BrainOnSigs
Member
Why? The energy doesn't get dumped into them.....you can't see the hits like I can with .204 Ruger....and I damn sure won't be shooting 100-200 rounds of .30-06 in a sitting either.
First Attempt at Prairie Dogging = Success!
- Thread starter wankerjake
- Start date
- Status
Why? The energy doesn't get dumped into them.....you can't see the hits like I can with .204 Ruger....and I damn sure won't be shooting 100-200 rounds of .30-06 in a sitting either.
788Ham
Member
BrainOnSigs,
Thanks for posting those pics, been awhile since I saw any "flying squirrels" !
Colorado is another state that won't let you shoot from a truck, don't ask me how I know.
My .223 w/52 gr. BTHP's makes 'em jump and fly too. Most I've ever gotten with one round was 3, the 4th got away, dragged himself into the hole.
Wanker, get yourself a Harris Bi-pod, the rocks won't bother you as bad!
Thanks for posting those pics, been awhile since I saw any "flying squirrels" !
Colorado is another state that won't let you shoot from a truck, don't ask me how I know.
My .223 w/52 gr. BTHP's makes 'em jump and fly too. Most I've ever gotten with one round was 3, the 4th got away, dragged himself into the hole.
Wanker, get yourself a Harris Bi-pod, the rocks won't bother you as bad!
OP
OP
wankerjake
Member
Yeah Ham, I have a bipod. It's the 13-27" model. I'll bring it next time. It's too tall to shoot prone but I can bring a little chair and sit I think. Yeah guys I can see how it could get addicting. We went and scouted today. There are more clear cuts but couldn't find dogs in any of them (except the original two). Talked to the rancher and he confirmed that those are the only two places he sees them. We weren't shooting today though, just scouting. Had my girls with me. We glassed from a few different spots on the pasture we shot at and there are still plenty of dogs 
thecarfarmer
Member
Okay guys, bear with me - I was born, raised, and have spent my whole life in cities. So, what may be obvious to you, ain't to me...
My question: why shoot prairie dogs? It doesn't sound like you guys are eating them. I mean, you wouldn't just shoot deers and let 'em lie. Are PDs something that causes some sort of problem?
-Bill
My question: why shoot prairie dogs? It doesn't sound like you guys are eating them. I mean, you wouldn't just shoot deers and let 'em lie. Are PDs something that causes some sort of problem?
-Bill
thecarfarmer
Member
Thanks, 7.62! I suspected that they were a problem of some sort. Just that they aren't something you find around Seattle...
If I ever get out where they are, do you think a 45/70 would work on 'em?
-Bill
If I ever get out where they are, do you think a 45/70 would work on 'em?
-Bill
25cschaefer
Member
A 45/70 might work as long as you use something bigger than 400gr solids loaded for Ruger #1 only.
Mauser lover
Member
Why do I use a .30-06? Because of the extra weight to the slug. And the .30 is more accurate than all of my small bores. Except the 10/22 with target mods. And the 10/22 is only more accurate to about 50 yds. And I consider prairie dogging practice for larger game. Handloading practice if nothing else. I still need to try out a .204 though.
If you have an almond orchard, prairie dogs/ground squirrels eat the nuts, all of them, and they dig under the trees, so that when the next big rain comes, and the wind blows, the trees fall over.
If you have an almond orchard, prairie dogs/ground squirrels eat the nuts, all of them, and they dig under the trees, so that when the next big rain comes, and the wind blows, the trees fall over.
Texan Scott
Member
Wow... I would say 'I'm sorry', but that sounds condescending, doesn't it? (There are actually a few really big cities I really like and wouldn't mind living in... but none of them in this country.) BTW, no matter what your friends who've 'been to the country once' tell you, cows are NOT scary. Maybe they were milking the ones with the big horns?
PDogs carry the plague... reason enough to kill them and let them lie. Also, having to put down livestock because they stepped in a hole and broke a leg BLOWS. Beef is expensive enough.
788Ham
Member
Wanker,
You'll bring a small chair? Whatta you gonna do then, have the kids running to the truck for beer between reloads? Ha Just bustin' your chops, those P'dog shootings can be lots of fun!
You'll bring a small chair? Whatta you gonna do then, have the kids running to the truck for beer between reloads? Ha Just bustin' your chops, those P'dog shootings can be lots of fun!
thecarfarmer
Member
Yeah, I saw some movie where a guy goes out to milk the cows, only to find out that he'd been... uh, never mind.
Funny thing: my very first task of my first day as a USDA inspector was to do the ante mortem inspection of cattle. Keep in mind, the closest I'd ever been to any domestic livestock, let alone a cow, was to see one in a pasture while driving down I-5. The instructions were basically to just look for any that didn't act like the rest.
Did I mention, this was during the height of the BSE (mad cow) scare? I hate to think how lax their standards were prior to that!
Anyway, I got the '411' on prairie dogs now... they're like rats. Except that you're not in a city, where the neighbor will call the cops if you discharge a .22 pistol or something (although there are unsubstantiated rumors of someone firing .45ACP with plastic bullets powered by primer caps in a commercial building in Shoreline - but that's just some internet rumor).
Anyway, I'm gonna' be heading to Bonneville for Speed Week in a few days; if there's anybody needs some prairie dogs shot between Seattle and Wendover, UT, shoot me a PM and I'll throw a 12ga in the trunk of the car.
-Bill
OP
OP
wankerjake
Member
Now that's just ridiculous Ham... I can fit all the beer I need in my day pack. No sense in making the kids run back and forth, when they could be spotting for me!
We went scouting the surrounding area today and was kind of a bust. I talked to the rancher on the way in and he said he's only seen dogs at two places. We confirmed this today. The pasture we shot over last time still had plenty of dogs left in it. I just can't help but chuckle when I see one stand up.
I brought my young girls (mommy is out of town) so I wasn't shooting, just looking. I have a loose appointment with said pasture Friday afternoon though
BrainOnSigs
Member
You will find that varmint hunting...especially small varmints like sod poodles...call for lightweight, fast, frangible bullets...many with polymer tips. They are designed to fragment explosively on impact. Some prefered bullets are Sierra Blitzkings, Hornady V-Max, and Nosler Ballistic tips.
Why shoot p-dogs?
My friend John who had an infestation of them on his cattle ranch said, "You can raise prairie dogs or you can raise cattle, but you can't do both." I hunt in several western Kansas counties and some townships have issued poison orders in an effort to eradicate the critters. The reason being that they can destroy a pasture by eating the grass down to the dirt, leaving nothing for cattle. My other friend lost a herd bull worth about $5,000 because it broke a leg in a dog hole. Also lost a horse the same way; it was a family pet, not worth a lot of money like the bull, but valuable none the less. Ranchers who rent their pastures to other cattlemen cannot find renters if they have no grass. This is why the ranchers like me. I get rid of dogs and send them a Xmas present for the privilege and they don't have to spend lots of money on poison. The reason I shoot them?? It is a hellava lot of fun and I love the wide open spaces and fresh air. And by the way, after shooting a bunch of them, I go back in a day or two and they are all gone. Scavanging critters like them.
My friend John who had an infestation of them on his cattle ranch said, "You can raise prairie dogs or you can raise cattle, but you can't do both." I hunt in several western Kansas counties and some townships have issued poison orders in an effort to eradicate the critters. The reason being that they can destroy a pasture by eating the grass down to the dirt, leaving nothing for cattle. My other friend lost a herd bull worth about $5,000 because it broke a leg in a dog hole. Also lost a horse the same way; it was a family pet, not worth a lot of money like the bull, but valuable none the less. Ranchers who rent their pastures to other cattlemen cannot find renters if they have no grass. This is why the ranchers like me. I get rid of dogs and send them a Xmas present for the privilege and they don't have to spend lots of money on poison. The reason I shoot them?? It is a hellava lot of fun and I love the wide open spaces and fresh air. And by the way, after shooting a bunch of them, I go back in a day or two and they are all gone. Scavanging critters like them.
CountryUgly
Member
I used to like popping them with a Savage in .17hmr but these days I use an AR15 in 5.56/.223 with 75gr Hornady Steel Match. It works well for me. Nice shootin by the way.
BrainOnSigs
Member
Field dressing....
Now...if I could just get that to happen to the pronghorn or deer that I shoot....
Now...if I could just get that to happen to the pronghorn or deer that I shoot....
BrainOnSigs
Member
After they get hit with a chunk of copper/lead at 4100 FPS you never know what you might find....or not find....
My hunting partner and good friend named this "The Mask".....we never found anything else...just it's face. Freaky......
MachIVshooter
Member
On private land and shooting pests you can, unless something has changed very recently.
You cannot, however, shoot from a public road, whether in, on or over the vehicle.
They're not like rats; They ARE rats. Praire rat is the common verbage out here.
As said, they damage crops, make land development difficult (have to dig it up and lay the dirt back down to get rid of the tunnels/dens that would cause structure damage as the earth settles into those voids) and they pose a major hazerd to livestock. Horses stepping in rat holes is mostly a myth, but cows are dumber, clumsier and do not pay attention to where their hooves are going when moving in a herd. By the time the rancher discovers he's short an animal, the critter has usually expired and begun to rot in a field.
I'll try to find the SD card with the video on it, but I hit one in the head at about 40 yards, and the bullet removed it's brain in such a manner that it looked like it had been done surgically. Litte praire rat brain, perfectly in tact, laying about 5 feet from a the dog with the top half of his head gone.
Bush Pilot
Member
- Joined
- Oct 17, 2007
- Messages
- 2,400
We used to PD hunt in Montana on both private land and reservations. I wish I had a dollar for every time a rancher would see us shooting and ask us to come over to his place when we finished. FWIW, probably 95% of our shooting was from our pick-up and we never had an issue. We've even had game wardens stop and ask how we were doing and usually let us know about other spots. The part about the road is interesting, in 20 years we never got hassled about shooting from a road.1. Believe it. Arizona is one such place. Private land, public land, same rules apply. Private land owners do not own or control game animals. Game animals are regulated by Game and Fish; NOT landowners.
2. It is illegal to hunt from a vehicle in Arizona. Since prairie dogs are game animals, it is illegal to shoot them from the truck regardless of whether the land was public or private.
3. It was public land, right next to a dirt road. Ranchers in AZ can lease state land to graze livestock. They don't own the land but are granted permission to use it. This was "his" horse pasture last year, but he's not running animals in there presently. Whether his animals are in it or not, it's public land. I can see how that may be confusing to folks in states where most land is private, and I did not take the time in the original post to clarify the ins and outs of leasing state land.
I didn't write the rules, just try and follow them. Wasn't doing it the hard way because that's the way I like it, I was just working with the situation I had. I don't like getting tickets. It is my opinion that a man ought to be able to shoot prairie dogs from his truck on his own land if he pleases. And I bet it gets done on the big private ranches. And if I was hunting a big private ranch and the landowner recommended I do so... well I'd probably take his advice. Right next to a road is generally neither the time nor the place to start bending the rules, although nobody drove by while we were there.
I've hunted Arizona for over 20 years. I'm pretty familiar with game laws, especially the ones that apply directly to my hunting applications. Odds are that if you have never hunted in the state of Arizona, you can take my word for what is legal and what isn't
Mauser lover
Member
Yes, small, soft targets call for small, soft, and fast bullets. But it doesn't matter if I shoot at it with a .224, because I miss more often, when I can shoot at it with a .30-06 and hit, even if all I do is put a .308 diameter hole in it, it is done.
thecarfarmer
Member
I found a thread on gunloads.com about '500-600 gr. 45-70 Load Data'. Some of these loads should take care of any size animal up through the size of a domestic house cat.
Thanks for the advice, as I'd have probably tried to do something stupid like shoot 'em with my .22!
-Bill
- Status
