Prairie Dog Hunting Questions?

100 yards ? That is a real short shot. I have hunted Nebraska, But,normally do Montana for prairie dogs. I take four or five rifles to have one ready to use with a cool barrel. ( that was always a problem, whoo hooo, that is some shooting ) Keep ammo in a cooler. The fun of prairie dog hunting is the long shots, and using a long range rifle or two or three. The smallest I have used WAS an AR in .223. I used to take 2- .22-250s, one AR, a .243 and a .270.

We quit going when the government began poisoning programs on BLM lands. I believe that was a real shame, effective ? Yes, but ruined a great income for those local folks, and killed off a whole lot of non-targeted animals.

Edit : A funny thing, I had a rancher offer to pay me to come out and shoot his place. Did not know if it was legal to accept compensation for shooting P-dogs. Called out to Montana, to ask a game warden, made a friend with the local game warden who used to join me, and showed me a bunch of other good spots. We shot my spot, then some of his. A good deal that was.

Prairie Dog Hunting Videos

As much as I like the AR - I think a good used bolt rifle for a few hundred bucks in a decent varmint cartridge would be a lot of fun on the cheap. Sure, a nice new top of the line tacticool bolt rifle would be wonderful, but, I would still rather take a beater rifle out.

Everyone has given you great advice - the 10/22 will be fine for a few hours - but the little buggers will wise up. Lobbing a 22 across hundreds of yards is 'fun' when shooting at ice or stuff flowing down a river...... but that bullets is just gonna nose dive with no puff of dirt big enough to notice so you can call your shots. It will get boring quick.

222, 223, 22 Hornet, 22-250, these are all calibers that have been around 60+ years and there are some nice rifles sitting in pawn shops and the used gun racks at gunshops that would really love to get out of the store and do some shooting. Consider it an 'adoption'. I really enjoy having a 223 bolt gun to go with my AR's - this would be a nice combo for your future.

My family goes to the Sioux Reservation. It's the only area that I have any experience with.

I have a heavy 24" varmint AR with a 12X Leupold that I use. My Dad has an older Wilde built varmint gun that's similar. He also runs heavy barreled Remington 700s in .22-250 and .243. He runs Leupold glass on all his rigs.

I don't see your combination being effective. You don't need to blow $2,000 though. Something like this would make your hunt much more enjoyable. The scope could be a little more powerful, and the light barrel will mean you need to pace yourself, but it would be a great place to start. There are lots of other options on this site, and it will give you an idea what things cost. You can also use the prices as a bargaining point when buying locally.

http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.ph...

Pdogs figure out stuff

You can shoot a few close... 22 long rifle close. It won't take long to figure out that human is part of the problem and they will stay down till you leave

Back out to 300 yards or more... They will keep showing and you get more targets

I'd figure that Marlin is a 100 yard max rifle. A mid length AR gets you in the game with optics

As would a bolt action chambered in a flat shooter with legs... 22-250 or any of the other popular varmint cartridges

As much as I like the AR15 - I would pass on that choice..... P-Dogs?..... Think well over 100 yards..... As another suggested - get a bolt action rifle chambered in .223 or 22-250...... The Savage model 11 rifles or a Remington 700 would be a decent choice......

yoy could just buy the .223 in a Remington 700 instead of going the .223 assault rifle deal. or even the ruger in the same caliber, also Winchester, Marlin, The .22 would be much cheaper than the .357 to shoot prairiedogs with, its pricey to even go to the range and fire off a box, been using the cheapo .38 spl.

Lol..I agree with Jeff...they are smart and when their buddies start dropping, they get smarter. Yeah, I could get a few with a 22 but not for long. The fields we used to go to sometimes had a guy there who DID have it figured out. He lay on top of his camper and used handloads in a 22 / 250 Varmint rifle. He said he could get them out to 500 yards or so. Way outta my league but some guys know what they're doing. That's a pretty small target.