About to make my first P-Dog hunt

Of course it's too much gun. But I doubt your going to be eating what you shoot anyway. You can't really use too little gun on a prarie dog / ground squirrel etc unless you want to make long range shots. My choice is always a 22 rifle, way easier on the ears just having light plugs in rather than the better protection required for the centerfires and handguns.

It is a great excuse to buy a fat barreled accurate rifle. Pick one, bed it ,tune it, and take a gang of ammo for it!

It's only too much gun if you can't shoot it. 308, 260, 50 BMG all are great P dog rounds at the proper range lol. Always fun to reach out and touch a few well out of varmint rifle range.

Nature Boy said:

I'm going to be in eastern CO in a couple of weeks and figured why not. It will be 4 of us, me, my buddy and and our 2 boys.

My 11 year old will shoot my AR15. I'm thinking about loading up some 125gn Spear TNTs for my .308 M1A.

For you dog killers out there, is that too much gun or would this be a good excuse to go by a varmint gun?

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Not any such thing as to much gun.
You might want to consider taking along some 22's , you'll get more shooting in. If those prairie rats have been shot at much, the first few rounds from the full sized guns, and they'll go in the holes and won't come back up till things quite down.
I load the Remington bulk 125's in my wifes blr 308 , and she does fairly well on prairie dogs with it. Those bullets will give a bit more reach than a 223 , especially if it's windy.

I've shot prairie dogs with 257Wby,30/06,338,375,and others. The .22 centerfires,especially .223 and 218 Bee work best for me. Lightweight bullets in a 308 will do fine if they will group. You want accuracy,and the ability to put a lot of rounds downrange in a day. Nothing wrong with using what you have,but it seems like the perfect opportunity to pick up a new rifle.

Considering the vo;lume of shooting likley to be done, I'd forgo the .308 for something smaller like a .223 or 22-250. I've hunted dogs my whole life, and have killed them with everything from airguns to .338s. That said, I've killed thousands more with the .22LR than any other round. Just remember, you're its quite possible to shoot hundreds of rounds during a p-dog hunt. Are your shoulder and ears...and your budget....ready to do that with a .308 for hours on end? Besides, you'll likely want far more precision than an M1A is going to offer you. Shots may range from 10 yards to as far as you care to attempt. Fact of the matter is, IMO, the center-fire .22s might as well been purpose built as precision varmint rifles.....realtively quiet, flat shooting, low recoil.....all factors that certainkly play into an afternoon on a dog town.

The 17 hmr is a great pdog caliber until the wind gets up or you get out past 300 or so for the average shooter i see . Last weekend a fella brought a .17 hornet out to shoot my dogs ... I was real impressed with it .

Hey Natureboy....Good luck on the shoot. I just returned from a hunt in NW Kansas where I killed 150 or so dogs with 17HMR, .223, and .204. When I first got into shooting p-dogs about 10 years ago, I bought a Remington 700 VLS .243 and got it to shoot <.5 inch at 100 yards with 58 gr Sierra BKs. It was to be my long range gun. And I did kill several dogs at 300-350+ yards. But along the way I discovered that I like shooting all the other calibers more. I particularly like the 17HMR and bought an Anschutz 1517MPR. It has virtually no recoil and is quiet. On my last hunt there was no wind and I was able to shoot dogs at 150 yards with it. I can watch the whole event without blinking...not so with the .243. Also, I have killed dogs beyond 300 yards with both .223 and .204. You could take a 44 magnum A friend of mine killed a dog at about 5 yards with his 44 mag. At least the he said the pile of goo that was left had been a p-dog. Let us know how it goes. Tom

The 17 hmr is a great pdog caliber until the wind gets up or you get out past 300 or so for the average shooter i see

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I consider myself at least an "average" shooter, but can't recommend the .17hmr as a 300 yard gun. Its great under 150, and you can stretch it out to two with some luck and good shooting, but consistent hits at an actual 300 yards is something I'd put beyond the capabilites of an "average" shooter and would venture many esxpeirenced shooters would have considerable difficulty doing so. Its great at what it does, but in the hands of ,most shooters, its best at 150, or about half the range you suggest

I usually bring at least 3 rifles so I can rotate and keep from overheating any of them. One of those guns is usually the deer rifle I plan on hunting with that year and the load im going to use. Good practice and a good way to see what kind of holdovers your going to need come deer season. Ive shot them with my 8 mag and various 300 mags. Little tough on the shoulder after 30 or so rounds but like was said your not worrying about messing up meat.

Well Dave I guess we have a bit different opinion of what an average shooter is capable of . Its all good . Gentlemen and form users can occasionally disagree on many subjects LOL

Indeed, it is a matter of opinion, but considering the amount of wind drift involved, and the fact the bullet has dropped more than 3 feet at that point, I do think its beyond the capabilites of most shooters to get consistent hits at 300 yards. The people who wrote this article seem to agree with me. http://gundata.org/blog/post/17-hmr-ballistics-chart/

Notice they SPECIFICALLY recommend something else for shooting beyond 250 yards.

The last guys on my place from Missouri did a bit over a thousand rounds each in two days shooting . I don't know where in Eastern Colorado your hunting and the dog population is spotty depending on exact area but thats somewhat a benchmark of whats possible .

Edited to correct to Eastern CO from SE CO where i am ..

Glad it met your expectations .

Except for collateral damage, cost and excessive recoil, there is no such thing as too much gun.

Fantastic scenery, kind of reminds me of a P-dog hunt I went on in Seligman, Az. about 15 years ago. Took a couple of .223's as well as a 22-250, and a .270, we had a ball to say the least, We shot well over 500 rounds in two days, but we only stayed out in the morning cause it got so dang hot. I also shot a few using my .270 Remington BDL getting ready for the upcoming mule deer hunt.