bean-
ok, my philosophy on prairie dogs... they are a reactive target i use to stay sharp for big game seasons. i sit on a hill and don't change positions all day. what this does is forces me to challenge myself w/ range. doesn't take long and all the 150 yards and in dogs won't come up, and the ones out to 400 or so yards don't stay still for very long. so, i am forced to make a relatively fast range and wind call, acquire the target and make a good shot.
while many people have a ball running all over a dog town and blasting away 50 yards and in, that ain't me. i tend to take 1, sometimes as many as 2 rifles at a time. i try to shoot long. i don't want the close shots. i already know that anything 250 yards and in is almost a guaranteed kill. where's the fun in taking sure shots?
so, you'll catch me on a dog town w/ 'deer' calibers. eg, i spend sufficient time w/ the 338 win mag, or 300 win mag, or whatever. this allows me to be proficient w/ the rifle, understand the cartridge's abilities and limitations, and know what things look like thru that scope (all my scopes are leupolds, but some are big, some are little, some are varix-2, vx-2, varix-3, vx-3, and compacts).
1000 yards on a prairie dog is a goal of mine... unfortunately none of my big game rifles have the accuracy for me to make a 1000 yard called shot. so, i have a dedicated long range gun (308). i can punch decent groups all day at 1000 on paper, but so far i haven't scored on a dog. usually it is because the dog will move just before or just after i hit the ignition switch... back to the big game simulation...
anyway, that is what a dog shoot is to me. a tune up for big game - and the closer we get to october (antelope opener) the more dog shoots i make; by august i have decided on the rifle that will be big game hunting that fall, and it is guaranteed to be on every dog shoot.
the 308... hehehe... when there's $20/shot laying on the dirt for shots in excess of 600 yards, you tend to take those shots seriously. my partner and i are about even dollar-wise, though i have the title for the longest kill between the two of us! lol! irritated him enough that he went out and had a gun built for this summer's activities. been carrying on this way for 7 years now. we'll see how it goes!