Has any one done this? My go to gun for prairie dog shooting is my 22-250 and my edgun but I traded my 22-250 for my brother's 243. I'm in the process of building a long range shooting rig for the 243 so all I have for now is my edgun, my 223, and 308. I have my 308 spot on and know my bullet drop out to 1000 yards. Anything under 500 is dead with that gun. I've been developing a load for the 223 for the past several weeks and have the perfect recipe but my max distance for this gun is about 200 and maybe 300 in perfect conditions. Going out prairie dog shooting tomorrow and I know I will taking some 300 plus yard shots. The reason I want to bring the 308 but is this over kill?
308 for Prairie Dogs
- Thread starter wyshadow
- Start date
SlickerThanSnot
New member
Originally Posted By: wyshadowHas any one done this? My go to gun for prairie dog shooting is my 22-250 and my edgun but I traded my 22-250 for my brother's 243. I'm in the process of building a long range shooting rig for the 243 so all I have for now is my edgun, my 223, and 308. I have my 308 spot on and know my bullet drop out to 1000 yards. Anything under 500 is dead with that gun. I've been developing a load for the 223 for the past several weeks and have the perfect recipe but my max distance for this gun is about 200 and maybe 300 in perfect conditions. Going out prairie dog shooting tomorrow and I know I will taking some 300 plus yard shots. The reason I want to bring the 308 but is this over kill?
prairie dogs have been killed with a pellet gun, a 50 bmg. and everything in between. nothing you decide to do is going to be earth shattering.
do what makes you happy.
prairie dogs have been killed with a pellet gun, a 50 bmg. and everything in between. nothing you decide to do is going to be earth shattering.
do what makes you happy.
Eric_Mayer
Member
Of course it will work and you'll get some excellent air time! The only issue I see is having it beat you up a portion of the day. You'll be itching for the Edgun in no time!
WeaselCircus
New member
Back when I was a teen I only had a .22 and a 7mm mag deer rifle. Didn't stop me and my buddy (with his 300 mag) from going out rock chuck hunting. Certainly put the hurt on the chucks when you connected, but definitely was not ideal by any stretch. It pounded my shoulder, popped me in the eye now and then, and made a huge noise blast. You also pretty much needed a spotter for hits. There was no watching the impact through the scope for me with that rifle - just take a shot and then try to find where the chuck had been sitting, if he's gone you either had a miss or a blood stain with chuck parts into the next county.
Well I went out hunting yesterday. The 308 did great. I was able to get a few 350 yard shots but I will definitely change my gun or will stick with the 223 or 22-250. The problem shooting anything further then 300 yards is I had a hard time spotting my shots from the recoil. If I can go with another shooter so they can be a spotter, then I may try my 308 again but I will leave the gun next time.
One thing I will change if I use this gun again is I will use a vmax bullet or a hollow point. I figured the match bullets would be ok for prairie dogs but I wasn't able to recover any of the dogs for a picture. They were all able to make it back down the hole after every shot. I was able to take several jack rabbits and cotton tails and notice the wound channel was very small as compared to what the 22-250 and 223 does. The 22-250 50 gr vmax will make anything it hits explode.
I got this jack about 50 yards and the cottontail was about 40 yards. The wound channel for the cottontail was the size of the bullet.
One thing I will change if I use this gun again is I will use a vmax bullet or a hollow point. I figured the match bullets would be ok for prairie dogs but I wasn't able to recover any of the dogs for a picture. They were all able to make it back down the hole after every shot. I was able to take several jack rabbits and cotton tails and notice the wound channel was very small as compared to what the 22-250 and 223 does. The 22-250 50 gr vmax will make anything it hits explode.
I got this jack about 50 yards and the cottontail was about 40 yards. The wound channel for the cottontail was the size of the bullet.
Last edited:
cherokeetracker
New member
Well I see you learned something about the important use of a spotter. NOT mandatory but very helpful. I knew 2 guys that used their 338 lapuas for Pdog hunting because they wanted to practice 1000 yd shots. You can use the 308 but as you also learned it is much better to take the long shots only route. One last thing and that is to use some different bullets. You do not need heavier ones You can do quite well with 125gr stuff.
Warning do not use the Speer TNT !!! They have slits in the bullets and even at 100 yds are not as accurate as other bullets. I think the slits are only in the jacket. But none the less.. YMMV
And if you wanted to go heavy or mid...
Depending upon what twist you have will dictate if you could possibly use some of the Berger, Accubond, or the Hornady ELD-X Faster twist would be required for some of these. 1-14 won't get it done.
Warning do not use the Speer TNT !!! They have slits in the bullets and even at 100 yds are not as accurate as other bullets. I think the slits are only in the jacket. But none the less.. YMMV
And if you wanted to go heavy or mid...
Depending upon what twist you have will dictate if you could possibly use some of the Berger, Accubond, or the Hornady ELD-X Faster twist would be required for some of these. 1-14 won't get it done.
I have shot p-dogs with everything from 20 Practical up through 300WM. My favorite is a 243AI. It is the most explosive and easiest to spot hits at longer ranges (500-600 yards). Past 600 the 300WM is easiest to spot.
Explosiveness and RPMs is real. For your 308 I suggest you work up a load with the 110 VMAX. I shoot them from my 300WM at 3700+ fps(!!!). The slower rifling on the 30 calibers doesn't spin them as fast as the smaller guns, so I find the 243 in particular but even the 223 more explosive at closer ranges. However the 110 out of a 308 will fragment well and they will NOT make it back to their hole.
Explosiveness and RPMs is real. For your 308 I suggest you work up a load with the 110 VMAX. I shoot them from my 300WM at 3700+ fps(!!!). The slower rifling on the 30 calibers doesn't spin them as fast as the smaller guns, so I find the 243 in particular but even the 223 more explosive at closer ranges. However the 110 out of a 308 will fragment well and they will NOT make it back to their hole.