Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Prairie Dog Advice

I am heading to Wy for an antelope hunt in October. Rancher has asked us to spend some time killing dogs on his place. I've never shot them. In order to take out of the most dogs in the shortest amount of time should we take .22 rimfires to keep the noise down so that they will hopefully pop their heads up more or would it simply be best to set up further away and shoot them with .223s? How far away from the colony should we set up for maximum killing.

Thanks,
Dan

Noise won't bother them. Clouds do. Whenever the clouds shade the sun they run back in their holes. Figure on a +100 yard engagement. I'm no dog whacker but I'm sure you can stretch the shots out for a long way. Completely wild are much different than state park populations.

I shoot a lot of dogs, usually 1000+ in a weekend. I use a .223 single shot with a 6-24 scope, but I rarely need the top end magnification. In my experience in MT, the .22 rimfire is too much affected by the ever present wind for consistent kills beyond 100 yards. I do use a .22 handgun for dogs who sneak up on me.

Shot distance depends on terrain and the town. You can make them as long as you like.

Or, I will volunteer to come out to WY and handle the problem!

They are really pretty dumb. Last October we shot / shot at them twice.

Once the guide from the truck with a .22 handgun, 75 yards, two of them just stood there as he emptied the gun.

We pulled up about 100 yards from a town with about 100 of the buggers. I shot 4 times with my .30-06. Started with one at 100 yards, then 150, 200, 250. As they "explode" the others just sort of look around and watch you. They never hid until we started to walk out there.

take the .223, or anything else you have, and anything over 100 or so, and they may hang around. Probably depends how often they are shot at

.223s


lots of ammo...

That's 100% incorrect.

This is good advice.

Figure out how much ammo you think you should bring along, then bring double that amount.

Thanks all that is great advice.

What is the best time to see them, morning or afternoon?

Prairie dogs are not early risers.

As prairie goat noted, noise does indeed bother prairie dogs--especially if they've been shot at before. If you luck (or buy) your way into an unshot town, then they can be very "dumb" and aren't very sensitive to rifle shots. But once that town has been shot at a time or two, then many will scuttle down their holes at the approach of a pickup, and even more will dive down with the first few shots.

I don't use a .22 rimfire much for the first few shots on a town, instead using a .17 HMR, which does not frighten them like a centerfire. Once all the dogs within .17 HMR range are down, then I break out the .223 (or whatever smaller centerfire of choice).

I am just scratching my head trying to figure out how this is General Big Game!

It's not, but I didn't see a varmint forum! If it helps, we will be hunting big game during the same time frame

Cause he said he'd be doing it as a side action on an antelope hunt :-)

There’s a “Predator and Varmint” forum if you scroll down a bit....

Prairie Dogs are definitely sound sensitive... but they’re far more movement sensitive. If you can sneak into a town, and not be spotted... you’ll get in a lot more good shooting before they figure out what’s up.

I’ve never seen cloud cover affect prairie dogs... they seem to be out as long as the sun is fully up. They’re kind of the opposite of big game... that first/last hour of daylight isn’t great.

17 HMR.
Do you have exclusive use of this ranch? If not watch out for other hunters and don't mess up their antelope hunt. Nothing like making a stalk on a good buck and some dog shooters pile out of a truck and start shooting right over the rise.
If you're exclusive take more than one rifle, the barrels will get hot.
I wouldn't handle any of them either, they can carry the plague and it's not uncommon.

Yeah, good point. I always get a kick out of seeing pictures posted on here with guys holding up their trophy p-dogs. Have fun with that bubonic, pneumonic, or septicemic plague.

I was just busting your balls.

Rimfire 17 M2 or HMR over the 22 LR solid bullets any day

The plastic tip V max knocks the snot out of them

223's with the same.....V max or Nosler BTs are very effective

October.....cool nights.......sun will draw them out like a magnet

Cool nights/bright sunshine/higher elevation.....expect mirage to

Glass.......14-16x is all you need......remember the above mirage ^^^

As advised......leave the carcasses on the ground.....birds & yotes will clean 'em up

Watch for Weasels too.....they are ballsay & may crawl up your pant leg... cute too.....

223 and lots of ammo. If your not a hand loader Fiocchi loads the vmax and they are cheap and shoot decent enough IME.
I have had the best luck on cloudless full sun days and right after the sun comes up. This time of day they are clustered up and you can get doubles and triples fairly easily. Although latter in the year they seem to get active latter in the morning.
I have never seen a 22LR work worth a damn on prarie dogs.
As other noted PD's are noise sensitive and also movement sensitive. If they are dumb and havent been shot you can get away driving around the town and mowing them down from the truck. The majority of the time you will do better with a portable bench tucked into cover or at least cover behind you to break up your silhouette.

Leave the .22 rimfire at home. Take the .223, some good ammo and some good binos. Expect to shoot 350 rounds a day if all your doing is shooting dogs on some days. Lastly, a good rangefinder is a must. I like using the rangefinder with a good BDC type reticle.