Prairie Doggin'?

[petroid]

I hunted the Miles City area of MT and around Sheridan WY every year for the best part of 10 years.

That's a pretty fair piece of driving from where I am. Know anything about Eastern WY? I'm thinking Casper would be the farthest west I would like to drive.

[petroid]

I haven't hunted PDs in Wyoming since 2003, but my boys and I had pretty steady shooting in the Kemmerer area..

East Wy would likely be my limit on travel. I do like the fact that no license is required. Thunder Basin looks to have a lot of places to go. Know anything about that area?

[Sigmanz]

There is lots of private land in Kansas enrolled in the WIHA ( Walk in Hunter Access) the Kansas Division of Wildlife and Parks prints an atlas every year of enrolled lands. Thousands of acres. Information and the atlas is avaliable on their website. A good portion of Western Kansas has large populations of prairie dogs.

[Wolfer]

In the past I've done quite a bit of pasture poodle shooting in Kansas. Most of it on Treg Hatchers place near Syrucruse. (Hatcher Cattle ) It was free when I hunted there but I hear he's charging now. Him and his wife were very pleasant people to deal with.

Kansas requires a license that you have to buy the whole year whereas Colorado will sell you a day license much cheaper. Most Kansas dog towns are near the line. Not much farther to drive.

The towns I've shot in near Springfield Co. are not as big as some in Ks. But there's still a lot of dogs and the people are very friendly.

[country gent]

Take several rifles for each shooter to allow for barrels to cool and cleaning. Saves barrel life. A couple good days gunning on a prarrie dog town with just a 22-250 or swift will smoke the barrel. A 22 rimfire is a lot of fun on them along with a hornet, 222 or 223 maybe a 6mm of some sort and a 22-250 or 220 swift. STart out with the close ones with the rimfires and increase guns as the range increases.

[Plate plinker]

Thank you all for the advice. I will check out KS and SE CO. I don't really relish the idea of driving to Wyoming but it is doable. I think MT might be too much.

Both MT and WY is a heck of a drive. SO DAK has plenty of prairie rats. As stated Kansas does too. Tires and lots of water are good advice lots of water and shade umbrella mounted firmly if possible.

[Plate plinker]

Oh yeah, shoot as many cottontails as you can, watch out for rattlers, and dont sit on any cactus.

Yes forgot the cactus! Some are as small as your thumb nail but still irritating as HECK.

[M-Tecs]

Most prairie dog towns have cattle in or around them. Bullet selection is an issue to most land owners. Nothing wears out a welcome faster than the land owner hearing bullet ricochets. The more explosive bullet you select the better. The 17 Cal. rimfires with the 17 grain ballistic tips are almost impossible to get to ricochet. The 40 grain to 55 grain 22 Cal. V-Max or Ballistic Tips are very explosive also.

[popper]

Hutchinson has a town 'in-town' next to the WM.

[runfiverun]

Casper has a ton of private land around it.
make sure you have a map of what is what.

[petroid]

Thanks again for the info and advice. I know WY is father than Kansas but I'm hearing good things about the dog towns there. It's going to be a long drive no matter what. A few more hours won't be a big deal and ice been to Wyoming before. It's very pretty

[LeadPoisonTX]

Petroid, you got me curious and interested on this type of "new" adventure, so watching closely. What do you intend to shoot, cartridge and ammunition? Will you be casting for this trip, if so which projectile? Good luck, sounds like a lot of fun.

[petroid]

Petroid, you got me curious and interested on this type of "new" adventure, so watching closely. What do you intend to shoot, cartridge and ammunition? Will you be casting for this trip, if so which projectile? Good luck, sounds like a lot of fun.

Well, the only cast boolits we would probably shoot would be plinking with pistols or the 300blk or 308. The 30 cals may be overkill on pdogs and would only be for closer ranges unless we were feeling froggy as the velocities of my loads are under 2k. Most likely just 223 either AR or bolt gun and some 17 HMR and 22 if they are close.

[M-Tecs]

17 HMR and 22 if they are close.

After you use both the 22 will stay home. It sounds like this is your first time so you will want to take both so you can compare. I would enjoy hearing your thoughts on them when your return.

Fist timers tend to shot way too far. Pick a % of kills you want to make and when your are dropping below that % figure out how to improve it or stop shooting at the distance.

Normally it will be "breezy" so the HMR will max out at about 100 to 125 yards. On quiet days you can stretch that a far amount.

For the 223 on prairie dogs % tend to go down fast much beyond 300 yards.

[petroid]

After you use both the 22 will stay home. It sounds like this is your first time so you will want to take both so you can compare. I would enjoy hearing your thoughts on them when your return.

Fist timers tend to shot way too far. Pick a % of kills you want to make and when your are dropping below that % figure out how to improve it or stop shooting at the distance.

Normally it will be "breezy" so the HMR will max out at about 100 to 125 yards. On quiet days you can stretch that a far amount.

For the 223 on prairie dogs % tend to go down fast much beyond 300 yards.

Yes I'm sure the 22s won't be much use but there is only one 17 between us. We will likely keep our 223 shots inside of 300.

I called a couple places in Kansas and after talking to several people finally got a rancher. He said the only dogs left in Kansas are either not huntable or leased. Still checking on other places

[Ateam]

I shot 223 almost exclusively on all my trips. When you are shooting 1-2k handloads per trip, cost and availability of components becomes a serious factor. I usually shot a bolt gun (cz527) but brought a heavy barreled ar for a backup. I like the boltgun much better on all accounts as the only benefit to a semi is rate of fire, and I already found it difficult to keep the barrel cool on the bolt gun. I did smoke a barrel once in Sheridan WY, I got into a draw where all the shots were inside 100, and they were very tame and plentiful, and well it was a sort of fox in the hen house scenario.

Which brings me to another thought, bring a good copper solvent. I always used Sweets, but whatever works for you. At the end of the day (usually 1-200 rounds) you will need to give the bore a good stripping. Just my .02, ymmv.

[ole 5 hole group]

Everything depends upon the dog town and how hard they have been shot at. There will always be wind and in some terrain the wind will be blowing in 3 different directions in different locations between you and your prairie dog.

300 yard shots with a 223 are not easy - you'll need good glass and probably a couple "sighters" to connect. In my limited experience 223 with 52 to 55 grain bullets are best within 150 yards. We use "wildcat" 22 centerfire and a 22 BRL with 53 grain burgers are very consistent out to 350 yards and with a sighter or two dogs are in peril out to 450/550 yards but most of them don't seem too concerned about it. You'll need elevation in order to see and shoot at dogs much past 250 yards. Walking around the dog town with a 22lr is good exercise but not much shooting unless the town has a few pups.

1st time out, I'd recommend bringing along a 243, as most towns today don't give many 50 to 125 yard shooting, so unless you want to just sit on them and get a shot every 20 to 30 minutes I'd bring what can reach out to 250 to 400 yards - at least you'll get shooting, maybe not many hits but shooting instead of glassing is the fun part.

I haven't been out the past 2 years to my ole reliable locations in SW North Dakota, as some type of disease knocked hell out of every town - I heard prairie dog populations went way down in surrounding States as well, so maybe check with the local Game Wardens in the areas you intend to shoot.

As for glass, 36X is usually to much as mirage will get ya - I use a "custom" 18X40X40 viable with benchrest crosshairs, others in our party use Leupold 24X boosted to 30 or 32 power with benchrest crosshairs. One uses the straight 24X but to me, it's on the "weak" side. A good table rest with bags are nice and binoculars or a small spotting scope.

Here's our set up, as we reload on site as it can be 75*F in the morning and 98*+F in the afternoon.


Attachment 190805Attachment 190806

[petroid]

That looks like a well practiced setup there ol 5 hole. I know our equipment isn't up to serious varminter standards, but I don't think the kids will mind, me included. I fully predict there will be a lot more shooting than killing. If they stay still long enough for us to walk the shots in, we might have a chance.

[JMax]

Grasslands outside of Casper WY was always good for days of shooting

[Plate plinker]

Your going is an excuse to get a 204 Ruger. Thats my favorite now and I have a friend out in SD that has a PD town on the ranch, well he has a SAKO in 204 now too. He was impressed the way it shot flat and rips into them.

Ole 5 Hole Group
Nice mud flaps. Look like snowmobile track?