Leaving in the morning for my 1st prairie dog hunt!

[Squatting Wolf]

Well the time has finally come, I'll be headed out west to Nebraska for my 1st prairie dog hunt. Many of you probably remember that I was supposed to go on a hunt last year that never happend (although I got some sweet gear out of the deal).

I'll be headed out tomorrow and will spend a majority of the day driving which will leave Thursday, Friday and Saturday to shoot and then make the trip back home Sunday. I'm bringing my .41, .44 and the little S&W .357 with flames for any of the dogs that care to pop up at close range and then I'll be giving the LRPV a work out (finally)!

When doing final siting in last weekend I shot the best group I've even been able to pull off, 5 shots in 1 ragged hole (pictures to come).

Hopefully I'll have lots of pictures and a good story to tell when I get back home Sunday!

[dannybracy]

Well good luck! I know you will have a blast!!!! Have some good shooting and take lots of pictures!!!! Last year was my first year and my LRPV did quite well! Don't be afraid to take some long shots! -Dan

[Melvin Eades]

SQ,

My son and I are also heading out this Thursday evening when he gets off work only we're starting out turkey hunting Friday morning and then finish up shooting prairie dogs the rest of the weekend if everything works out the way we are hoping. We're going to be north of Grand Island aways. What area are you headed?

[Rick in Oregon]

Matt: I bet you are EXCITED! Drive carefully, don't forget your ammo! You are gonna be hooked forever, I promise.

Have a grand time, make sure the camera goes along with extra batteries, don't forget to use it too. Come home safe with that big smile and lots of pictures and memories, and you'll be planning your next assault for next year on the drive home I bet.

Now all you need is good weather, and for the wind to give you a break.....I'll be watching for your return. Go git em!

[Squatting Wolf]

dannybracy - I'm looking forward to taking some long shots at the PD's. i've been doing some 300-400 yard shots at milk jugs which is fun but just not the same as the real thing!

Melvin - we will be shooting between Sidney & Oshkosh, NE. Looks like I'm going to be a couple hundred miles due west of where you'll be. We've got permission to hunt several different ranches so I'm hoping to find plenty of dogs!

Rick - I've got plenty of ammo loaded up already in the truck! I've checked and double checked my list and I think (and hope) that I've got everything I need. I have plenty of batteries for the camera and the new Leica range finder. I probably won't be able to sleep tonight I'm so excited. This has been 18 months in the making! On a side note, I finally filled up the bag that I bought from you a few months back and I can't wait to use it. It looks like it's going to be great. I ended up filling it with Poly-Fill micro beads which I think will work out well!

Details of the hunt to come when I make it back to Illinois!

[acloco]

Squatting Wolf - CALL or EMAIL me - you have to be driving by the town I live in (North Platte, NE).

You are within 100 miles of me.

[chip-don]

i love it when someone gets to take a long planed hunting trip. (including me) good luck

[glenn asher]

You'll be ruined for life , Welcome to the Club! It's been ten years for me now, and I'm still not over it yet. My next infection comes in about 5 weeks...................

[skb2706]

I go at least one weekend every month and I still get all excited about it. Good luck and have fun.

[rayfromtx]

Arnold Jewell and I are going up to CO in a couple of weeks for our first social interaction with Skippy. I'm taking 1500 dance cards and am looking forward to inviting skippy to go for a spin.

[Squatting Wolf]

Just to give everyone a quick update, we all survived and had a blast! We are planning on heading back next spring for sure and maybe again sometime this summer/fall if a few of us can get away from work.

I'm in the middle of frying up a pan of morel mushrooms and grilling burgers so I'll do a write up after dinner!

Everyone was right...splattin' rats is addicting!

[Hotshot]

SW,
I thought you were going to say you were cookin' up a bunch of prairie dog tenderloins.
Glad you had a good time.

[dannybracy]

Glad you had a good safe trip!!!!! Now I really can't wait until the first part of June!!! How'd that LRPV handle???? Hope you have some pics that will make me even more anxious!!! -Dan

[Squatting Wolf]

Here's a recap of the hunt. I will be posting additional picture probably tomorrow (as long as I get pictures from everyone at work). WARNING - Some of the pictures are a bit graphic!

Day 1 - Wednesday

We left Bloomington, IL. the morning of May 7th and spent basically the entire day traveling, 12 hours in all. Not much to mention except once we got into western Nebraska, the amount of wildlife we saw was amazing. Turkey's (numbering in the hundreds), deer and pheasants were a plenty. We checked into the Shady Rest motel around 9:30 or so.

Day 2 - Thursday

Finally, our first day to shoot. We awoke to mild but windy conditions. Our group of 9 split up into 3 smaller group and headed in separate directions. The group I was with hunted west of Oshkosh. We had a couple pastures to shoot in that had pretty good size dog towns.

Here's a few pictures of the terrain...










We chose to set up in the lower portion of the field and shoot to the North. We didn't have any dogs in close, and spent a couple hours shooting 300-600 yards in the wind (challenging to say the least).

Blood trail after a 500 yard hit...



After having a few kills, we decided to move up several hundred yards. We still had some long shots but now at least things were managable. I started knocking the dogs off in the 175-300 yard range. Much more fun! One of the first dogs that game me a shot took a .204 pill to the gut, leaving a mess (see pictures below). I was able to get numerous dogs to perform some backflips and kartwheels.


The results of those backflips...






This one shows the distace...Skippy was standing next to his hole!




Our first day of shooting was cut short by a storm...





Day 3 - Friday

Our second day of shooting started with much calmer wind and lots of sun! We got an early start and went back to shoot the same location upon pulling up, we could see the prairie dogs running everywhere. We decided to set up and start shooting where we left off the afternoon before. I started off with a 215 yard dog that did some backflips for me. I then had 3 in a row at 225. While taking a short break to let the barrel cool, I walked down to chat with two of the other guys that came along. While talking, one of the guys notices a dog close enough to take a shot at with a pistol. He grabbed his Ruger 9mm and took a shot, the first sailed over it's head and the second connected in a big way...with Skippy's face! I had Scott walk over to the hole while I stayed where he shot and I lasered 52 yards with my Lecia range finder. Not to shabby for a 4" barrel 9mm free standing shot!



Close up of the damage!




In the afternoon we moved down to the lower field and my first 3 shots were kills. The first was a 350 yard shot to the body and the second was a 425 yard head shot, which was probably the best shot that I made the whole trip. The pictures of me and this dog will be posted as soon as I get them from my buddies camera. The third was another upper body shot that made Skippy do backflips (I love when that happens). While at this lower field, one of the guys from work that I convinced to get a .204 started shooting long distances again. I started watching him through my scope and watch him hit Skippy at 500 yards with his DPMS - those black rifles will really shoot. Once again, our second day of shooting ended when a nasty storm blew in which sent us running back to town.

Day 4 - Saturday

On Saturday we awoke to storm storms with high wind, rain and lighting. We ate some breakfast and decided to drive to Sidney to Cabelas. I ended up picking up a Gerber LMF II tactical survival knife (gotta have a big sharp weapon for when things get personal with Skippy) and I picked up a Surefire flashlight. As we walked out of Cabelas, it was SNOWING! The wind was blowing 40, the temperature was dropping and it was plain nasty outside. We spent the rest of the day visting various local bars.

Day 5 - Sunday

Sunday was our day to drive back. It was chilly when we woke up bet dead calm and not a cloud in the sky. It was tempting to stay another day but we decided we better not play hooky and get back to Illinois.

All in all it was a great time even though the weather wasn't all that great. We all had some great shots on Skippy and for a couple of us it was our first time out and that's all it took, we are hooked. Everyone was talking about next year and what new rifles they will be assembling to shake things up in the prairie dog town. I for one recieved a text message from a good friend that is selling his brand new Rock River Arms lower with a set trigger (Which I helped convince him he needed). I will be putting a 6.5 Grendel upper on it, probably from Les Baer.

I have a ton of ammo left but at least I don't have to do much prep to be ready for the next trip! Also while out there I saw several antelope and made up my mind that next year I am going to try and take an antelope or two.

I'll be updating this post with more pictures when I get them from the guys at work.

Until then, here's a picture of the Morel's I cooked up for dinner!!

[Squatting Wolf]

dannybracy

The LRPV was a blast to shoot and it made long distaces relatively easy (especially when the wind cooperates). Everyone I was with loved it as well.

Now that I have a little down time, I am going to start working up some loads for the 39 grainers. I might try some 25 grain Bergers as well. I've got several different powders to try as well.

For now, the pill that I'm sending is being pushed by 26.6 grains of H322. I'll grab my target from work tomorrow and post results from siting it in before heading out to Nebraska. I was able to make a one hole, 5 shot group!