Gary T
06-12-2024, 10:39 PM
Every year I go on 2 or 3 prairie dog hunts in OK. A few weeks ago I went on the first pd hunt of this year. I took 3 other guys w/ me to OK. While 2 of the guys have hunted pd’s w/ me before, it was the maiden hunt for one. The 3 guys have been friends since junior high school and went to LSU together. They arrived in OK after shooting hours on Wednesday as they made a “pawn/gun shop tour” of TX and OK, stopping at 11 stores en route. One of them bought primers and one bought a Savage bolt action 17 HMR. I left after work on Wednesday so I arrived really late.
We had really good hunts all three days. The weather was very pleasant. Unlike some of my other hunts in OK, the wind was very manageable. The worst gusts were limited to 20 mph. We usually shoot off rotating shooting tables in the back end of trucks and mounted to a trailer. The guys went a different route and split their time between shooting tables and walking the pastures, shooting rimfires, mostly 17 HMR but also some 22 Mag and 22 LR. They also shot my suppressed 22 LR’s, a Tikka T1x and Savage Mark II. All my shooting was done from a rotating table in the back of my truck w/ long barreled handguns using rifle scopes. From the shooting tables they used 223 Rem, 243 Win, 220 Swift and also borrowed my 221 Fireball and 20 Practical rifles. I started each day w/ a 20 VarTarg I built on a Howa Mini-Action. As the wind picked up, I moved to a Remington XP-100 in 223 Remington Ackley. When the wind stiffened, I turned to a Nosler Custom Handgun in 22 Nosler. All 3 of my handguns have suppressors.
It’s impossible to guess how many shots are made on a pd hunt. I know after 2 days, 2 of the guys had shot over 1000 rounds of rimfire rounds. After twice buying more ammo at the local feed store, the owner gave us all “free caps.” We even made an ammo run to the nearest Walmart 40 miles away. This was one of the best pd hunts I’v been one. Travel was ok, weather was good, roads in the pastures were easily passable, the fellowship was fun and the prairie dogs were plentiful. Since it’s been a dry spring, the grasses weren’t very high. There’d been so much summer rain last year, the shooting was difficult because the grasses were so high. Last fall we also had to deal w/ sunflower plants that were 8-10 feet tall. One old timer last fall said the traditional saying was the winter snow would be as tall as the fall sunflowers. Fortunately, that didn’t happen. Not only was there a lot of shooting on this trip, but there was also some good shooting. One of the guys even hit a prairie dog at a confirmed 505 yards w/ my 221 Fireball. I normally shoot my handguns at a slower pace than someone w/ a rifle. Consequently, 100 rounds/day is a busy day for me. I easily shot more than that each day and set a “personal best” for me on day #2, 230 rounds. I’ve been on hunts where one will throw tens of rounds at a distant pd trying to walk in the shot, but still not hit it. This hunt had a lot of quality shots and not many wasted shots. I was pleased w/ all my equipment. I really like the 20 VarTarg. Although it’s the most susceptible of my guns to the wind., I can spot most of my shots w/ it. The 32 grain Hornady V-Max is surprisingly very destructive, even moreso than 50 and 55 gr non-plastic tipped bullets. All my 223 Remington Ackley Improved rounds were fire forming loads. The 50 gr Speer TNT proved to be more destructive than lead tipped bullets. In the 22 Nosler I shot all 55 gr bullets and liked the Varmageddon plastic tipped and the Speer TNT more than the Hornady SX. I even managed to shoot one VERY unlucky pd at 42 yds w/ a Canik 9mm. While walking out to look at some kills, the unlucky dog popped up and kindly gave me 3 test shots before I hit him. We also tried a new rotating table (mine was made by Birchwood Casey, but I saw YouTube reviews of a Muddy brand table that looks nearly identical) I caught on sale at Midway during the winter. It worked well, but needs some minor adjustments.
I’m hoping to go on hunts in June and September or October if time allows. I’m looking forward to trying some full power loads w/ 50 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip and Hornady V-Max’s in the 223 Ackley Improved. I also want to give the 32 Nosler Ballistic Tip a good try in the 20 VarTarg.
Shooting.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53752061495_328d1737b8_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2pTTnbX)
20 VarTarg w/ a family of dogs shot off the same mound
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53751673876_e2b38d33c1_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2pTRnXS)
223 Rem Ackley Improved
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53751815643_158120a2bd_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2pTS778)
A VERY unlucky pd.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53787990908_57c8e2dfd5.jpg
We had really good hunts all three days. The weather was very pleasant. Unlike some of my other hunts in OK, the wind was very manageable. The worst gusts were limited to 20 mph. We usually shoot off rotating shooting tables in the back end of trucks and mounted to a trailer. The guys went a different route and split their time between shooting tables and walking the pastures, shooting rimfires, mostly 17 HMR but also some 22 Mag and 22 LR. They also shot my suppressed 22 LR’s, a Tikka T1x and Savage Mark II. All my shooting was done from a rotating table in the back of my truck w/ long barreled handguns using rifle scopes. From the shooting tables they used 223 Rem, 243 Win, 220 Swift and also borrowed my 221 Fireball and 20 Practical rifles. I started each day w/ a 20 VarTarg I built on a Howa Mini-Action. As the wind picked up, I moved to a Remington XP-100 in 223 Remington Ackley. When the wind stiffened, I turned to a Nosler Custom Handgun in 22 Nosler. All 3 of my handguns have suppressors.
It’s impossible to guess how many shots are made on a pd hunt. I know after 2 days, 2 of the guys had shot over 1000 rounds of rimfire rounds. After twice buying more ammo at the local feed store, the owner gave us all “free caps.” We even made an ammo run to the nearest Walmart 40 miles away. This was one of the best pd hunts I’v been one. Travel was ok, weather was good, roads in the pastures were easily passable, the fellowship was fun and the prairie dogs were plentiful. Since it’s been a dry spring, the grasses weren’t very high. There’d been so much summer rain last year, the shooting was difficult because the grasses were so high. Last fall we also had to deal w/ sunflower plants that were 8-10 feet tall. One old timer last fall said the traditional saying was the winter snow would be as tall as the fall sunflowers. Fortunately, that didn’t happen. Not only was there a lot of shooting on this trip, but there was also some good shooting. One of the guys even hit a prairie dog at a confirmed 505 yards w/ my 221 Fireball. I normally shoot my handguns at a slower pace than someone w/ a rifle. Consequently, 100 rounds/day is a busy day for me. I easily shot more than that each day and set a “personal best” for me on day #2, 230 rounds. I’ve been on hunts where one will throw tens of rounds at a distant pd trying to walk in the shot, but still not hit it. This hunt had a lot of quality shots and not many wasted shots. I was pleased w/ all my equipment. I really like the 20 VarTarg. Although it’s the most susceptible of my guns to the wind., I can spot most of my shots w/ it. The 32 grain Hornady V-Max is surprisingly very destructive, even moreso than 50 and 55 gr non-plastic tipped bullets. All my 223 Remington Ackley Improved rounds were fire forming loads. The 50 gr Speer TNT proved to be more destructive than lead tipped bullets. In the 22 Nosler I shot all 55 gr bullets and liked the Varmageddon plastic tipped and the Speer TNT more than the Hornady SX. I even managed to shoot one VERY unlucky pd at 42 yds w/ a Canik 9mm. While walking out to look at some kills, the unlucky dog popped up and kindly gave me 3 test shots before I hit him. We also tried a new rotating table (mine was made by Birchwood Casey, but I saw YouTube reviews of a Muddy brand table that looks nearly identical) I caught on sale at Midway during the winter. It worked well, but needs some minor adjustments.
I’m hoping to go on hunts in June and September or October if time allows. I’m looking forward to trying some full power loads w/ 50 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip and Hornady V-Max’s in the 223 Ackley Improved. I also want to give the 32 Nosler Ballistic Tip a good try in the 20 VarTarg.
Shooting.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53752061495_328d1737b8_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2pTTnbX)
20 VarTarg w/ a family of dogs shot off the same mound
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53751673876_e2b38d33c1_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2pTRnXS)
223 Rem Ackley Improved
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53751815643_158120a2bd_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2pTS778)
A VERY unlucky pd.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53787990908_57c8e2dfd5.jpg