Latest Prairie Dog Shoot

[Sniper66]

Just sharing......Went to my favorite spots in NW Kansas to shoot p-dogs. The land owner and friend put me and my buddy up for 2 nights. Nice visit and lots of dogs. We shot Monday pm, Tuesday most of the day and Wednesday am. We shot .223, .204, .22 Hornet, and 17HMR. Hunted 2 different ranches. Ranch #1 we killed 330 dogs and Ranch #2 only killed about 40, even though #2 had 100s of visible dogs. In this same field a few weeks ago I killed 140 dogs on a solo hunt. The problem is rancher's father had allowed some "old friends" to shoot and mostly made the dogs wary. These shooters (we were told) would walk around with AR style rifles and rapid-fire at running prairie dogs. Smart, eh? I doubt they killed any, but they sure made them jumpy.
That's it for prairie doggin' for awhile. Not going to have another chance to shoot until fall. How about you guys out there? Any good summer hunting stories?

 

[SoonerMedic]

Just sharing......Went to my favorite spots in NW Kansas to shoot p-dogs. The land owner and friend put me and my buddy up for 2 nights. Nice visit and lots of dogs. We shot Monday pm, Tuesday most of the day and Wednesday am. We shot .223, .204, .22 Hornet, and 17HMR. Hunted 2 different ranches. Ranch #1 we killed 330 dogs and Ranch #2 only killed about 40, even though #2 had 100s of visible dogs. In this same field a few weeks ago I killed 140 dogs on a solo hunt. The problem is rancher's father had allowed some "old friends" to shoot and mostly made the dogs wary. These shooters (we were told) would walk around with AR style rifles and rapid-fire at running prairie dogs. Smart, eh? I doubt they killed any, but they sure made them jumpy.
That's it for prairie doggin' for awhile. Not going to have another chance to shoot until fall. How about you guys out there? Any good summer hunting stories?

When I had a .17HMR I always wanted to get on a dog town and see how far out I could reach with it. I only know of one area around here (in the Lindsay area of Oklahoma) that has prairie dogs and from my understanding it's in the city limits, so I'm guessing it would be futile to even attempt to seek permission. It sounds like you guys had a blast! I'm definitely jealous.

 

[Geno]

What was the distance of shots on average?

Geno

 

[Sniper66]

The closer shots (25 -125 yds) were taken with the 17 HMR and later with the Hornet when I ran out of 17 HMR ammo. Yes, I actually ran out of HMR ammo. All the other shots were 125-250 yards. Could have winged away at 300+ targets, but that's not my interest. Average shot is hard to say. Our numbers really went up when we ran across an area full of young dogs that had not been disturbed. One evening we killed about 75 in an hour. The HMR really paid for itself at that time. Those shots were really close...most under 75 yards.

 

[Geno]

Sounds like a great experience!

Geno

 

[SoonerMedic]

The closer shots (25 -125 yds) were taken with the 17 HMR and later with the Hornet when I ran out of 17 HMR ammo. Yes, I actually ran out of HMR ammo. All the other shots were 125-250 yards. Could have winged away at 300+ targets, but that's not my interest. Average shot is hard to say. Our numbers really went up when we ran across an area full of young dogs that had not been disturbed. One evening we killed about 75 in an hour. The HMR really paid for itself at that time. Those shots were really close...most under 75 yards.

The .17 is an absolute beast for its size! Nothing like shooting turtles off your pond or squirrels with it!