First Time Prairie Dog Hunt - Won't be the last

[Silvercrow1]

IScraig- wow, that sounds awesome! I live in Pa. but have been thiking hard about a hunt maybe next year. I have been watching MrChuckhunter on YouTube and he primarily hunts rock chucks in Idaho and surrounding states. It looks like such a blast! I may be weird (may?) but I'd rather hunt varmints and predators than any big game I can think of. Why I love dove hunting- challenging and lots of action. If you have time- a question or two-

Are the majority of your PD shots in the 300-500 yard distance? Want to know so I know how to practice. Honestly, the furthest I've ever shot was in the Army, M-16 qual. 300 yard full size man silhouette. Not exactly precision shooting but I got "expert" anyway.

Love your gun man! Can you tell me/us about the scope? Would a 4-12x40 Nikon BDC be ok for this type shooting?

My gun is a 110 LA .223 (early 90s vintage?). I've got a good 13"-25" Harris Bipod, cheek riser etc. What else would I need (besides lots of practice)?

I do not reload but hope to start soon. Seems like most folks with Savage .223s favor the heavier bullets 60+ gr. Any suggestions for that style shooting factory loads?

Did you shoot off a portable bench, prone, seated...?

Thanks for any info.

Brian

[lscraig1968]

Silvercrow1:

You are correct. Most of the PD shots were between 300-500 yards. The longest shot I made was 505 yards confirmed by the guide and the longest shot for any of us was 621 yards. I saw my buddy bust one at ~700 yards but we didn't have a range finder that would read that far due to the extreme heat mirage that particular day.

The guns I took were a combo of old and new.

1. Old Gun Custom built by my dad in the 60-70's

- Mauser 98 action chambered in .22-250
- Barrel and action are glass bedded old school style all the way from the tang to the edge of the fore end.
- Ported bull barrel with 1:12 twist.
- Double Set target triggers.
- Custom carved HEAVY walnut thumbhole stock.
- Scope: 90's era Tasco Custom shop 8x40x56. Great glass out to about 600 yards. After that it is kind of guess work. Best magnification is around 20 - 24x
- Bullets: 55g soft points group at 0.5" at 200 yard. Rifle was point of aim at 350 yards for elevation with compensating windage.

2. New gun customized by me last winter:

- Savage model 12FV with adjustable accuTrigger chambered in .223 Rem
- Factory bull barrel with 1:9 twist.
- Action is glass bedded with barrel free floating in the aftermarket stock.
- Boyds Gunstocks Forest Camo standard thumbhole stock.
- Scope: 90's era Tasco Custom shop 8x40x56. Great glass out to about 600 yards. After that it is kind of guess work. Best magnification is around 20 - 24x
- Bullets: 55g soft points group at 1.0" at 200 yard. 60g sierra hp custom loads grouped better at 0.5" at 200yards.

We shot PD's in two styles. Truck shooting with a window rest and on tables with sand bags.

Since the Mauser barrel was ported I shot that one off the tables and sand bags where the average shots were longer out to 500 yards. Best shooting gun I have ever had the pleasure of shooting.

The savage I used out of the truck and shot off of window rests. The longest shot I made with the save was out to 300 yards off a window rest. The only complaint I had about the savage is that stupid AccuTrigger safety. GREAT adjustable trigger - BAD application for a guy with small hands like me. I will be changing the trigger out with a suitable replacement this year before we go out again.

The other guys in my group were using Pentax scopes. The scope needs to have parallax adjustment. Magnification needs to be out there around 24x. You will want to take a good set of binoculars and a range finder. My binocs are 10x and worked great for spotting. for shooting off tables get one of the long sand bags. The two piece set-ups are good but it was more imortant to have the fore end immobile than the butt of the stock.

Between the two guns I think I shot 400 rounds over 3 days of shooting.

HTH,

Shawn