Prairie Doggin' 2012

Good fun. I miss shooting Wyoming prairie dogs and .22 rf for the picket pin cannibals, shoot their kin and they immediately start chowing down on the deceased.

Wyoming Prairie Dogs were how I learned to shoot. The holes are a menace to livestock.

My first kill was with a Beretta 21A Bobcat .22LR at about 20 yards (doubt I could make that shot now, but little kid me had no problem with it). Mostly though it was a pump Remington with a cheap scope.

Good times.

My first shoot this year in NW Kansas, my brother and I killed about 400. Oddly enough, we killed most of them with my Anschutz 1517MPR 17 HMR. We shot a field that had not been shot this year and had a bumper crop of young dumb ones that allowed closer shots, mostly under 100 yds. Been shooting out there for the last 8 years. Going again as soon as I catch a bit cooler day. 100 degerees is too hot for this old dude.

Looks like fun! I've been wanting to take my dad on a dog shoot, I think he would really enjoy it. Seeing as we don't have any out this way it will be a pretty expensive endeavor but I think it will be worth it. I did quite a bit of research on it a while back. I would like to go sometime between November and March of possible as that is when work is slow and it's easy for me to take off. Is it possible to do a good shoot that time of year? Also what state/area would be a good place to go for a first time shoot? Dad's a big shooter but not much of a hunter so I would like to go someplace where the action is fast paced as he will easily get bored if he is just sitting there.

I really miss the old days of dogging in Montana, 2000-3000 rounds in a week was not uncommon. Between over shooting, the plague and Indians putting out poison it isn't fun anymore

hang fire said:

Good fun. I miss shooting Wyoming prairie dogs and .22 rf for the picket pin cannibals, shoot their kin and they immediately start chowing down on the deceased.

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I've heard that before. I'd hate to say how many p-dogs i've shot in the last 10 years but I've never seen one eat another. They must be full of grass!

The plague took out my favorite towns in MT 2 years ago. Rancher, happy. Me not so much. There are a couple of smaller towns developing on the ranch and we can shoot a few but the days of killing a couple hundred are gone for a while.

ole farmerbuck said:

I've heard that before. I'd hate to say how many p-dogs i've shot in the last 10 years but I've never seen one eat another. They must be full of grass!

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I'm with hang fire, I've seen prairie dogs do everything but drag out the BBQ when there's dead dogs on their mound. BTW, I've heard people actually shoot seagulls when they land to munch on dogs, bad people.

Sweet! Great long distance shooting.

Just finish loading 300 rounds of .204 Ruger for my Cooper Montana Varminter and my Cooper Phoenix.

Sod poodles beware.....

Plan on breaking last trip's total.

After 2 days I ran out of ammo

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First time I talked to a guy about PD hunting he said they took 8k rounds for the four shooters. Also took 4-5 rifles for each guy.

We had a combo hunt (pronghorn), so he didn't concentrate on dogs. Still used maybe 300 rounds of .223 and hundreds of rounds each of .17HMR and .22LR

We always shoot some Pdogs on our South Dakota pheasant hunts. A couple years ago we went thru the pan handle of Oklahoma and shot some. The farmers were glad to see us! They did not ask your name but how much ammo do you have? Come over to my place if you can, I live over there .....I need to go back again!

http://www.jamescalhoon.com/

Source for good inexpensive high-performance small bullets.

Ron

Another thought about the "good old days" of p-dog shooting. I was invited to shoot p-dogs on a friend's ranch 8 years ago. Had no idea what I was doing and didn't have much of a rifle, so I bought a Ruger #1 .204 as did my brother. We thought we were having a good day when we killed 80-100 dogs. Since then, we worked at it, practiced at the range and bought more rifles. We learned what time of year to go and how to approach a "town". We have spent a ridiculous amount of time and money (don't tell my wife)and now have about 10 rifles between the 2 of us and our record is approx 1,100 dogs killed on a 4 day shoot. The other thing I have learned is to never stop looking for more places to go because it will be the "good old days" somewhere again. Last time out we killed about 400, mostly with my Anschutz 17HMR. Now brother is looking for an Anschutz. AHHHH!!!...These are the good old days. I can't wait to get out there and create another memory.

Well I will have to get some pictures next time we are out. A buddy and I went out to a new town we recently found as a scouting trip. We took about 50 rounds a piece just in case we happened across the little critters. Well productive it was. 70+ dogs and a 8 yr old prairie rattler. We were out of ammo in less than 2 hours. P-dogs are my current passion. They are just enjoyable to shoot the crap out of and you eliminate a nuisance species. Win-Win.

How did you tell the age of the rattler?

By the number of rattle segments? If so, they gain a segment each time they shed their skin, and they shed more than once, annually. FYI

i've got a custom built 204 ar with a swarovski 4-12 scope on it

it's my go to fun gun

if the wind ain't blowing and i've got a steady rest the rig'll put 3 shots within a dime at 100 yards

johnnyappleseed said:

i've got a custom built 204 ar with a swarovski 4-12 scope on it

it's my go to fun gun

if the wind ain't blowing and i've got a steady rest the rig'll put 3 shots within a dime at 100 yards

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You wont want to use it here in western Ks then! I bought a DPMS .204 upper a few months ago and wouldnt have been able to use it if it would hit anything.