Three days of Prairie Doggin

[orion94us]

I had some friends from the southeast end of the state, and north east Kansas come out for a long weekend of Prairie dog shooting this past weekend. I was a bit worried the days just prior to their arrival as the wind out here had been blowing like a banshee everyday for about three weeks.

They all arrived Friday evening, with 15-20mph sustained winds. Needless to say after the initial greeting the wind was a big part of our discussion over dinner, whiskey and cigars afterwords.

Saturday morning broke and the wind was flat. Forecast called for no more than 5mph for the whole day. I am still convinced that a weatherman is the only job where one can be wrong 85% of the time and never get fired! The sun rose bright and high. The winds were pretty flat, but shifty. Always a joy when shooting distance to watch the mirage shift from left to right, to the complete opposite as the shot breaks. lol.

The boys had "upgraded" their varmint slayin this year, and had a nice flatbed trailer rigged with jacks to make a solid elevated shooting platform off of. This was nice as it got the guns higher, and opened up more shot opportunities. We were able to take shots safely out to 1301yds(cattle location dependant).

Here are some pics of the set up.

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The next is a picture of our new fangled Super sucker 3000 prairie doggin windsock, that we placed out mid way to help read the read the wind. Hope my wife doesn't read this and see it...lol
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Weapons used ran the gamut from wildcat 17 cal up to 6.5 creedmor's. the 40x's got quite the workout at the 150yd and closer dogs. More than a few met their end courtesy of my M9, and a 22 wheel gun.

On Sunday morning at about 11 I made my personal best shot, and got a confirmed kill at 944 yards. I was using my DPMS LR65 chambered in 6.5 Creedmor, Topped with a Nikon M223(still saving for the scope that will be the permanent furniture on this rifle, I work for Uncle Sam and he's a tight [beeep]), shooting factory Hornady 140gr Amax's.
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Up to that point I had the longest CK of the weekend. We dined on steak that night.
Monday morning rose and so did the wind again. It wasn't bad only 15 mph or so, but it was constant and not shifting. We could work with this! it wasn't long and we had had the Honda mini-trail out and running again. Heading across the fence to get the confirmation and range on this dog!
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Yes, you are reading that sign right. John got his personal best and finally reached and blew away his goal of 1,000 yard dog! He was shooting his 6x47 Lapua. Needless to say, all shooting stopped and out came the cigars.
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My son was able to get his personal best using his old Remington 788,chambered in 6mm. 347 yard shot, picture is too graphic to post on here.

Here is John getting to whack some prairie dogs with his Lapua.

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All in all it was an awesome weekend, and enjoyed the company of some good friends. Jim, John, Dick, CG, until we do it again in August....

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Chris R
Nominated for Hunt of the month

 

[1up5down]

Great story and pics. Doesn't get any better than good friends getting together and whacking some dogs!!


Dave

 

[Smokin Barrel]

Nice post. Looks like a whole bunch of fun!

 

[tt35]

That is too cool, Chris! The trailer set-up is basically the same as what I use for sagerats here in Oregon. Nice guns and nice shooting! Congrats on the 944 and a special congrats for the 1000 yard Club entry! Small target at 1000+. I couldn't see the last half of the photos. You may need to cut and paste the last half into an additional post for us to see them all.

Anyway, thanks for the write up. My sister-in-law and her husband live in Curtiss. He's from that area. I'm sure you know them. We spent a couple of hours the summer before last killing some NE pd's. Lots of fun.

 

[JerrySchmitt]

Love that trailer. Wish we still had dogs at over 1000 yards. That mound was shot out by drive by shooters that drove right up to the mound. Tire tracks and empty .22LR cases confirmed that.

 

[CatShooter]

You can't have more than 10 photos in one post - I'll break it into two...

------------------------------------------------------------------------

I had some friends from the southeast end of the state, and north east Kansas come out for a long weekend of Prairie dog shooting this past weekend. I was a bit worried the days just prior to their arrival as the wind out here had been blowing like a banshee everyday for about three weeks.

They all arrived Friday evening, with 15-20mph sustained winds. Needless to say after the initial greeting the wind was a big part of our discussion over dinner, whiskey and cigars afterwords.

Saturday morning broke and the wind was flat. Forecast called for no more than 5mph for the whole day. I am still convinced that a weatherman is the only job where one can be wrong 85% of the time and never get fired! The sun rose bright and high. The winds were pretty flat, but shifty. Always a joy when shooting distance to watch the mirage shift from left to right, to the complete opposite as the shot breaks. lol.

The boys had "upgraded" their varmint slayin this year, and had a nice flatbed trailer rigged with jacks to make a solid elevated shooting platform off of. This was nice as it got the guns higher, and opened up more shot opportunities. We were able to take shots safely out to 1301yds(cattle location dependant).

Here are some pics of the set up.

The next is a picture of our new fangled Super sucker 3000 prairie doggin windsock, that we placed out mid way to help read the read the wind. Hope my wife doesn't read this and see it...lol

Weapons used ran the gamut from wildcat 17 cal up to 6.5 creedmor's. the 40x's got quite the workout at the 150yd and closer dogs. More than a few met their end courtesy of my M9, and a 22 wheel gun.

On Sunday morning at about 11 I made my personal best shot, and got a confirmed kill at 944 yards. I was using my DPMS LR65 chambered in 6.5 Creedmor, Topped with a Nikon M223(still saving for the scope that will be the permanent furniture on this rifle, I work for Uncle Sam and he's a tight [beeep]), shooting factory Hornady 140gr Amax's.

Up to that point I had the longest CK of the weekend. We dined on steak that night.

Monday morning rose and so did the wind again. It wasn't bad only 15 mph or so, but it was constant and not shifting. We could work with this! it wasn't long and we had had the Honda mini-trail out and running again. Heading across the fence to get the confirmation and range on this dog!

 

[CatShooter]

Yes, you are reading that sign right. John got his personal best and finally reached and blew away his goal of 1,000 yard dog! He was shooting his 6x47 Lapua. Needless to say, all shooting stopped and out came the cigars.

My son was able to get his personal best using his old Remington 788,chambered in 6mm. 347 yard shot, picture is too graphic to post on here.

Here is John getting to whack some prairie dogs with his Lapua.

All in all it was an awesome weekend, and enjoyed the company of some good friends. Jim, John, Dick, CG, until we do it again in August....

Chris R

 

[tt35]

Oh, and I love the wind flag!!

 

[orion94us]

Catshooter, I didn't know that. Thank you for breaking that up and reposting for me. The wind flag was for sure the source of a lot of laughter and jokes. We had a blast for sure.

 

[orion94us]

Forgot to add, that we renamed that dog town "plunger flats" and that windsock will be a permanent fixture in our varmint slaying gear. lol

 

[Ratbert]

Dayam I wish I can have that much fun in South Dakota next week. I too have a Rem 788 in 6mm that has claimed a lot of dogs in the 400+ yard range.

BTW I will be going pretty close to you as I go through North Platte and on up to Valentine NE on my way to Murdo SD.

 

[orion94us]

Originally Posted By: RatbertDayam I wish I can have that much fun in South Dakota next week. I too have a Rem 788 in 6mm that has claimed a lot of dogs in the 400+ yard range.

BTW I will be going pretty close to you as I go through North Platte and on up to Valentine NE on my way to Murdo SD.

When are you going to be passing through? If you are coming up 83 through McCook you will pass my office, be within 10 miles of my farm from the highway. Shoot me a pm and maybe we can hook up for lunch if you want. Always nice to put a face to a name.

Chris R