Hunting Prairie Dogs in Stormy Weather

[Sniper66]

Thought I would share the results of my weekend p-dog shoot. It was indeed eventful. Drove to NW Kansas Friday and tried to shoot some. I learned that humans and p-dogs go underground during stormy weather; at least the smart ones do. Not being particularly frightened of storms and fascinated by them, I stayed out just to watch. The result was I got to watch an intense prairie storm up close, but now I have hail damage on my Subaru...oops! Oh well....the next day was better, but had to endure a couple more cloud bursts that were less intense, but the dogs still stayed down. By afternoon on Saturday, in between storms, I managed to whack 60 or so. On Sunday, the sun came out and so did the dogs. I killed around 125 with a combination of 17 HMR, 22 Hornet, and .223. This was the first real test of my Savage Model 25 Hornet. I had worked up a good load and am shooting .5" groups at 100 yards. I shot a box of 50 and when I did miss, I blamed the trigger. The Savage Accutrigger was adjusted as light as it will go, but it is still not nearly as good as the triggers in the other rifles. I always come back with great memories and plans to make it better. In this case, a new trigger for the .22 Hornet will be on order.. But, WOW, that weather and those vast open skies that are part blue sky and part dark storm are a sight to behold. I never get enough of it.

 

[Davek1977]

Yup, as a SD native, and lifelong prairie dog hunter, many things you mentioned ring true...prairie dogs preferring bright, sunny days, the power of a prairie storm, etc. I was always told that the reason prairie dogs like sunny days is that they are better able to see the shadows of the hawks, eagles, and other birds that often make snacks of them. Seems to be true, because even in December and January, I've shot prairie dogs with snow on the ground on sunny days (lmao.....I've been told shooting them before memorial day was "inhumane" and doesn't allow them time to reproduce....I'm sorry, but these dogs are on our land, and thats the GOAL...conservation and maintaining the population is the opposite of what we are trying to achieve, so I shoot every prairie dog I have an opportunity to, be it July or January, or any other time of year....)