What Scope for Prairie Dog Shooting?

outdoorsjoe222

New member
I am looking at flying out to Pierre, South Dakota for a guided Praire Dog hunt this year and was wondering how powerful of a scope is recommended. I own a few scopes that go up to 10X which is plenty in New York, but not sure about what I'd need for out there. Also would anyone chance flying out in mid-June, considered the rainy months and I would only be able to hunt 2 or 3 Days. Any other input would be appreciated. Thanks
 
16x will get you out beyond 500 yd. if you're using decent glass. I haven't found a need for more power. I'd rather be using a good 9x than a cheap 20x. Especially if you plan on staring thru it for three straight days.

Alot of guys don't realize how hard it is on your eyes to be shooting steady during a weekend shoot where you will be concentrating on a distant target, extreme precision, sunny weather and blowing dust.
 
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Several 6.5-20's at my house. They are good PD scopes; however, on warm sunny days, by noon they have to be cranked down to the 12-15X range. Mirage.
 
I don't have PD's here in this part of Idaho, but like both a 6 by 24 and an 8 by 32 for our ground squirrels. Like claimbuster says, come the hot part of the day and mirage makes you crank them down.
 
I have a dedicated pairie dog gun with a fixed power 15x Weaver, model K15 on a .223. It is only used for shots over 200 yards as I use 22lr and 22mag out to that distance.
 
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Also would anyone chance flying out in mid-June, considered the rainy months and I would only be able to hunt 2 or 3 Days. Any other input would be appreciated. Thanks



We have been out the last three years for a five day shoot. I think we have been rained out two days and the wind blew us out one day.

We lost one day out of five each year.

Hawkeye
 
I've tried a lot of scopes for pdogs. This one is almost perfect. The 1/8 MOA target dot is the kitten's whiskers for long range pdogs.

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=638750&t=11082005

It's not just a lot of pdog scope for the money, it's a lot of pdog scope, period.

They've gone up $80 in the past year, I see. I own 2 and greatly prefer them over my VXIII LR/SF with varminter reticle, which cost ~$400 more.

This scope would be perfect if it had an upper end of ~20-24X, and a side focus knob.

But, all in all, 18X with the 1/8 dot still doesn't obscure the vitals of a pdog at 1K yards. On a practical level, a pdog much past 700 yards needs a little more magnification, though.

As stated above, with certain conditions (even dead of winter) on the plains, mirage can pretty much wipe out the high end of your scope anyway.

Mike
 
Over the years I have try out various scopes . The one I like is the Leupold 6-18 X with the two cross bars below the cross hair. I site the rifle in at 100 yards then shoot at the same target using the first and second cross bars to see how fare the groups are above the 3/4 inch dia target. With the 17 Fireball reloads the first bar is on 280 yards and the second is on at 410 yards. Last fall I shot about 50 prairie dogs with the 17 Fireball rifle with the 6-18 X scope at ranges from 125 to about 280 yards. The day I was out the wind came up so I dident try any longer shots. When the snow melts off I will go out and try some longer shots.
 
The fun in PD shooting is seeing the hits in your scope. What that means is match the power to caliber. In my experience 12X is about the max for a 223 heavy barrel. A 22-250 you will need less power. I use 14x on a 222 11-lb rifle.

The guy that's shooting PDs out to 200 yards with his 22LR and 22 mag has never been PD shooting. Leave the 22LR home.
 
I'm of a different opinion, Sam. To control muzzlejump, I brake all pdog rigs, regardless of chambering. I've got a .204 Ruger in the works being built, and even it gets a brake. With a braked 6mm Rem pushing 75 grainers ~3700 fps, I can still spot my misses. The .223's with 40 grainers at the same speed barely even shiver at the shot.

I heavy up on magnification regardless of chambering. Peering at pdogs at 400 yards for 10-12 hours through lower powdered scopes isn't much fun after a couple days of it. The higher magnification greatly reduces eye fatigue (and shooter fatigue)by a wide margin.

Lower power settings can be useful when dealing with mirage, but if the conditions are such that mirage is wiping out your 20X setting at 400 yards, 14X will gain you only about 50 yards more clear vision. Sometimes you just have to guess where centermass of the hula-dancing dog is actually at, and shoot through it.

Mike
 
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I have a dedicated pairie dog gun with a fixed power 15x Weaver, model K15 on a .223. It is only used for shots over 200 yards as I use 22lr and 22mag out to that distance.



Also my scope of choice. I have found variables offer nothing to me as even when I used them I never changed the magnification.

PS I can tell you how to get a sunshade for it too.
 
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I'm of a different opinion, Sam. To control muzzlejump, I brake all pdog rigs, regardless of chambering.


Not really a different opinion, it all has to do with controlling recoil or muzzle jump. Whether you reduce your recoil with a brake or add weight the result is the same. You need to see your hits for the fun and your misses to compensate the next shot. Now some of you may get around that by having another person spot your shots but I don't have that luxury.
 
often times, the lower power scope will only allow you to see dust fly and not see the actual bullet impact. For this reason, a 6-24 is minimum and 8-32 is even better. When the mirage gets up, you can always turn the power down.

With heavy mirage, I usually set my scope on 16x-22x, but when the mirage was not up, you could crank it up to full power.

There is great satisfaction in only seeing a head out of a hole at 300 yards and sucking the dog out of the hole which is impossible with a 16x or lower scope.

The burris 8-32 or B & L 8-32 are very hard scopes to beat.
 
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Now some of you may get around that by having another person spot your shots but I don't have that luxury.



Same here, Sam. I've learned you are your own best spotter. I have a good friend (best shot I've ever met) that dog shoots with me quite a bit. Though we both have plenty of experience, truth is, we're not much good at calling each others misses. Different heights, angles, etc., make calling misses with much more accuracy than sub-foot difficult, at best.

If the range is past 400 yards, it's even worse. Chances are better than 50-50 that we're not even looking at the same dog.

Mike
 
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often times, the lower power scope will only allow you to see dust fly and not see the actual bullet impact.



That's my response when folks observe I must be really recoil sensitive to brake a .223 Rem, much less a .204.

It's not enough to see the dustcloud a split-second after the shot. If you don't see the dirt geyser erupt on a miss, the dustcloud only gives you a marginal point of reference....especially if there's any wind going on. It can drift a half foot in a split second. A good muzzlebrake aids greatly in this respect.

I've observed that a brake doesn't do much for your first-shot ratio, but the use of one will cause your second-shot hit rate to soar.

Mike
 
Buy good glass and the most power you can afford. A fixed power scope will work but it's a poor choice for shooting varmints. If you want to do it right, meaning so that you'll have the best shooting experience, get variable scopes that go to at least 20X and 6-24x is even better. And if 32x is available you'll use it and be glad it's there. Also muzzle brakes.....even a heavy barrelled 223 is more fun to shoot when it's braked. It'll go bang and just sit there, hardly even quiver. Braked guns with powerful scopes are just a pleasure to use.

More about power.....on 17's and a 221, 20X and 24X gets used most of the time on every trip. With 223's and up, scopes are all 24X or 32X. It's not too much power and on most shots they're cranked all the way up. Little targets become big. Have 24X or 32X available and I guarantee you'll use it. I also guarantee you won't be wishing it were only 12 or 15X, or that it was a fixed power scope.
 
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I've tried a lot of scopes for pdogs. This one is almost perfect. The 1/8 MOA target dot is the kitten's whiskers for long range pdogs.



I had that dot on my 6.5X20 VXIII Leupold. Liked it. After buying a new Leupold a year or so ago with the varmint hunter reticle I liked it so much that I sent my old Luppy back to have the VH reticle put in that one as well. SO much easier to for hold over than the dot is. If all your shots are at a known range then I agree, that dot is nice. But if you have hold over and/or wind that VH sure is nice to have. I sure am sold on them.
 
I'm just the opposite. I have a VXIII 6-20X with the Varminter reticle. In fact, I had it before I got the 1/8 dot scopes. I keep a really good comeups table taped to all my dog rifles, and I use the adjustments, and quit trying to hold-over a long time ago.

As time went on, I just found the clutter on the VH reticle to be mildly irritating. In fact, I've zeroed it so one of the tiny 10 mph windage dots is my actual reticle. It's almost as okay as the dot reticle now.... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

There's nothing at all wrong with the VH reticle....it's just personal preference. I like the simple clean dot.

Mike
 
Yeah, I guess that's it. I dont click up at all. I like mildots and lines for hold over. It just faster for me. Sometimes I will shoot at a dog that 100 yards out and next shot it be over 400 yards. Just using the dots or lines for holdover just works much easier for me than to keep fiddling with the elevation knob.

But like you said, personal preference.
 
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