move closer once the town is eliminated. Why shoot $1.00 per round when .20 to .30 cents does the same thing! A .22 for even less. .05 to .10 cents. (unless you go with match grade.
quigley257
Well-Known Member
If you can get into the dogs thick and stupid, it is possible to have really high round count days. Back in the "good old days" we would do a PD safari every year to western North Dakota. 4-6 days usually gave a fair chance of catching a day or two with good weather and even possibly a day with little to no wind, although those are a rarity in the Dakotas. Back before Google Earth was a well known thing, we had dog towns that we mapped out that were definitely not visible from the road and thus, got very little/no shooting pressure. Shooting was fantastic. Modern hunting APPs and satellite imagery has certainly changed that over the years. Our standard MO is to roll up on a town, establish a shooting base near the vehicles, break out the 22s and 17s and go to work on everything out to 200 yards or so. Once the near dogs are thinned out and educated sufficiently, we break out the shooting benches and switch to the standard varmint rigs and settle in for a long shoot. Every dog town is different, but using 223s and 22-250s is the norm out to 5-600 yards. If a nice windless day or evening was in the making, we would deliberately set up on a town that would offer shooting opportunities out to 1000 yards or more. These were the times to break out the big rigs in 7 Rem Mag, 300 WM, 308 Win, 25-06 Rem and others. My latest long range rigs include 300 PRC and 338 Rogue bolt guns as well as 6mm ARC and 6.5 Grendel ARs. Far and away the highest volume shooting takes place with the standard varmint calibers. 223 is especially cheap to shoot, accurate, and easy on barrels. I currently own a bunch of 223s in various forms including pistol(TC Encore), single shot rifle, bolt guns and ARs. It is nice to be able to switch from one gun to another when the shooting is brisk and barrels heat up. It also allows for good training using the various platforms at multiple ranges. I can't think of a better way to train for improving your big game shooting techniques than PD shooting. I've had people say "but you don't shoot big game from a shooting bench..." well no, but you don't have to shoot PDs from a bench either. Some of the best practice comes from shooting offhand or utilizing a bipod to simulate field conditions while using a rimfire or 223 at short to moderate distances.
cclfnOR
New Member
I have been shooting PD over the years and I have been on a couple where I did shoot about 800 rounds in a day. However that has only happened when it was a very big unmolested PD town(s) where there were lots of young and dumb pups hanging around one mound. In those cases I would say you would fire 4-5 rounds in a minute with a bolt gun. I think with all the pressure of more hunters, loss of PD's due to plague, and wild habitat; those large volume days may be gone. 20 years ago things were much better for high volume days. The last few years I am very happy with 300 round days. I have shot many different rifles 6MM, 6BR, 243, 22BR, 223AI, 223, 222, 17Rem, 17WSM, 17HMR, 22mag, 22LR. I enjoy seeing the hit, light recoil, suppressed shooting, and no RAIN. I now take a 17WSM, 204, 222, and 223 then a larger caliber if I want to try to buck the wind or very long range stuff. The long range shots are slow fire options where the barrel does not heat up past warm. I have learned that rimfires below 17WSM are often not clean one shot kills unless you are very close so I leave those for the sage rats (which are basically a miniature PDs). Take what you have on your first trip and you will figure out real soon if you want volume or distance for the next one. Barrels are just a numbers game dependent on caliber (unless you let the barrel get too hot) so there are always positive and negative's to any caliber. My favorite is the 204, 222, 223, 17WSM in that order. Good Luck!
Went PD shooting today.. wasn't target rich to say the least! (20 rds) But wasn't surprised. I take an AR15-204, CZ527-204, AR15-6ARC the 6ARC replaced a 243 for the 400+yd targets. But still comes along when there is a target rich environment! A 800-1000 rd day is unlikely with 1 gun. And less likely to happen with a 22 Creedmoor! The ONLY way I can afford to shoot volume is to reload. 70% of my shooting is with the 204's at about 38-45 cents per round calculated at today's component replacement cost and not calculating brass… A 3-4 hour hunt often can eat up 200 rounds! Usually the limiting factor is barrel temp, if you can't grab the barrel it's time to let it cool! I have a riflekuhl from magneto speed and I bring wet shop rags cut into 12 inch strips that I lay on the barrels to help keep the temps down. On hot sunny days 85+ degrees guns need to rest with the barrel pointed up and in the shade.
Nice sunny days you'll catch a few sun bathers…
lancetkenyon
Well-Known Member
You have to be on HUGE towns to shoot 800-1000 a day. I can't even imagine. That would be incredible.
When we hunt PDs, it is: find a town, shoot 15-20, then drive to another town and repeat.
When we hunt PDs, it is: find a town, shoot 15-20, then drive to another town and repeat.
Interesting,I wish I'd gone looking yesterday it was a super nice day.
Was on my bucket list. Went to SD with a very experienced PD hunter who is on here. Took two 223s set up as PRS trainers. 75ELDMs worked great and handled the wind better than the traditional light varmint projectiles. Learned a lot about wind holds.
You asked, shooting anything larger than a 223 is a waste of money to me. I have never shot more than 200rnds in a day. Not into hucking rounds because hearing the boom is fun. Even way back when powder was $10 a pound. I will use a 223 for 90% of the shots, and shoot a few rounds of 308 based at long ranges and even a hunting rifle just to verify dope and get some long range time.
There's one that is well over 1000+ acres! Unfortunately it became over populated and plagued out..
Dens are still there and rumors are FWP did a transplant?sw282
Well-Known Member
Great aspect of shooting is the memory of those great shots. l don't go for bragging rights. No trophies hung on the wall. Usually by myself. Just to please/satisfy me
Hugnot
Well-Known Member
No safe queens - shoot everything. Don't go for more than 50 rounds per day from any rifle that uses more than $0.50 bullets each and more than 75 grains of powder. I like my cheap to shoot .20 Practical (s) - 100's of shots per day.
