prairie dogs?

[bigmatt803]

does anyone know of anywhere to do some dog shooting on public land, or have a place to shoot dogs on? i shot prairie dogs a few yrs ago and had a great time just trying to find a place for me and a couple friend to take a little road trip and shoot. thanks

[Greyfox]

There is alot of Tribal land and National Grass Lands in South Dakota. Shot both places and had a good time. So far we have not shot on private ranches off the Resevations.

[bigmatt803]

thanks for the reply sound like fun. on a hunt in south dakota like you are talking about what kind of tags would i need to purchace and does it cost anything to hunt on reservations? regardless how would i go about setting a hunt up on a reservation.

[hm2 clark]

Good questions. I've never done a praire dog hunt, but it has always sounded like fun. If someone could stear us tword a web page where it is all explained it would be apreciated.

[308skinner]

If you hunt The Reservation you need to buy their tag. I'm thinking they are $60 not sure I can't remember. A out of state tag cost $40. That I do know for sure. I've been going for the past 5 years.

[Greyfox]

http://sdtribalrelations.com/tribaltourism.aspx

You can find information on the Tribes here.

We hunt on the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe. License cost is $90.00. Each tribe has different cost and rules.

[texasgrunt]

PICTURES OF INFIDEL PRAIRE DOGS REQUIRED!

I need to see some proof of successful PD KIA's, please! Trophy caliber specimines only.

22-250 works 'em over pretty well.

Grunt

[Texas Sheepdawg]

Pictures are just okay. I prefer HD 3D VIDEO!!! It's a scream to watch prairie dogs get beamed up!
Energize, Scottie!!!

[hm2 clark]

So... If a guy was to plan a PD hunt using a Grendel upper, what length barrel and what weight bullet would you recomend? Which opticts? How many rounds to bring? How heigh a bipod?

[texasgrunt]

In my opinion (limited experience with PD hunting and none with a Grendel) as long as you have a rifle that you get sub MOA out of and a scope you can see about a 3"Wx8"T clearly at 200-300 yds you should be good. Of course it would depend on your hunting area. I've only ever hunted them with a bolt action 22-250 with a 12x nikon monarch and it was sufficient out to about 350 yds. Hopefully you will get a response from a seasoned veteran.

Grunt

[308skinner]

Where i hunt at we can get out to 1300yards. I us a 3-15 power scope. I mainly use 223AI. This year i took my AI and my 308. Let me tell you when you hit an adult bout 200 yards with a 110AMAX @ 3100FPS. The dog is pretty much gone. So any cal and bullet weight will work. Just make sure you have your dope right. Then all is good. The longest one i shot this year was with my 308. It was an adult a 815 yards. A buddy of mine got one at 1097 with his 7-08. As you can tell we shoot for long range. Anything within 600yds will be for the 223AIs.

[Hafast]

I do prairie dog shooting in west Texas. I take a minimum of 600 rounds per day I plan on shooting. The first time I went I way underestimated the shooting opportunities and wound up spending more time hunting ammo than hunting prairie dogs.
Beware! Shooting these little critters is the most addictive thing I've encountered in 50 years of participating in shooting sports.

[mlmiller1]

So the reservation charges you to hunt prairie dogs? & somebody said something about an out of state tag as well? To hunt P dogs? That is interesting.

No license or tags required in Texas but you will need landowner's permission. Most landowners are happy to have someone helping rid them of the little pests. Cute as they are, they are still pests.

[hm2 clark]

So, 600 round a day, 12-15x scope, accurate rifle any caliber and maybe look to hunt on a reservation. What else ?spotting scope, ?rangefinder? I'm asking because my house gets paid off in February and therafter a range of hunting opertunities open up.

[Greyfox]

A good shooting bench and chair/stool, range finder, 8x min-10x best binoculars, Harris BR notched swivel bipod with accu shot for stock, or a Sinclair benchrest rest and sandbags in the rear. Snake chaps if you think you need them.

I usually shoot around 300 rounds per day alternating between two rifles. Both rifles are 204 Ruger caliber. Most shooting is between 150 to 325 yards. I have shot them out to 475 yards. When you try shooting past 325 yards the wind and elevation are alot harder to judge. You will shoot alot of rounds to get one hit on a PD. What I do is move my bench closer to the PD's to get back to 150 to 325 yards wher my kill ratio is highest.

Ammo is the biggest cost to shooting PD's. Reloading 600 rounds of Grendel ammo cost twice what 204 Ruger ammo cost. Thats why I leave my Grendel at home. A Grendel with varmint bullets would make a good second rifle to shoot while your main rifle cools down. An AR15 24 inch barreled upper in 204 Ruger or 223 Remington should be your main rifle setup.

Spoting scopes are best left at home unless you want to check out big game.

Greyfox