Prairie Dog shooting South Dakota

[wwillson]

All,

I described in this post that my cousin and I were going to South Dakota over labor day weekend to shoot prairie dogs.

We had intended to shoot on two different farmer's land, but couldn't get in touch with either of them when we got there. That will give you a sick feeling when you've driven 1,000 miles and think you might have done it for nothing. We went to a local business to ask if they knew anyone that would let us shoot PD's. They immediately named at least a half-dozen people that would be glad to have us. We drove to the home of the first person they suggested and asked if we could shoot PD's on their land. The answer was absolutely yes and have a great time! - thank goodness...

We scoped out the land and found that the most of the entire section was covered with PD mounds and PD's. We also quickly learned that the PD's are extremely good at spotting danger. The first place we set up was in a position that the PD's could easily see us and they immediately went into their holes. Then we figured out that we could park along a dry creek-bed so that the PD's couldn't see us as we carried our shooting table, guns, etc. We were in business in a big way. There were so many PD's to shoot at we went through 1,000 rounds each in about 6 hours of shooting! The first hour we had plenty to shoot in the 100-200 yard range and it was a slaughter fest. The muzzle blast and dirt flying does put the closer PD's down, so you end up shooting at longer and longer distances. I'd say most of the shots in the last 5 hours of shooting were between 250-400 yards. There was a pretty strong crosswind, so we would use the reticle to approximate the shot, then adjust fire from there. It was more fun than imaginable and we can't wait to go again.

A few lessons learned as this was our first time PD shooting.

1) Be very careful not to show yourself to the PD's as they spook very easily.

2) You HAVE to shoot from your own bench. We both shot from the same table and it just doesn't work. It gets annoying when you're just about sighted in on a PD and your table mate moves.

3) It's a myth that you can 'crawl' into a good shooting position. The area of South Dakota we were in has small round cacti about the size of golf balls. They nearly cover the ground in some areas and it makes impossible to crawl or shoot from the prone position.

4) A good varmint scope is a must. I used this setup and the Leupold scope was flawless. My cousin used a BSA scope that is meant for closer in work on muzzle-loaders. The Reticle was too large and would cover up the PD's at long distances. He will NOT shoot PD's again without a good varmint scope.

5) The Bushmaster Varminter is a fantastic firearm. I can't say enough good about it's accuracy and reliability.

6) Take LOTS of ammo - you may not use everything you bring, but it's better than running out like we did.

7) Faith, SD is a great place to go to shoot PD's. The owners of the Prairie Vista Inn are great people and love to host PD shooters. They have tons of local PD info and names of ranchers that will let you shoot PD's on their property. The Prairie Vista in is a one-stop shop for PD shooters!

Wayne

[Bill_in_Utah]

Wow!

Looks like a "blast" and ONE THOUSAND rounds in 6 HOURS??

How often did you clean the gun or did you go for all 1000 between cleanings? (I've gone about 500 rounds before cleaning.. Only because I felt guilty not because of operation)

Yeah, Understand the table for each of you (looks like a Lifetime table. Have the same one and a good Utah company!) as once either shoots you loose the sight.

Glad to hear that the trip was a success. Looks like a jacket was needed..

Thanks for the update/post!

Bill

[wwillson]

Bill,

We didn't clean the guns in any way. I did clean mine when I got home and I'll tell you it was dirty! There was absolutely no copper fouling in the barrel so the accuracy didn't suffer. It was 75 and sunny - I just wore the long sleeved shirt and hat to keep the sun off my skin.

Wayne

[hittman]

that is a good looking rifle to your right LOL did it get-er done to?

[wwillson]

The rifle wasn't the problem with the right side of the table....

[xtell]

Sounds like you had a great time! Now it's got me thinking about a trip out west to do some PD shooting myself. What loads were you shooting out of your Bushmaster?

[wwillson]

xtell,

We loaded a 55g soft point "Varmint Nightmare" over 25.5g of IMR 4064. The Bushmasters really shoot this load well and it really seems to burn cleanly. The only reason we are considering a ball powder like H-335 is the long stick 4064 doesn't feed through the case neck very well.

Wayne

[xtell]

wwilson,

I hear you about the stick powder. I used to use a lot of IMR 4895 in my .308 loads and I had powder bridging problems at the case mouth unless I tapped each case as I metered powder. Thus, my switch to Win 748.

[wwillson]

I have enough 4064 for about another 1,200 .223 loads. I'll load these this fall, then on to H-335 from there.

Wayne