Hunting & Fishing Prairie dog hunting with a 6.5 Creedmore

[Davidu]

This is my first post other than intro in new member forum.
I Prairie dog hunted last summer in Wyoming using a 17hmr, 204, 223, 22-250 and a Tikka CTR 6.5 Creedmore. The first four rifles were excellent at harvesting PDs from 400 -500 yards in as the wind speeds were very manageable. I attempted longer shots with the 6.5CM but could not maintain eye contact due to recoil so didn't see my misses. Plus they had a ton of rain with lots of vegetation. My 6.5 CTR has a Dead air muzzle break and a Nomad suppressor. I added a LImbsaver recoil pad. It has a Zeiss v6 5-25 SFP MOA scope thats calibrated at 25x, which is the power I generally used unless mirage was bad. I didn't have a spotter. Not seeing my misses was really frustrating. I am interested in member's feedback who have used a Tikka Tac a1 in 6.5CM to PD hunt and their ability to see their shots with a chassis type rifle. Thanks

 

[HMRamateur]

What position were you shooting from?

 

[drmikeyj]

I have a suppressed 6.5 Bergara Premier with a Kahles 6-24 in a Manners stock. It’s a heavy beast coming in at 14lbs. With the extra weight and optic magnification, I can make regular PD kills at 900 yards and watch the impact. The rifle originally came with a chassis, but I also struggled to watch hits with the chassis. I think it is a weight issue and heavier is better.

 

[Davidu]

I shot from a DOA shooting bench. I’m not able to shoot from a prone position for very long .
I use a Caldwell Rock front rest and Protektor rear bag.

 

[mmahoney]

I'd dial back the magnification a touch. You shouldn't have trouble seeing your misses with the 6.5 Creedmore.

 

[deersniper]

Yup back the magnification bAck just dial your elevation.


The online training here’s covers recoil management in detail and will help you greatly with spotting your hits.

 

[Davidu]

Thanks

 

[Aescobar17]

This is my first post other than intro in new member forum.
I Prairie dog hunted last summer in Wyoming using a 17hmr, 204, 223, 22-250 and a Tikka CTR 6.5 Creedmore. The first four rifles were excellent at harvesting PDs from 400 -500 yards in as the wind speeds were very manageable. I attempted longer shots with the 6.5CM but could not maintain eye contact due to recoil so didn't see my misses. Plus they had a ton of rain with lots of vegetation. My 6.5 CTR has a Dead air muzzle break and a Nomad suppressor. I added a LImbsaver recoil pad. It has a Zeiss v6 5-25 SFP MOA scope thats calibrated at 25x, which is the power I generally used unless mirage was bad. I didn't have a spotter. Not seeing my misses was really frustrating. I am interested in member's feedback who have used a Tikka Tac a1 in 6.5CM to PD hunt and their ability to see their shots with a chassis type rifle. Thanks

dial your magnification down. You don’t need 25x to kill dogs within 1000. I’ve killed a handful at 630-700 with a NX8 1-8 on my SPR. 15-18x has always been plenty to get past 1000 on them out here.

 

[deersniper]

dial your magnification down. You don’t need 25x to kill dogs within 1000. I’ve killed a handful at 630-700 with a NX8 1-8 on my SPR. 15-18x has always been plenty to get past 1000 on them out here.

WHat caliber? Barrel ? Ammo? Impressive. Aren’t prairie dogs like 1/2-1/3 the size of a groundhog?

 

[Aescobar17]

WHat caliber? Barrel ? Ammo? Impressive. Aren’t prairie dogs like 1/2-1/3 the size of a groundhog?

a 77 gr SMK MK262 clone load out of a 17” Rainier Ultra Match barrel (Rock Creek is barrel supplier). Started as an 18” Ultramatch, but I hate 1/2-28 threads, so I had it cut back to 17” and threaded 5/8-24.

not sure the size of ground hogs, but a prairie dog is roughly 10-12” y’all when standing on its hindlegs, and 3ish inches wide.

 

[Davidu]

Thanks for the reply's
I took your all’s advice and dialed back to 15x. Set up my bench at 605yds. Wind was at 60 degrees at 5-6mph Sent four rounds of 140 gr ELD Match and all hit the target. The Prairie dogs are life size.
Rounds took better than a second to hit target and I was able to reacquire the target and see the hits

 

[Davidu]

Also
Yes I know it doesn’t look much like a Prairie dog. I forgot my stencil and “free handed” the target spray paint

 

[Dale264]

I had a 15lb 6.5 without a brake I took out to SD and WY last summer and several summers before. Recoil was manageable at best. Shooting from prone at 24x, I was able to spot shots past 350. Anything closer and I would move off target too far to see impact. My best advise would be - add weight to the rifle. If it still doesn't help shoot a different gun. I never had spectacular, aerobatic results shooting 140s. 95s were marginally more reactive but less accurate in the wind. I retired the 6.5 and dont miss it.