2010 prarie dog trip

Well, Im sitting here checkin in one last time for the next week and a half. I'm leaving in an hour and headed out to Wyoming to help Hammer try to control the rapidly increasing Prarie Dog population. Hope to kill as many large "bull" dogs as I can.

We have the truck loaded and ready, and there are 4 of us driving out(1750miles one way :o). In all I think there will be 7 or 8 Savages making the trip. Four of which are mine(260, 6br, 22-250, 223), and 3-4 of which are my friend Randy's(site member ranjan1)(243, 22-250, 223, possibly a 17hmr). We will be stopping at a few gunshops and a few Cabelas stores along the way, so it is VERY possible that more than 7-8 Savages will make the trip back home with us ::) :D. I took extra cash just incase, which means the chances just doubled cause I am a weak person ;D.

I will be sure to give a report and post some pics and maybe some videos when I get back. Those who have my cell number(viper9696, thorbird, efbell, pahog, etc), I will have it with me incase you need a live report or just wanna hear one get whacked :D.

Be safe everyone.

Send me a video / picture file or two of the carnage... Have a great time, one of these years I would love to tag along. Will have to convince the wife we are going after mule deer. ;)

Your a fortunate man to be able to make a trip like that. Wishing you a safe and enjoyable trip.

Going out I80 to Wyoming and you do not even honk the horn. :(

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Originally Posted by Bad Water Bill

Going out I80 to Wyoming and you do not even honk the horn. :(

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They will drive within 1/4 mile of my place, bet I dont hear a horn either.... :D

After they get done buying along the way ....... we'll be braced for some more selling and trading!

I can hardly wait!!!


Three 44s

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Originally Posted by Three44s

After they get done buying along the way ....... we'll be braced for some more selling and trading!

I can hardly wait!!!


Three 44s

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LOL!!!!!!! You hit it almost on the nose. We didnt buy any guns along the way, just extra ammo incase we needed it. Still spent $400 at the Mitchell, SD Cabelas though. I will probably be selling a stock, maybe a barrel, and some ammo. A friend may be selling/parting out his 243 also to build one on a target action. Gotta get ready for next year ;D ;)

BWB and 5spd,
Had I known where to blow the horn I sure would have.

We finally got home from our trip late last night. The drive home always stinks. Youre tired from the drive out, and from shooting and sitting in the heat all day for 5 days straight. And knowing the dog shooting is all over for another year just makes the return ride that much longer. I think the total round trip mileage for the trip came in right around 4100 miles(1700 out, 1700 back, 700 there).

We had a great trip. Other than it being 95-110(108 on the prarie the one day) deg each day the weather was great. We did have a couple days with a stiff wind , but no rain to keep us off the prarie so that was the main thing. The high temps made the mirage really bad though, so from about 1p-4p or so it was tuff to shoot anything over a few hundred yards.

I did not get to make a 1000yd kill like I had hoped. The areas we shot and where we set up I couldnt make it out to 1000 except for 1 day, but that day the mirage was so bad my rangefinder wouldnt work past 500 yds. I did shoot MANY dogs in the 500-700 yard range, with my longest shot this year being right around 690.

I have a bunch of pics to load up and will post them later. I also have a couple action shots of "RanJan1" shooting a couple close range(80yds) prarie dogs with his 204 LRPV. I'll try to post everything up this evening.

pdog06 glad your back and had a good trip.

I look forward to pix and details of your shoot. Bill

Sounds like a fun time was had by all and glad you all are home safe and sound

heres some pics from the trip:

a sign on I-90 in SD that I thought was cool
[img width=600 height=450]http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t106/pdog06_photos/wyoming2010/DSC01114.jpg[/img]

the view for most of the trip from chicago to SD...bikes.bikes. more bikes(Sturgis).(The bike on the left was especially nice :o)
[img width=600 height=450]http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t106/pdog06_photos/wyoming2010/DSC01117.jpg[/img]

setup
[img width=600 height=450]http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t106/pdog06_photos/wyoming2010/DSC01151.jpg[/img]
[img width=600 height=450]http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t106/pdog06_photos/wyoming2010/DSC01213.jpg[/img]

my rigs(22-250, 6br, 260)
[img width=600 height=450]http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t106/pdog06_photos/wyoming2010/DSC01205.jpg[/img]
[img width=600 height=450]http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t106/pdog06_photos/wyoming2010/DSC01153.jpg[/img]
[img width=600 height=450]http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t106/pdog06_photos/wyoming2010/DSC01182.jpg[/img]

RanJan1 and some of his Savages(223, 204, 22-250)
[img width=600 height=450]http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t106/pdog06_photos/wyoming2010/DSC01157.jpg[/img]
[img width=600 height=450]http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t106/pdog06_photos/wyoming2010/DSC01206.jpg[/img]
[img width=600 height=450]http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t106/pdog06_photos/wyoming2010/DSC01174.jpg[/img]

My view from the bench(the tanks were 900 yards away/the dogs were from 150-700 yards)
[img width=600 height=450]http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t106/pdog06_photos/wyoming2010/DSC01178.jpg[/img]

more to come.....

more...

the cabin where we stayed
[img width=600 height=450]http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t106/pdog06_photos/wyoming2010/DSC01138.jpg[/img]

another pic of the cabin from about a mile away..the only house in the pic, sitting on 1200 acres ;D)
[img width=600 height=450]http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t106/pdog06_photos/wyoming2010/DSC01233.jpg[/img]

a really nice Antelope we drove up on
[img width=600 height=450]http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t106/pdog06_photos/wyoming2010/DSC01198.jpg[/img]

The Enemy!!!
[img width=600 height=450]http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t106/pdog06_photos/wyoming2010/DSC01148.jpg[/img]
[img width=600 height=450]http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t106/pdog06_photos/wyoming2010/DSC01184.jpg[/img]

I also have a few action shot videos. Just gotta figure out how to load them up to the site.

All of these videos are RanJan1 as the shooter. The guns are all Savages. I only video'd the closer shots cause it was hard to see the detail on the longer ones. Wish I coulda done some longer ones cause we had some fly alot higher than these...LOL

**Sorry in advance for my commentary, and that I sounded like I was having fun watching these blow up.

**Videos show impact/explosion shots, so if you dont like those dont watch it**.


heres one using a 10fp 223. This gun shoots unreal for being bought for $295 at a gunshow.
http://s158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t=MAQ01150.mp4

The rest of these were Randy using his LRPV in 204ruger. This round is awesome as long as the winds are fairly calm.(the first one I had my elbow on the bench trying to steady the camera, and didnt realize that the bench had moved when he shot. You can still see the dog fly in the second shot though.)


http://s158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t=MAQ01228.mp4

http://s158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t=MAQ01207.mp4

http://s158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t=MAQ01229.mp4


enjoy...

Glad you all had a great time doing p-dog control & that the weather was in compliance.

Awesome !!!

Great report.

I caught the OTHER end of the Sturgis reunion. Lots of bikes...but...amazingly, everybody was all bundled up in long sleeves and leather. Must have had too much sun and fun while in Sturgis.

We did attend the "Bag Lady Bash" the one evening.It is held at a place mid way between Newcastle and Deadwood. Lots of drinks, food, live bands, and eye candy!!!!!!!! Some sweet bikes also...Had to leave early before we got into trouble...LOL

Wish I'd known you were gonna be that close. I live in Rapid City. Maybe next time a cup of coffee at Cabela's.

Jamie,
I had forgot about that till on the way out, and I had no internet service to try to reach you. That sucks cause I really wanted to meet up with you like we talked about a while back. Ill be coming back out the same time next year, so we'll have to meet up.

Yeah, I figured if you were posting right before you left then you probably would have access. I might still be in these parts next year. I retire from the millitary next Jul time frame and haven't decided to stay out here or head back east. Either way send me a PM, if I'm not here I know a few good folks that would love to take you shooting.

Thanks alot Jamie, Ill try to remember in time next year. I actually remembered I wanted to contact you once I saw the Rapid City Cabelas.. Too late for this trip, and I just spent $400 at the Mitchell Cabelas so I couldnt afford to go in and look for you...LOL

An early Congrats on the upcoming retirement. And once again Thank You for your service!

Where east would you move back to? Are you friggin crazy!!!!LOL. If you wait till August to move I'll give ya a ride back home...

Sounds like You all had a great time , Glad You had a great trip DD

Looks like another great trip report from WY P-dog fields!!!

Thanks for the pics and video was great.

What kind of camera were you using its looks incredibly clear?

Camera is a Sony HX1 I bought just for the hunting trip..uhhh to go to Disneyworld earlier in the year.. ;).It is an awesome camera with 20x zoom, and a ton of features that I havent figured out yet.

Of course the video woulda been better if I used the bipod, but I shot them freehand at a whim. I was trying to video his shots in between shooting my own guns.

I am planning on taking a trip prairie dogging in May-Jun of next year. Taking an old shooting buddy and we are driving from North Alabama, dont mind the drive, just want some good intel for a spot. We both shoot benchrest and have always wanted to do this trip. Any info would be great thanks.

dave

Do it !!! Just got back from my first PD hunt two weeks ago, it was awesome !!!

Can't wait to go again.

Pdog, that looks like a trip I would like to take. Maybe next year I can go with you guys if ther is room?? Im in NJ..

Pete

Shame you didnt ask before we left. We had 3 guys that couldnt go at the last minute and had room to take some people.

We'll be goin same time next year hopefully.

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Originally Posted by pdog06

Shame you didnt ask before we left. We had 3 guys that couldnt go at the last minute and had room to take some people.

We'll be goin same time next year hopefully.

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Thanks, I was out of work all summer too!!! But have no set up yet for prarie. Just a 12fv in 308. Guess I could just buy a 22-250 barrel...
Pete

Fall p'dog shootin' ain't too bad either. When we go to Montana antelope-huntin' we always take a couple of 22-250s along for the dog shoot on the 2nd or 3rd day there. Got a good place right on the ranch where we stay, makes it nice. One town is over 350 acres of dogs. Lotsa fun,