ND PD Hunt on 6-10-2016
Posted: Fri Jun 17, 2016 7:46 pm
I got a late start, but what the heck, there’s usually dew on the grass in the morning and it had rained in the area I was headed for so the late start gave the sun a chance to dry off the moisture. I had my Remington 700 BDL that is chambered with a .1945" neck. The ammo I built for this outing was in neck-turned Remington brass, using 25 gr. BTHP Kindler Gold bullets coated with hBN. The primers I’m using are the Tula small rifle magnum and the bullets are seated about .020" off the lands. The load I’m using is 23.6 grains of IMR 8208 XBR and the muzzle velocity is 3,991 fps. The action and Remington Varmint Contour Lilja barrel sit in an H-S Precision stock. The rifle is topped off with a Leupold VX-III 8.5-25x50mm scope with the Varmint Hunter reticle and there’s a Gemtech Trek-Ti suppressor on the end of the barrel with a white mirage shield as well. This was the first time out with this big scope on this rifle and I rather like that VH reticle and had it cranked up to 25x except on one 18-yard and one 40-yard shot.
I left the pickup around 10:00 a.m. and walked in an ESE direction stopping and picking off prairie dogs as I walked along. Here’s a photo of one of the PDs and my .17 Remington rifle.
My plan was to reach a small grove of trees by lunch time. There was very little wind and the temperature was in the high 80s early on in my walk, but was up to 93º by noon. My walk took me approximately 1.4 miles away from my pickup. I had to chase some cattle out of the shade of the trees and took my lunch break at 12:48 p.m.
There were a couple of prairie dogs barking at me during lunch and I forced myself to quit eating and give them a 25 gr. Kindler Gold sedative. One of those rude PDs had just his head sticking out of his den and the only way I could get my sights on him was to stand on the fallen trunk of a dead tree and rest my rifle on the fallen trunk of another tree. It was a very, very unsteady rest. I made the mistake of putting my finger on the trigger while I was trying to move the rifle so I had the PD in the crosshairs and the doggone gun went off!!! Yes, it is a Jewell trigger adjusted to about 1 pound of pull and I know that I should NEVER touch the trigger until I’m ready to shoot. At that point in time I had taken 40 shots and hit on 39 of them. Here’s a photo showing the total devastation the little 25 gr. Kindler Gold bullets unload on a prairie dog that was 18 yards away from the muzzle of my rifle!!!
I went back to eating my lunch. After lunch, I decided I deserved a nap. About 45 minutes into my nap some more rude prairie dogs woke me up so I had to silence those PDs. I set my alarm to go off in 30 minutes and went back to sleep.
When I woke up I ate the second half of my sandwich and had a couple of cookies and drank some more water. I did an inventory on my water supply. I had taken 40 ounces of water along and by the time lunch and my nap were over I was down to about 3 ounces of water left!!! I had at least 1.4 miles to walk back to the pickup in temperatures in the mid 90s so I was going to get a little bit thirsty on the way back to the pickup. I had seen lots of blossoms out on the prairie as I was walking and shooting PDs in the morning so on my walk back to the pickup, I took out my camera and captured a few pictures of some of the blossoms you can view right below here.
I snapped photos and once in awhile I would shoot a prairie dog or two as I walked back to the pickup. By 4:15 p.m. I had shot the last shell from the two boxes I was using. I still had another 50 reloads along, but I had finished off the last ounce of water I had along and decided to call it a day and didn’t shoot any more shots. I just concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other and tried not to think about how thirsty I was. I finally dragged my body back to the pickup at 4:46 p.m. I headed right to my cooler and had a good big drink of ice cold water!!!
The shooting was pretty good and the pups aren’t so small any longer. I had taken 76 shots and had one miss, hit on 74 singles, and hit on one double so I bagged 76 prairie dogs with my 76 shots. Here’s the “Hero Photo” for your enjoyment.
I left the pickup around 10:00 a.m. and walked in an ESE direction stopping and picking off prairie dogs as I walked along. Here’s a photo of one of the PDs and my .17 Remington rifle.
My plan was to reach a small grove of trees by lunch time. There was very little wind and the temperature was in the high 80s early on in my walk, but was up to 93º by noon. My walk took me approximately 1.4 miles away from my pickup. I had to chase some cattle out of the shade of the trees and took my lunch break at 12:48 p.m.
There were a couple of prairie dogs barking at me during lunch and I forced myself to quit eating and give them a 25 gr. Kindler Gold sedative. One of those rude PDs had just his head sticking out of his den and the only way I could get my sights on him was to stand on the fallen trunk of a dead tree and rest my rifle on the fallen trunk of another tree. It was a very, very unsteady rest. I made the mistake of putting my finger on the trigger while I was trying to move the rifle so I had the PD in the crosshairs and the doggone gun went off!!! Yes, it is a Jewell trigger adjusted to about 1 pound of pull and I know that I should NEVER touch the trigger until I’m ready to shoot. At that point in time I had taken 40 shots and hit on 39 of them. Here’s a photo showing the total devastation the little 25 gr. Kindler Gold bullets unload on a prairie dog that was 18 yards away from the muzzle of my rifle!!!
I went back to eating my lunch. After lunch, I decided I deserved a nap. About 45 minutes into my nap some more rude prairie dogs woke me up so I had to silence those PDs. I set my alarm to go off in 30 minutes and went back to sleep.
When I woke up I ate the second half of my sandwich and had a couple of cookies and drank some more water. I did an inventory on my water supply. I had taken 40 ounces of water along and by the time lunch and my nap were over I was down to about 3 ounces of water left!!! I had at least 1.4 miles to walk back to the pickup in temperatures in the mid 90s so I was going to get a little bit thirsty on the way back to the pickup. I had seen lots of blossoms out on the prairie as I was walking and shooting PDs in the morning so on my walk back to the pickup, I took out my camera and captured a few pictures of some of the blossoms you can view right below here.
I snapped photos and once in awhile I would shoot a prairie dog or two as I walked back to the pickup. By 4:15 p.m. I had shot the last shell from the two boxes I was using. I still had another 50 reloads along, but I had finished off the last ounce of water I had along and decided to call it a day and didn’t shoot any more shots. I just concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other and tried not to think about how thirsty I was. I finally dragged my body back to the pickup at 4:46 p.m. I headed right to my cooler and had a good big drink of ice cold water!!!
The shooting was pretty good and the pups aren’t so small any longer. I had taken 76 shots and had one miss, hit on 74 singles, and hit on one double so I bagged 76 prairie dogs with my 76 shots. Here’s the “Hero Photo” for your enjoyment.
