P-dogging to date.

[5spd]

Ive run over 2k rounds into the critters since I started in mid December.
A few clips & I hope they came out OK.
Savage .223 FP10, 24" SS 1/9" tw, .223 FV12 24" SS McGowan 1/14" tw are my basic rigs for them, nothing fancy, but get the job done as far as I can see to shoot.
I run a 50g vmax at 3400 fps in front of w748.
I have a few new ranches this year within a 40 min drive of the house for both coyote/p-dogs any time I want.
I probably should get those empties reloaded asap!
Click on the pics to play, except the coyote which I dropped at 165 yards on a full run w/my 6x6.8, 55g NBT at 3400 fps.
He came running into my calling at 11 min, cracked into full afterburner at 80yd when it finally scented me and I just about lost it in my scope, got him in it, led by 2 mil dots and flipped him about 50' from dropping into a safe gully.
http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn400/5spd1/th_FlyingTcoyote011.jpg (http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn400/5spd1/FlyingTcoyote011.mp4)
http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn400/5spd1/th_FlyingTp-dogs030.jpg (http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn400/5spd1/FlyingTp-dogs030.mp4)
http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn400/5spd1/th_FlyingTp-dogs022.jpg (http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn400/5spd1/FlyingTp-dogs022.mp4)
http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn400/5spd1/FlyingTcoyote009.jpg (http://s321.photobucket.com/user/5spd1/media/FlyingTcoyote009.jpg.html)

[gulf60]

thanks for the pics. We are heading from Georgia to WY next week (Medicine Bow). We only get out west once a year but we work on our equipment year round. We'll be shooting at the little dogs with 20 Practical, 223, 243, 260, 204 ruger, 6.5 Grindell, and 22-250. We had shot them the last 3 years in west Kansas/east CO, but the population just wasn't there. There are 3 of us, and we scare a lot of them. Some we hit. Greatest problem has been ranging them. Once the easy shots at 300 are gone, the farther out targets(400/500) are just estimations for bullet drop. Do you think it spooks the things if a guy was to walk out and put up a small flag as a range reference? The hawks in Colorado don't spook them unless they are standing next to the mound. You might guess that we don't have many people here in GA to compare dog shooting notes with.

[shovelheadave]

Awesome ! Knocking em down as always.......well done Jim !!!

We're headed out to WY in 26 days.

Cant wait !!!

[yobuck]

thanks for the pics. We are heading from Georgia to WY next week (Medicine Bow). We only get out west once a year but we work on our equipment year round. We'll be shooting at the little dogs with 20 Practical, 223, 243, 260, 204 ruger, 6.5 Grindell, and 22-250. We had shot them the last 3 years in west Kansas/east CO, but the population just wasn't there. There are 3 of us, and we scare a lot of them. Some we hit. Greatest problem has been ranging them. Once the easy shots at 300 are gone, the farther out targets(400/500) are just estimations for bullet drop. Do you think it spooks the things if a guy was to walk out and put up a small flag as a range reference? The hawks in Colorado don't spook them unless they are standing next to the mound. You might guess that we don't have many people here in GA to compare dog shooting notes with.

It's not how many you kill but the fun you have trying that counts. Close misses can be more entertaining than a kill sometimes.
Flags would be a good idea as they would also show wind conditions. That said i probably wouldnt bother personaly.
Id just zero on a few spots and keep tabs on that. I do have a lazer rangefinder but once im settled into a spot i rarly use it.
I just use the milldots for the most part. From that standpoint i feel it's best to be using fewer guns.

[5spd]

I think wind flags would be wasting time unless you are staying in the same area/spot.
Im used to shooting in wind as that's all it does out here most of the time and in the p-dog towns it can be moving in 5 different directions especially if the towns are in valleys.
I miss my share like most but its also fun when they jump at a miss and stay out looking around, that way I can make a fast adjustment and pop it on the next shot.
The 400-500 yard shots are always a challenge in towns as you can be right on in a shot, then be off on the next when it looks the same distance, and a breeze at 500 yards will be 100% different then a bunch of them getting shot at 300-400 yds.

[gulf60]

I agree it's the fun that counts. I've tried using the mill dots, but would rather click in elevation, just use "Kentucky windage". Maybe this year, I'll learn to utilize the mills better. If we hit each one we shot at, it might be called PD hitting instead of PD hunting/shooting. The property owner in Kansas (where we shot the last few years) said a 25% hit to shot ratio was pretty good. At any rate, we get pretty excited to go, even driving 6 days to do it. I was raised in Florida. As I kid I always wondered why people would drive so far just to see the ocean. We took it for granted. Obviously, traveling from GA to WY to shoot at PD's is the same thing.

[yobuck]

No doubt clicking is always the most accurate way to go. But its also time consuming and often a wasted effort on prairie dogs.
About the time your dialed in and ready the dog ducks back in his hole. So now its back to zero, look for another and start over.
For me its best to zero at 250 or so then just hold over. Watch which dot the bullet strikes then hold that dot on for the next shot.
Try it out before your trip if you can. Even with a 100 yd zero you will become very proficient watching the hit and holding that
spot for the follow up. Realize that dialing is a rather new thing. Its only been about 25 years that other than scopes like unertle
and a few others you couldnt dial scopes. Lots of hunters myself included had custom multible dot reticles installed in scopes like leupold.
It dosent get any quicker than that and milldots can be used the same way. A pc. of tape on your stock with where the dots fall for distance
in that gun and your set.