SmallCaliberCentral

Ok you guys talk about hunting prarrie dogs and rock chucks. I have watched a few vidios on hunting these little critters but i would like to be filled in on a little more detail on this. I live in central Il. so all i can realy compare them to is a squirll in size. I have been able to pick a few ground hogs off through the years . Are they as much fun to hunt as they look.
All i have really picked up on watching vidios is to have a couple of good rifles and alot of ammo and alot of reading on this board. Your input would be appreciated.
Basicly what i am saying is how do you go about it from beging to end.
Thanks Hunt4em

OK Hunt4em,

This is my 1st post although I have been reading the forum for a while. I retired 2 years ago and live in Missouri. I started shooting these critters right after retirement and I'm addicted to say the least. My 1st trip to SD was so much fun I stayed 7 weeks. So far I've hunted them in SD, Kansas and Colorado. The most fun I've ever had except maybe when I was young and had wheels and was hunting quail in Illinois. I've invested a ton of money in rifles, scopes and reloading equipment etc. Get your hunting buddy and a couple of decent rifles and scopes. My advice would be to get a guide your 1st time out and maybe allow a couple of extra days if you have the time to start working on finding places to shoot when you are out there on your hunt. Research, meeting other shooters on forums and put your time in locating places to shoot is what it takes. Just like you did here, ask questions. Lots of knowledge on this forum for sure. One thing for sure is get a .204!!!! I'd say try to plan a hunt from the end of May thru the middle to the end of June to get in on the peak shooting but go when you can just for the experience. Be careful man it will get in your blood. Best of luck.

hunt4em wrote:Are they as much fun to hunt as they look.

No.

They're way more fun to hunt than you can possibly imagine by watching videos. I can tell you how great it is, but you truly will not appreciate the fun until you get out in the field and try it for yourself. If you're like most people on this forum, your first experience will ruin you for life (in a good way )

hunt4em wrote:All i have really picked up on watching vidios is to have a couple of good rifles and alot of ammo and alot of reading on this board. Your input would be appreciated. Basicly what i am saying is how do you go about it from beging to end.

Depends on the kind of shooting that you want to do and the location you're hunting. Some people like to take a wide range of guns and change it up during a hunt. Others prefer to bring one or two guns and stick with them. This year, I'm going out with a pair of .204s that should keep me as busy as I want to be. I'd advise you to bring along 400 rounds/day/gun. That should provide you with more than enough ammo for your trip, because the last thing you want to do is run out!

I've whacked prairie dogs out to 700 yards with the .204, but those connections are rare. In my opinion, the .204 is consistent out to about 400 yards and then starts to taper off rather quickly. The caliber doesn't lack punch at longer distances, but wind moves the bullets around so much that it's hard to be accurate.

If you're going to hunt land that gets a fair amount of shooting pressure, you would do well to bring a rifle chambered for longer distance shots. When I was in SD last year, there were tons of dogs but they were all very gun shy. As soon as the first shots were fired, anything inside of 300 yards went down and stayed there. Other times, I've gone to places where the dogs sat around all day and gave us all the shots we wanted at closer distances.

Here's my free lesson for the day, taken from last year. Do not hunt reservation land in SD the week AFTER Memorial Day. Stupid move on my part, but a mistake that will never be duplicated.

Im already adicted to hunting. This just just might fill the summer void waiting for deer season to open.Only been as far west as Ok state line barley across it . I could spend all day shooting weather its pistols rifles or shooting trap. Love the smell of burnt gun powder.
I bought my first 204 in cz varmint about a month and a half ago.I never thought i would like one but I love it.This looks like something i am going to have to try .

hunt: Take rimfires, short range CF's, mid-range CF's, and at least one LR rifle to slay the dogs that flip you off out there on their mound at 600 yards. Take ALL your cleaning equipment, and clean often to cool and keep throat erosion to a minimum, take wind flags to keep track of speed and direction, take lots of H2O, take shade, decent shooting benches, digital camera....I could go on, but you get the idea.

Here's our crew doing it up right last season:



Here's what Skippy does when smacked by a 39SBK from a 204:



Look at it this way, PD or ground squirrel shooting is the most fun you can have with a rifle, period. Read all you can, go with a guide the first time out, learn the lay of the land for next time, and take more ammo than you ever think you'll need. Do it once and you'll be hooked for life. Hide the checkbook and plastic from yourself when you get back too.

Ok now you guys have got me filled in on what to expect and what it looks like is a experiance that you dont forget.
Rick that is a heck of a set up you dont mess around.
Yup this is going to be added with the hunt list im sure the wife wont mind she is pretty leaniant with me going hunting.
Vidios have left a lot out thanks for filling me in on this stuff.
What is your ussual round count on a 2 day shoot i no differnt states and areas may vary.

I prefer the word shoot versus hunt when it comes to rodent towns that you can sit down and blast away on. To me the hunt is over once you arrive and set up.

Practice on paper and learn to reload. You'll soon find out that while it is a blast, shooting hundreds of rounds per day can become fatiguing. You'll do well to refine your bench and technique at home versus on the killing fields.

Definitely invest in a BR pivot bench. Glad I got my Lite while Rick was still making them. I got the bag too so it packs up nice!

hunt4em wrote:What is your ussual round count on a 2 day shoot i no differnt states and areas may vary.

I would bring 1,000 rounds of ammo for two full days of shooting. You almost certainly won't use that much, but you want to be prepared.

If you don't have wind flags you can use a spotting scope to determine wind direction. You could do it with your rifle scope too but I'd advise against it because you could end up pointing the rifle somewhere at someone/something that you shoudn't.

1 I have been reloading for a few years now and cant even imagion shooting up to 500 rounds in two days. I go shoot every chance i get.
2 I would have never even thought about wind flags.
3 shooting benches good idea i would have never thought you could get worn out from shooting.
4 how long do you usualy stay at one spot befor you move
5 When you say LR rifle are you talking like 243 or 308 range

How long I stay in a spot can vary quite a bit. Last year we moved every hour or so, because we were shooting at very shy dogs. The time before that, we spent five or six hours on one dog patch.

In my experience, some version of a 6mm is the most popular for long range work. Some people use 7mm or 30 caliber stuff to really reach out there as well.

Mike i just relized where you was from . Wish i would have known this about three weeks ago the wife and i were visting your basspro and battlefield mall.We could have had a b.s. session over supper.

Sorry that I missed you, hunt4em. Hope that you and your wife enjoyed the visit to Springfield!

hunt4em, these guys are yanking your chain.... it way way better than they make it sound!!! No, they are spot on, you really need to give it a go, but be warned...you'll want to keep going back!!