Another PD Hunt on 10-29-2008--Graphic Photos AGAIN!!!
Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2008 8:45 pm
It was only about 28 above this morning before the sun came up. I decided to stay in bed a wee bit longer so it would warm up before heading out to the National Grasslands for some more prairie dog shooting. I arrived at the prairie dog town and parked the pickup in the trees at 11:30 a.m. The temperature was up to about 58 degrees already. I was going to shoot my Pac-Nor barreled .17 Remington and hadn’t gotten it sighted in for the 25 gr. Hornady HP loads with the bullets about .005" off the lands. This is a rifle I had the barrel set back on by 2" because the throat was ripping J4 bullet jackets. The barrel is only 22" long now--it looks pretty stubby to me since my other rifles have 26" barrels.
The wind was only blowing between 5 to 8 mph and at about a 45º angle to my point of aim when I set up one target box at 50 yards and another one at 100 yards. I took four shots at the 50 yard box to get the barrel fouled and did a few clicks on the scope. I shot one shot at 100 yards and it was about 7/8" high and 1/8" to the left. Since the scope only has 1/4" clicks, I didn’t try to adjust it to the right. I also fouled the barrel on my .204 Ruger and adjusted the scope on the 50 yard target. I took two shots at the 100 yard target. The first one was about 1½" high so I did two clicks down. The next shot was 1/4" low, so I did one click back up and put the gun in the case.
I didn’t get started shooting prairie dogs until about 12:30 p.m. By that time, the wind was blowing about a steady 10 mph with gusts over 15 mph. The Pac-Nor barreled .17 Remington made hits on the first 5 shots I took!! I started taking some 200 to 250 yards shots with side wind and I missed on 4 out of the next 6 shots
I decided to quit taking longer shots and concentrate on shots of 150 yards or less. Here’s one of those 150-yard victims with the culprit who squeezed the trigger.
Once I quit shooting long shots my hit rate went up considerably. Those little 25 gr. Hornady HP bullets only have a BC of .187 and they really do float a considerable distance in the breeze. I hit of 14 of the next 16 shots I took. Shots ranged from about 125 yards on out to 160 yards.
Business was fairly slow, but there were enough customers to keep me happy. I could see pickup tracks throughout the prairie dog town, so I’m sure these dogs get shot at quite frequently. A couple years ago, this was a tremendous dog town with lots of prairie dogs that didn’t hide when you took one shot. Now, as soon as you take one shot, the prairie dogs disappear for a quarter of a mile or more in every direction.
Here are a couple of victims I shot at 145 yards. One of them was blown to bits and the other one the bullet didn’t seem to expand, but punched a little hole through the PD. You can see the small dark spot on the back of the one on the rightâ€â€that’s the exit hole.
 
The next photo gives you a nice view of the area to the NNE of the two 145-yard prairie dogs. The ground was pretty dry, but the color in the little hills and buttes is fantastic to look at!
I stopped for lunch at 2:30 p.m. During lunch, I could tell the wind was dying down and by 3:00 p.m., while there was still a little wind, my Caldwell Wind Wizard told me it was only blowing at about 5 mph! The temperature had topped out at 72 degrees by about lunch time. A GREAT DAY to be out pottin' prairie poodles!!!
I got started shooting again at about 3:00 p.m. and was taking some 200 yard shots and hitting on almost every shot I took. Here’s one I shot at 160 yards and the bullet didn’t expand much. This is the exit wound side and while it did exit, there wasn’t a lot of damage.
 
The PD in the photo below was shot at a distance of 178 yards with the 5 mph side wind. This prairie dog was standing straight up with his left side toward me and didn't present much of a target width-wise so I was very happy when I saw him get blown off his mound and heard the SPLAT!!!!
After lunch I hit on 15 of the 17 shots I took before I quit to go home. I was almost at the extreme east end of the dog town and about 1 mile from my pickup before I had started to head back to the vehicle. This dog town is expanding toward the east fairly fast.
I walked back to the pickup and noted it was 4:55 p.m. when I arrived. I had a little snack and it was 5:10 p.m. when I left the prairie dog town and headed for home. I had shot 44 shots at prairie dogs and shot a total of 36 prairie dogs and missed on 8 shots. Like I mentioned, that little 25 gr. Hornady HP only has a BC .187 and I probably should have been shooting the .204 Ruger, but I like this little Pac-Nor barreled .17 Remington. I has a super-sweed Jewell trigger adjusted to 1 pound of pull and the scope is a Leupold VX-III 6.5-20x40mm long range model with the side focus and a fine duplex reticule. The .187 BC is a far cry below the 39 gr. Sierra BlitzKing BC which is .287 and the 25 gr. Hornady V-Max which is about .235. I would like to be shooting the 25 gr. V-Max or my 27.8 gr. Hammetts or even the 29 gr. Gencos. When I get the new Pac-Nor barrel installed, I’ll work on getting loads ready for the Hammetts and the Gencos. Maybe that will happen next summer.
I arrived back in Williston and was at the M&H Convenience Store by 5:13 p.m to fill my gasoline tank and check the mileage. Gasoline was $2.499 per gallon on Wednesday. The little white 1997 Ford Ranger 2x2 with an extended cab (4.0 liter V-6 with an automatic transmission) made a little over 21 mpg on today’s trip. It had been a good day. Of course, any day of hunting is better than a day of work!!!
The wind was only blowing between 5 to 8 mph and at about a 45º angle to my point of aim when I set up one target box at 50 yards and another one at 100 yards. I took four shots at the 50 yard box to get the barrel fouled and did a few clicks on the scope. I shot one shot at 100 yards and it was about 7/8" high and 1/8" to the left. Since the scope only has 1/4" clicks, I didn’t try to adjust it to the right. I also fouled the barrel on my .204 Ruger and adjusted the scope on the 50 yard target. I took two shots at the 100 yard target. The first one was about 1½" high so I did two clicks down. The next shot was 1/4" low, so I did one click back up and put the gun in the case.
I didn’t get started shooting prairie dogs until about 12:30 p.m. By that time, the wind was blowing about a steady 10 mph with gusts over 15 mph. The Pac-Nor barreled .17 Remington made hits on the first 5 shots I took!! I started taking some 200 to 250 yards shots with side wind and I missed on 4 out of the next 6 shots
I decided to quit taking longer shots and concentrate on shots of 150 yards or less. Here’s one of those 150-yard victims with the culprit who squeezed the trigger.Once I quit shooting long shots my hit rate went up considerably. Those little 25 gr. Hornady HP bullets only have a BC of .187 and they really do float a considerable distance in the breeze. I hit of 14 of the next 16 shots I took. Shots ranged from about 125 yards on out to 160 yards.
Business was fairly slow, but there were enough customers to keep me happy. I could see pickup tracks throughout the prairie dog town, so I’m sure these dogs get shot at quite frequently. A couple years ago, this was a tremendous dog town with lots of prairie dogs that didn’t hide when you took one shot. Now, as soon as you take one shot, the prairie dogs disappear for a quarter of a mile or more in every direction.
Here are a couple of victims I shot at 145 yards. One of them was blown to bits and the other one the bullet didn’t seem to expand, but punched a little hole through the PD. You can see the small dark spot on the back of the one on the rightâ€â€that’s the exit hole.
 
The next photo gives you a nice view of the area to the NNE of the two 145-yard prairie dogs. The ground was pretty dry, but the color in the little hills and buttes is fantastic to look at!
I stopped for lunch at 2:30 p.m. During lunch, I could tell the wind was dying down and by 3:00 p.m., while there was still a little wind, my Caldwell Wind Wizard told me it was only blowing at about 5 mph! The temperature had topped out at 72 degrees by about lunch time. A GREAT DAY to be out pottin' prairie poodles!!!
I got started shooting again at about 3:00 p.m. and was taking some 200 yard shots and hitting on almost every shot I took. Here’s one I shot at 160 yards and the bullet didn’t expand much. This is the exit wound side and while it did exit, there wasn’t a lot of damage.
 
The PD in the photo below was shot at a distance of 178 yards with the 5 mph side wind. This prairie dog was standing straight up with his left side toward me and didn't present much of a target width-wise so I was very happy when I saw him get blown off his mound and heard the SPLAT!!!!
After lunch I hit on 15 of the 17 shots I took before I quit to go home. I was almost at the extreme east end of the dog town and about 1 mile from my pickup before I had started to head back to the vehicle. This dog town is expanding toward the east fairly fast.
I walked back to the pickup and noted it was 4:55 p.m. when I arrived. I had a little snack and it was 5:10 p.m. when I left the prairie dog town and headed for home. I had shot 44 shots at prairie dogs and shot a total of 36 prairie dogs and missed on 8 shots. Like I mentioned, that little 25 gr. Hornady HP only has a BC .187 and I probably should have been shooting the .204 Ruger, but I like this little Pac-Nor barreled .17 Remington. I has a super-sweed Jewell trigger adjusted to 1 pound of pull and the scope is a Leupold VX-III 6.5-20x40mm long range model with the side focus and a fine duplex reticule. The .187 BC is a far cry below the 39 gr. Sierra BlitzKing BC which is .287 and the 25 gr. Hornady V-Max which is about .235. I would like to be shooting the 25 gr. V-Max or my 27.8 gr. Hammetts or even the 29 gr. Gencos. When I get the new Pac-Nor barrel installed, I’ll work on getting loads ready for the Hammetts and the Gencos. Maybe that will happen next summer.
I arrived back in Williston and was at the M&H Convenience Store by 5:13 p.m to fill my gasoline tank and check the mileage. Gasoline was $2.499 per gallon on Wednesday. The little white 1997 Ford Ranger 2x2 with an extended cab (4.0 liter V-6 with an automatic transmission) made a little over 21 mpg on today’s trip. It had been a good day. Of course, any day of hunting is better than a day of work!!!
So I broke out my Ruger M77 Mk II in .204 and dispatched about 50 more to a spectacular and glorious death via hand loaded 32gr. Vmax's sailing in at about 3700 fps. 
