A few of my family have been discussing the topic of hunting prairie dogs. Has anyone ever done any of this hunting or have any leads on guides? Any information on calibers, guns setup etc would be appreciated also.
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Prairie dog hunting might be one of the most fun hunts you can ever do. If you have a good guide you just ride around from field to field and wait for their little heads to pop up and then POW! I've shot them with anything from a 17hmr to a 22 mag to a 22-250.. The more velocity the better the explosion!!
Blackfoot guide service used to do them west of Lubbock on one the biggest colonies in that area. However after looking at their website I'm not sure if they still do prairie dog hunts or not. If they do you will probably see over 3000 PDogs in those fields. -
The only time I went we used an AR, 22-250, and a 204 Ruger had a blast !Comment
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Absolutely a hoot. Take plenty of ammo and several guns. I can go through 2000 rounds in less than 3 days. The reason for several guns is to give the rifles time to cool off. Calibers from .17, .22 and centerfires from .204 up to 243 or even a 6mm. 22-250 is my favorite. Even with these small calibers a sore shoulder is gonna happen after a couple of days if you are on a big town. April thru May is best time in Texas when the pups are coming up out of the dens.
Multiple kills with one bullet when they are lined up.Comment
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.22lr,.22mag,.17hmr,.17wsm for closer shots. .204,.223,22-250 or .243 for long shots. I like to see the hits so .22-250 is plenty. I've used the .243 and .308 too though. Lighter,faster bullets cause more explosive hits.Comment
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What they said. Oh, and don't forget your bow!
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as others have mentioned, it's very wise to bring lots of ammo and 3-5 rifles
respect your rifle as you can easily ruin/shoot out a barrel in 1 day due to neglectComment
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Probably one of the most fun shoots I've been on. As stated above, plenty of ammo and a few good shooting guns is all you need. Oh, and beer and video camera.Comment
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I brought a 223 22-250 270 12awg and a 40 cal. I shot every round of ammo I had. It is a blastComment
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Thanks for the information. I am going to have to look into this further.Comment
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P dog hunting is a blast. 204, 223, 22-250 are all good to go. Take multiple guns to keep from over heating one and take lots of ammo. Brian with Blackfoot in Lubbock used to do a lot but I know he slowed down some. He doesn't allow AR platforms, or he used to not when we used to hang around with him. The ranch he hunts is full of them. Give him a shout and see if he still does them, he is a great guy, known him for a long time.Comment
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I was thinking about taking my boys on one of these hunts. Can you get close enough for a not so skilled kid to have a chance with a 22lr?
How close can you get?Comment
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It's not really hunting with the high power rifles it's a "shoot". Now with a bow or pistol or kids with a 22 it becomes more of a " hunt ". Any way you do it, it's fun. And yes your kids should be able to get close enough with a 22. They will learn more this way also. We have shot them from 20 feet to 300 + yards. But 20-50 yards should not be a problem. Just have to wait them out a little more.Originally posted by stinkbelly View PostLast edited by critter69; 02-23-2016, 10:10 AM.Comment
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When the pups come out in the spring you can get shots from 15yds or so. It won't take long for the dogs to get smart and the smarter they get the longer the shots. After a day of shooting on a big town the average shot will be out around 200 yds. The kids can have a blast first part of the shoot.Originally posted by stinkbelly View Post
A good scoped 22 will be good for 50+ out to 75yds depending on the shooter.
One thing to remember is the wind is always blowing so that's a big factor at long distances with .22.Comment
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have heard 100000x good things about it. I want to go BAD
.204 is what I heard is the gun of choiceComment
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