Hey all,
I’m going prairie dog hunting for the first time this spring and figured I’d grab some binos for spotting. Now, this will be my first pair and here’s some info about my shooting:
1. I have the little Leupold 25x50 armored spotter, which I like, but it’s hard to look through for any length of time
2. I shoot precision .22 and am getting into long range with both a precision-ish AR15 and a Howa Bravo 6.5 CM. I’m thinking about trying out PRS for fun and to learn me some things. I’d also like to learn to spot an help out when at matches when I’m not shooting.
Anyway - I’d love to hear your thoughts on 12x vs 15x and if I’m looking at the right brands. Also, is there anything I’m not considering that I should be?
Thanks!!!
As a precision shooter, you will love prairie dogging. As for Bino's for PD hunting - in a word, they are not necessary. Once you see the first dog town and recognize what it looks like, you can literally spot PD towns with the naked eye from a mile away. I can see them from google maps even. How? PD's eat the grass right down to the ground. From a distance you will look out across the prairie and see large swatches of land where the color of the grass is lighter, very pale green to almost silver where the dogs are living. Outside the dog towns the grass is a bright verdant shade of green. Within the pale zones you will see brown dots spaced a few yard apart. Looking more closely you will see that these are the PD den mounds. From a distance they look like large crawdad holes. Bino's are not necessary. Nice to have but low on my list of must haves. A laser range finder is far more useful.
Shooting PD's at 75-250y is folly. After the first loud shot all the dogs but the dumbest with duck underground for as far out as 200y or more. You will find that the typical shot on PD's if they have been hunted at all is about 300-350y. With a 22 and a can you can sit and pick off the close ones out to about 200y. After that you will need to go to the centerfire unless there is no wind at all (not likely). You will also find that use of an AR15 will lead to frustration because most are not accurate enough to hit a PD at 350y and they all toss the brass so far that you loose most of it. Leave the AR home unless it is capable of grouping three shots into 1/4" at 100y. Note: My go to PD rifle groups three into 1/4" at 200y with hand loads.
Here is my approach: Find the town and choose a site that has the wind at your back or direct into your face to limit wind drift. Set up shooting benches or mats for prone work on a high point. The adult PD's are about the size of a 1 quart bottle and the juveniles are closer to the size of a pop can or slightly smaller. Any rifle that cannot hit a pop can at 300y is going to be mostly just extra baggage. We start with 22's using match grade std velocity ammo. It is accurate and quiet. We spend time head shooting the adults from 100y out to about 2-3 hundred yds depending on wind conditions. The adults disappear pretty quick. When we get tired of playing with the 22lr's or just cannot hit the tgt anymore due to wind or distance, we get out the 17 rimfires. 17mach2, 17hmr and 17WSM. These can reach out a little further but are very sensitive to winds. The 17's can reach out to about 150 to 300y with hit or miss success. We call it dust and adjust. Once those become useless, we get the 223's and 22-250's out. I prefer the 223 for the following reasons: The ammo is cheap, the brass is plentiful and the recoil is light so you can keep your sight picture and do your own spotting. 350y is a chip shot for a good 223 on PD's. I have killed em out to 550 to 575 meters which is about 628yds. I cannot hit every shot at that distance but enough to make it still fun. Many times if you have the rifle and the skill, you can shoot much further out there but will need more rifle for that. This is where the 243, 22-250, 6prc, 6.5CM all start to shine. Trouble with all of these is they heat up fast, recoil requires a spotter, and barrel life is shorter. So, we only deploy them for the long ass shots if at all.
Prairie dogging is a sport that starts in the winter. Work up a great match grade load for your centerfire of choice. I use once fired commercial brass, match primers, and either Nosler BT's or Hornady VMax in 40g for 223 loaded onto a near max load of H335. This gives about 3600 to 3610fps across my chrono. They are not the most accurate but when zeroed at 250y they are point blank out to 350y. For 200y I aim at their feet and for 350y I aim at their head and rarely miss. Out beyond that, you can adjust or just hold over. A 2nd load is a lighter charge of H335 with a 55g match grade bullet. Those can work slightly better on windy days. Spend winter cranking out about 1-2 thousand rounds of good grade ammo for each rifle you plan to take. Two centerfire total of 2000 rds is enough for a week of shooting. A brick or two of ammo for each rimfire. Spend time at the range testing loads if you do not already have a good load worked up for your rifle(s). These days getting 1000 of any one component can be a challenge. Do the best you can. Work up your ballistic dope for each rifle and each load. A ballistic app like Strelok Pro is a great tool for use in the field. You will hit more shots and waste less ammo. A good optic that has great glass and good turrets are also a big plus but you do not need high magnification. Most of my shots were taken at 8x to 12x and no more. My first trip I took a Rem 700 223 with a Tasco world class 8-32x scope on it. Today, I would do things differently. A 6-24x or 3-12x is enough with a FFP MIL reticle so I can dial my range and aim point bland for each shot. Hit rate goes up. I have learned a lot about wind drift, spin drift and ballistics since my first trip.
My Rem has the old style slow twist bbl and will not stabilize the heavy bullets. I have another one that I built which has the fast twist bbl 1:9 and it likes the 62's and 75's. It will work better for the longer shots. Out past about 400y, the results become more random. And keep in mind that all but the best match grade commercial ammo will struggle to print groups that are twice the size of your best handloads. So, don't go out there expecting to hit dogs at 500+ yds using commercial ammo. You will be disappointed. Every 30 min or so, we stop to let the bbl's cool and drink some water and clean the rifles. By the time we finish, the dogs are back up out of the holes and you can repeat the process. You will be amazed how far out you can hit them after a few days of practice.
After a few days of slaughter, you will find that making a hit at 350y is pretty easy and you start to look for challenges. I like to find two or three lined up in a row and see how many I can get with one shot. Or, hit one that explodes killing the one beside it. Or, hit them in the abdomen which blasts all of the grass in their belly out their a$$ launching the body skyward. We try to see who gets the most hang time, lol. Lots of variation.
I always remember to ask permission of the ranchers and respect their land and livestock. And be sure to stop and thank them when finished. I have never been turned down if I wanted to shoot PD's on private land. Avoid handling the carcasses. Sometimes PD's carry bubonic plague and it is transmitted by fleas on their body. Spray insect repellant on your legs and pants/boots and don't park in the middle of the dog towns to avoid illness. Park on the perimeter about 100-200y out. It is about as much fun as you can have with a rifle that is legal.
