Calling all prairie doggers!

[Irish80prf]

Alright I'm fixing to go on my first prairie dog hunt in two days and let me just say I'm like a kid waiting for Christmas morning to hurry up and get here. So my question for all of you prairie dog hunters out there, how many shells do you take with you? I know some years and locations you may need a lot more shells then others but in general what do you take? Here is what I have so far and does it sound close to what I will need?

17hmr-250 rds for the close ones
400-factory .223 rounds that shoot pretty good out of my gun.
315-.223 reloads that are dead on with a 60 grain V-max.
150-misc .223 factory loads in case I start to run out of good .223 rounds
250-.243 reloads with a 65 grain V-max that will shoot under 1/2" and 100 yds

total rounds-1365

I have about 150 more bullets and brass I could load up but do you think I would really need anymore rounds then I have?

[10-96]

That's a little more than I haul out- but then I don't know where you're going or how heavy the shooting will be. Have you thought much about the other stuff you'll want to take such as water, chow, bug spray, spotting scope, cleaning kit, small tool kit (suitable to swap a scope in case one gets dinged), lube, camera, gps, first aid kit, rubber gloves, etc?

[FrankenMauser]

That should be plenty of ammo.

Things to remember:
Don't overheat the barrel too badly. (It's easy to get carried away.)
Let the barrel cool.
Don't overheat the barrel.
Let the barrel cool.
Clean the barrel.
Don't overheat the barrel.
Drink some water. It's almost summer.
Don't overheat the barrel.
Clean the barrel.

Other things to remember to take:
Cleaning kit.
Burn ointment (you overheated the barrel, and burned yourself quite nicely...).
Hearing protection.
Rifle rest (whatever you have available - bench, tripod, bipod, bags, etc..).
Sharp knife (prairie dogs are brutal when they charge).
A pistol and ammo (lobbing pistol rounds 400 yards is fun - hitting a prairie dog at 400 yards will make your month).

[Irish80prf]

Thanks guys some great ideas. I've started getting all the other stuff ready to load up Thursday. I think I'll call it good on the ammo and start packing all my other stuff. I never thought about taking a pistol for the fun of it but I'm going to now that sounds like a blast. Ok so I need to be careful not to over heat my barrel.

I would have totally forgot to bring a camera if you didn't say something and probably bug spray too. I don't use it much when I'm out so I would have over looked it. Thanks.

[FrankenMauser]

I never thought about taking a pistol for the fun of it but I'm going to now that sounds like a blast.

It's nice to have while the rifle is cooling.

[Doodlebugger45]

I rarely go prairie dog hunting for its own sake. But if I've been fixing fence or cutting wood and stumble across a prarie dog town, I'll take a few shots for 30 minutes or so. We also have rock chucks here in some places (or marmots if that's what you call them). They tend to be a lot braver than prarie dogs. They will typically just sit there at 100 yards or so. It would be just too easy to splatter one with the 223 or 243. That's when I pull out the 45 Colt with the Cowboy loads. They are only moving at about 800 fps or so. It is loads of fun to lob those big slow bullets at those cute little chucks. The odds of hitting one even at 125 yards is pretty low, but it's funny to watch them dive in the hole when you make the earth explode a couple inches away.

Oh, and by the way, from what I've seen from the "serious" prairie doggers is that if you have 100 rounds per day, you probably have enough ammo. Maybe bring a few more than that just to be safe, but that would be a lot of shooting.

[Nomadicone]

It really depends on how target rich the area is you plan to hunt. Many years ago when I did hunt dogs I would take closer to 4000 rounds and four rifles. Additionally I would take portable loading equipment. I do agree on not over heating the barrels. I would clean every 20 rds and let one barrel soak while heating up another. Cleaning every 20 rds. is likely overkill but I mostly shot Hart barrels. Also don't load too hot as you will be out in the sun where the ammo gets hot. On my first trip I had to put ammo in a cooler to cool down and lower pressure.

[Mobuck]

I haven't had a chance to shoot any P-dogs. Can't shoot them on pulic land for another week. I've been knocking the crap out of the picket pins with my Crossman .177. I've lost count but definitely over 50 just shooting around the fence on the boss' 3 acre horse lot. Little ones are out but they're hard to hit. Think of a field mouse at 20 yards. Had to add a scope which raised my hits up to about 75%. I brought my 17 HMR w/500 rounds and hope to get some use out of it soon. There's 900 acres of state land right behind where my crackerbox is sitting but it's got houses on 3 sides.

[Irish80prf]

I'm getting ready to do the rest of my packing this evening. Any last minute suggestions on things I need to pack up other then what has been listed.

[Colorado Redneck]

Well, I dn't know about you all, but when i go doggin i take 3-400 rounds. A couple of things to consider:

If you shot 1000 rounds in 6 hours, that would be a shot every 30 seconds or so. Now that sounds easy, but if you go dogging where you never have to move, and you can shoot 2 rounds per minute all day, then you are eyeball deep in dogs. I ain't ever seen dogs that plentiful.

Also, I get bored after a couple of hours, so a pee break, a big old drink of water and a snack, and cleaning the barrels of my rifles takes 15 miutes or so. Then if I have to move to get re-set and find some dogs that ain't spooked, that takes a little bit.

Bottom line, I think you are going for overkill if you take 1300 rounds. Unless you are staying for a few days. Then that be a whole different deal!

[jglsprings]

Something to haul all that ammo??



I think you have the ammo covered, but I do understand that if you are making a long drive for an extended hunt you would want to haul all of that along.

I used to do a once a year trip to Montana like that.... It took a full size pick up truck to haul all of the guns and ammo. (two hunters)

[Crankylove]

A pistol and ammo (lobbing pistol rounds 400 yards is fun - hitting a prairie dog at 400 yards will make your month).

It is quite enjoyable, especially when you get to smaller caliber/shorter barrel guns. I just picked up some 20 ga. slugs for our next sod poodle trip in a couple weeks...........5/8 oz HP...........should do ok, if I manage to lob one accurate enough to hit the fuzzy little guys.

There are plenty of items that will ruin your trip if forgotten besides ammo (food, water, bug spray, sunglasses, etc.), but with your ammo listed, I think that would be plenty. I usually take 150-200 rounds for my .22 Hornet, and 60-100 for my .270 Win, and then 3-400 assorted pistol rounds.............and if i run out of that, I start throwing rocks.

[Irish80prf]

Thanks for all of the impute guys. I just got back from my hunt and it was a flop. Traveled 8 hrs stayed for 3 days and shot 150 rounds and half were at targets we set up for long range shooting. The first day the weather was ok but the place we were had been hunted to hard and the dogs wouldn't stay around for more then a couple shots and they were gone. We had to bounce around all day just to shoot enough to make it worth not going back to the cabin. The next day and a half we got rained out and couldn't do any real hunting. Oh well I guess we'll have to find a better spot next year. At least I have enough ammo for coyote hunting this winter and the next ten after that.
Oh and Frank I never had to worry about the barrel getting to hot so that was a plus.

[jglsprings]

Remember, the worst day of hunting is better than any day at work!

[FrankenMauser]

Some days are good days.

Some days are not-as-good days.

It's really hard to have a bad day hunting.

[10-96]

Aw man, I hate to hear your trip was a near bust. But, that's the way it is sometimes I guess. Have you picked up any pointers on what you might do different next time out as far as what to pack and haul out?

[Irish80prf]

You guys are dead on it was still a good time. I had a lot of fun even if the shooting wasn't the greatest. I did pick up some good pointers. After all of the advise from you guys I think I was pretty much set this trip.

[ZAGS1]

New to this forum, former marine sniper 79-86, experienced hunter, looking for some information on a place to go dog hunting in sd in mid july. Prefer unguided. Have heard that buffalo gap grasslands might work well. Any helpful info would be greatly appreciated. Semper fi

[jglsprings]

Maybe where you are located will help.

[ZAGS1]

Coming from iowa, my bad.

[Irish80prf]

This was my first go at it so I can't be much help to you. You wouldn't want to go where we went unless you only have 100 shells to burn then it would be perfect.