georgewxxx
01-24-2007, 01:43 PM
On another thread the subject of what kind of gun do you need for Prairie dogs made me think just what do we need to do in a 2 or 3 pound critter. I don't want to make too much fun of you guys that talk about shooting prairie dogs with little tiny pip squeak j- boolits. It's almost like cheating yourself out of the chance to really learn how to shoot your favorite big game rifle. Most of us start out with a .22. I know I did. A plain unscoped Remington model 12. No peep sights, just plain'ol irons. We shot flicker-tail gophers in SW Minnesota in the pasture at ranges out to 250yds. It took a while, but learning windage and especially elevation was a valuable tool later on when hunting big game.
A couple of years ago in western South Dakota during deer season, we were walking back to the pickup that was about 3/4 mile away. taking a shortcut we walked through the middle of a dog town. I had my Kimber made 308 with a pocket full of cast bullets that I use on deer. At that time, I was using a Ideal 31141 boolit over 45gr of H4831 chugging along at a mild 2337fps. Mild for a 308 anyway. I sat down and and emptied my pocket of 6 rounds plus the 5 that were in the rifle and started with the closer dogs, around 125yds or so. The last rounds were fired around 275yds. Out of the 11 rds I hit 9 dogs squarely. That flat nosed 31141 would turn a dog inside out with a green fizz flying up in the air. Not much was left but a bunch of skin on most of them. I had taken along a Sako 222 with cast just in case we had time for some prairie rat shooting, but gun was 12 miles away at the ranch.
The day before we had just finished make a drive covering several coolies. Out there in the open ranges you need to check all drainage ditches, coolies, anyplace that deer might have cover. There were 9 of us that ended up on a hill trying to decide where we would go next. The subject of how far a knoll was off in the distance, and some of the guys wanted to try poking at a clod of dirt on a bank. All who had extra rounds along shot at the bank to see how much drop their respective ammo would show up to be. Most all hit about dead center or close to it. I was the last to try with my cast 308 load. I fired twice and both hit about a foot below everyone else's. One of the guys had a grange finder along and checked to see what the distance was. 535yds was the answer. After seeing just where my boolit hit made my day. A dose of confidence while hunting, knowing how much drop your rifle has, is a good feeling, believe me.
One other thing about that 308 load. It averages around 3" at 100yds. That boolit and that gun will shoot .75" at 100yds with a sedate 1900fps load from a bench, but I'm not target shooting, I'm hunting. That year I loaded up 100rds for hunting, and between my Son Eric & I, we shot 9 deer. Never lost a one.
So what rifle and what kind of boolit are you going to use hunting next time? Come on you guys get with it, this is a cast boolit forum...Geo
A couple of years ago in western South Dakota during deer season, we were walking back to the pickup that was about 3/4 mile away. taking a shortcut we walked through the middle of a dog town. I had my Kimber made 308 with a pocket full of cast bullets that I use on deer. At that time, I was using a Ideal 31141 boolit over 45gr of H4831 chugging along at a mild 2337fps. Mild for a 308 anyway. I sat down and and emptied my pocket of 6 rounds plus the 5 that were in the rifle and started with the closer dogs, around 125yds or so. The last rounds were fired around 275yds. Out of the 11 rds I hit 9 dogs squarely. That flat nosed 31141 would turn a dog inside out with a green fizz flying up in the air. Not much was left but a bunch of skin on most of them. I had taken along a Sako 222 with cast just in case we had time for some prairie rat shooting, but gun was 12 miles away at the ranch.
The day before we had just finished make a drive covering several coolies. Out there in the open ranges you need to check all drainage ditches, coolies, anyplace that deer might have cover. There were 9 of us that ended up on a hill trying to decide where we would go next. The subject of how far a knoll was off in the distance, and some of the guys wanted to try poking at a clod of dirt on a bank. All who had extra rounds along shot at the bank to see how much drop their respective ammo would show up to be. Most all hit about dead center or close to it. I was the last to try with my cast 308 load. I fired twice and both hit about a foot below everyone else's. One of the guys had a grange finder along and checked to see what the distance was. 535yds was the answer. After seeing just where my boolit hit made my day. A dose of confidence while hunting, knowing how much drop your rifle has, is a good feeling, believe me.
One other thing about that 308 load. It averages around 3" at 100yds. That boolit and that gun will shoot .75" at 100yds with a sedate 1900fps load from a bench, but I'm not target shooting, I'm hunting. That year I loaded up 100rds for hunting, and between my Son Eric & I, we shot 9 deer. Never lost a one.
So what rifle and what kind of boolit are you going to use hunting next time? Come on you guys get with it, this is a cast boolit forum...Geo