-
- Species
- Whitetails
- Rut Reporters
- Deer Camp
- Big Game
- Small Game
- Birds
- Special Methods
- Bow Hunting
- Conservation
- Heroes of Conservation
- Hero for a Day
- Outdoor Skills
- Total Outdoorsman Challenge
- Land for Sale
-
- Species
- Bass
- Trout
- More Freshwater
- Saltwater
- Special Methods
- Fly Fishing
- Hook Shots
Presented by
- Conservation
- Heroes of Conservation
- Hero for a Day
- Outdoor Skills
- Total Outdoorsman Challenge
- Land for Sale
-
- Health & Fitness
- F&S Adventurer
- Outdoor Skills
- Total Outdoorsman Challenge
-
- Rifles
- Shotguns
- 2nd Amendment
- SHOT Show
- Outdoor Skills
- Total Outdoorsman Challenge
AnswersASK YOUR QUESTION
Print
Email
Share
Answers
Browse By
Top Users
Q:
A friend and I want to go hunting for Prairie Dogs in South Dakota, I had heard that you need two rifles, one for long range and one for short range. What do you suggest on caliber, bullet weight, etc.? Where is a good place to go?
Question by Treestand. Uploaded on March 02, 2010
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Today on Field & Stream
Loading...
Visit Our Sister Sites at Bonnier Corporation
| Enthusiast | Kiteboarding | QUAD | SKI | Skiing | Scuba Diving | Sport Diver | TransWorld Ride BMX | TransWorld Business | TransWorld Motocross | TransWorld SKATEboarding, | TransWorld SNOWboarding | TransWorld SURF | WakeBoarding | WaterSki | Warren Miller Entertainment | WindSurfing |
|---|---|
| Travel | Caribbean Travel & Life | Destination Weddings & Honeymoon | Islands | Meeting Traveler | Resorts & Great Hotels |
| Lifestyle & Shelter | Florida Travel & Life | Garden Design | Home Ft. Lauderdale | Home Miami |
| Luxury | SNOW | Spa |
| Marine | Boating Life | Cruising World | Fly Fishing in Salt Waters | Power Cruising | Marlin | Motor Boating | Sailing World | Salt Water Sportsman | Sport Fishing | Yachting | NewBoats.com | UsedBoats.com | YachtBroker.com |
| Outdoor | Field & Stream | Outdoor Life | SHOT Business |
| Parenting | Babytalk | Parenting |
| Science | Popular Science | Science Illustrated |
| Saveur | Saveur |
| Working Mother Media | Working Mother |
| Entertainment / Events | World Entertainment Services | World Sports & Marketing |
Fieldandstream.com is part of the Field & Stream Network, a division of Bonnier Corporation.
Copyright © 2012 Bonnier Corp. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
Answers (12)
just about anything from .17 -25-06 that shoots flat or as big as you wish they all work with a good scope & steady hand. Most people like .223.
Tell him to get a 22-250. It is all he'll need.
I agree, they work very well.
22-250 and if the wind kicks up, 25-06. If you feel sadistic, a 338 Win Mag!
http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/prairie-dog-shooting-off-a-doa-ta...
.223 and what ever bullet it shoots well. Dogs are not hard to kill, just hard to hit.
If I were to guess, I would say the only reason he said two guns, is suggesting to have a .22LR for shooting the ones inside 50 yards. There's some places just west of the missouri river here in SD that have ridiculous numbers of dogs.. and some friends I know who have gone after them took a .22 to let their barrels cool and go after some of the short rangers. He shoots a .220 Swift and is scary deadly with it.
I think the old .22 Hornet would be ideal for the close shots, up to 150 yards or so.
A .260 Remington would do pretty well at all ranges, but any varmint caliber will do well out to 500-600 yards i.e. .223 or .22-250(I don't know what yardage you mean when you say "long rage"). I have a couple buddies that are really into LONG range dog hunting, and they both use a 6mm Dasher (a 6mm BR with a 40 degree shoulder) on dogs out to 1000 yards and use large magnums such as .300 weatherby's and 7mm Mags for shots past that. One of them got into the 1500 yard club last year with his 1000 yard BR rifle; it's a .300 Weatherby and man does it shoot! Personally I don't care for weatherby cartridges just because they are so expensive but they do perform well. Best of luck to you.
we go dog hunting every year and we take .223 and a 17 hmr and shoot the heck out of them and every once in a while a 22-250 if it needs to be shot but we prefer the .223 and the 17
I like to have to guns one for long range and one for close up. Also when the barrel gets to hot I like one that i can still be shooting while the other one is cooling. I don't want to burn the barrel out of my gun in one hunt.
I have shot around 30,000 rounds of 25-06 at p-dogs. That rifle has made my .220 Swift and 22-250 look silly when the wind is blowing and the range exceeds 300 yards. However, those two are fine rifles none the less. I also use a .223 Bushmaster Varminter for less expensive shooting out to about 300 yards or more as long as the wind isn't blowng too bad. The 6mm PPC and Dasher are great long range killers but they are rough on barrels and pretty expensive to shoot. I got over 10,000 rounds per barrel on my 25-06 using 75g hollow point tack drivers at 3750 fps. I'm still on my fourth barrel and still shooting strong with another 10,000 shots at everything else. If you are looking for p-dogs, check out the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands for good public hunting in the south western part of the state. Anywhere between there and Pierre is loaded with them. They were hit pretty severely by disease two years ago and are on the rebound so you might not see square miles of them yet this year but you should be able to get a thousand shots a day or so. Plan on most shots being over 100 yards. They will be closer when you start shooting but will keep their heads down after a few shots. I have never worried about my barrel heating up as long as the heat waves didn't mess up my aim. I never had the barrel get red but I sure wouldn't want to touch it. Bring a venetial blind blade to put over your barrel to fix this issue. Watch out for prairie rattlers, my brother got bit twice in one morning there last year sneaking up on antelope. Have fun... its a blast.
I'm going to Montana and Wyoming this year with a friend of mine who goes dog hunting every year and the advice he gave me was: A 17HMR for dogs out to 150 if the wind is not blowing very hard. A 223 as the main rifle- I have 3000 rounds loaded for it. A 22-250 for the shots that you just want to try to make at unbelieable distances. He said I will need the 17 HMR and the 22-250 to let the 223 cool off.
Post an Answer
.223 and what ever bullet it shoots well. Dogs are not hard to kill, just hard to hit.
just about anything from .17 -25-06 that shoots flat or as big as you wish they all work with a good scope & steady hand. Most people like .223.
If I were to guess, I would say the only reason he said two guns, is suggesting to have a .22LR for shooting the ones inside 50 yards. There's some places just west of the missouri river here in SD that have ridiculous numbers of dogs.. and some friends I know who have gone after them took a .22 to let their barrels cool and go after some of the short rangers. He shoots a .220 Swift and is scary deadly with it.
Tell him to get a 22-250. It is all he'll need.
22-250 and if the wind kicks up, 25-06. If you feel sadistic, a 338 Win Mag!
http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/prairie-dog-shooting-off-a-doa-ta...
I think the old .22 Hornet would be ideal for the close shots, up to 150 yards or so.
I agree, they work very well.
I'm going to Montana and Wyoming this year with a friend of mine who goes dog hunting every year and the advice he gave me was: A 17HMR for dogs out to 150 if the wind is not blowing very hard. A 223 as the main rifle- I have 3000 rounds loaded for it. A 22-250 for the shots that you just want to try to make at unbelieable distances. He said I will need the 17 HMR and the 22-250 to let the 223 cool off.
A .260 Remington would do pretty well at all ranges, but any varmint caliber will do well out to 500-600 yards i.e. .223 or .22-250(I don't know what yardage you mean when you say "long rage"). I have a couple buddies that are really into LONG range dog hunting, and they both use a 6mm Dasher (a 6mm BR with a 40 degree shoulder) on dogs out to 1000 yards and use large magnums such as .300 weatherby's and 7mm Mags for shots past that. One of them got into the 1500 yard club last year with his 1000 yard BR rifle; it's a .300 Weatherby and man does it shoot! Personally I don't care for weatherby cartridges just because they are so expensive but they do perform well. Best of luck to you.
we go dog hunting every year and we take .223 and a 17 hmr and shoot the heck out of them and every once in a while a 22-250 if it needs to be shot but we prefer the .223 and the 17
I like to have to guns one for long range and one for close up. Also when the barrel gets to hot I like one that i can still be shooting while the other one is cooling. I don't want to burn the barrel out of my gun in one hunt.
I have shot around 30,000 rounds of 25-06 at p-dogs. That rifle has made my .220 Swift and 22-250 look silly when the wind is blowing and the range exceeds 300 yards. However, those two are fine rifles none the less. I also use a .223 Bushmaster Varminter for less expensive shooting out to about 300 yards or more as long as the wind isn't blowng too bad. The 6mm PPC and Dasher are great long range killers but they are rough on barrels and pretty expensive to shoot. I got over 10,000 rounds per barrel on my 25-06 using 75g hollow point tack drivers at 3750 fps. I'm still on my fourth barrel and still shooting strong with another 10,000 shots at everything else. If you are looking for p-dogs, check out the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands for good public hunting in the south western part of the state. Anywhere between there and Pierre is loaded with them. They were hit pretty severely by disease two years ago and are on the rebound so you might not see square miles of them yet this year but you should be able to get a thousand shots a day or so. Plan on most shots being over 100 yards. They will be closer when you start shooting but will keep their heads down after a few shots. I have never worried about my barrel heating up as long as the heat waves didn't mess up my aim. I never had the barrel get red but I sure wouldn't want to touch it. Bring a venetial blind blade to put over your barrel to fix this issue. Watch out for prairie rattlers, my brother got bit twice in one morning there last year sneaking up on antelope. Have fun... its a blast.
Post an Answer