Prairie Dogs to Hone Shooting Skills

[FITASC666]

I'd like to get some prairie dog shooting done to hone long range shooting skills. My idea is to get comfortable within 500yds to bring this confidence to the mountains for elk, mule deer and possibly a goat. This will be done this fall with a 300WM Kimber 8400 delivering sub MOA from the bench, and within 3 MOA standing.
I don't want to buy another rifle, and I am seeking your opinion on using my CZ 550 .308 heavy barrel with 155gr or 168gr for prairie dogs. At the range I'm getting 0.4 MOA accuracy at 222yds (200m) with commercial ammo. It's carrying a NightForce 5.5x22x50.
Today I wouldn’t shoot past 250yds standing up for fear of wounding and loosing the quarry, unless on a rest or prone and with a bipod to reach 100yds more. I’d like to extend that range to 400, maybe 450yds.
Is this a worthy exercise?

 

[jbkebert]

There is no question that shooting small targets and long ranges will hone your skills as a rifleman. Often times in shooting pasture poodles you may fire hundreds of rounds in just a few days. While a .308 or a .300 win mag certainly is not a ideal rifle for the task it is fine.

Now here is my problems with your proposal. While I love shooting prarie dogs i do so with a .22-250 or a .223 rem. The most common terrain to find these little buggers is often wide open flat fields. I shoot and recommend Barnes varmit gernades. Not because they make a cool splat. (which they do) I shoot them because how quickly they fragment making ricochet a slim chance. Shooting a 180 bonded bullet at long ranges will result in multiple skips. A .308 win or .300 win goes a long dang ways. I am not aware of any available bullets at anywhere near an affordable price that fragments.

 

[Davek1977]

I've grown up shooting prairie dogs (an advantage of living in rural western SD) and credit afternoons spent with a lowly marlin .22 and 4x scope popping prairie dogs out to 100, even 120 yards for what rifle skills i possess. I used to get home from school, grab the rifle and a couple hundred rounds of ammo, and walk back behind our barn and shoot until dark/they refused to come out of their holes anymore. When shooting priaire dogs...if its a decent town at all....you shoot a LOT! A .308, while not a beast of a round, WILL get tiring doing the amount of shooting you are likely to encounter. I can shoot my .223 all day long without issues in a pdog town, but even moving up to the .243 increases muzzle blast and recoil to the point its just not as fun spending the entire day shooting (and with the amount of ammo a "serious" prairie dog hunter shoots, cost of the .308 is certainly a consideration as well.....How much will you really be saving in the long run shooting priaire dogs with the .308 as opposed to investing a good chunk of that ammo cost into a more suitable rifle of lesser caliber that will also likely increase you long term prairie dog hunting success??