looking at purchasing another 223 Remington for a trip to South Dakota. Looking at scopes also can't decide if Mil Dots would cover to much of the critters or if it'd be perfect for Milling at Unknown Distances. Thank you for the help.
Hunting & Fishing Who runs a Mil Dot Scope on their Prairie Dog gun?
- Thread starter razor100
- Start date
Use a range finder for ranging and get some thing with the hash marks for wind holds as the dots will be to big if shooing far. you will never get an accurate range trying to mill them as they all very in size and dont sit still very long
I use a Bushnell Elite Tactical Mil/Mil 6-24X. Yes the dots can cause a problem on pups, and/ or any of them outside 300 yards. Just like any other target, I dial elevation and hold wind. I have a range finder with me at all times but sometimes there isn't enough of a vertical object for the laser to bounce off of, and I resort to milling the prarie dogs.
At home, my elevation is 600' above sea level with a DA range of -500' to +3000'. Where I shoot prarie dogs, in the Texas panhandle, the elevation is 4500' above sea level with a DA range of 4200' to 8000'. By having a Mil/ Mil scope I can input the environmentals and have the correct trajectory for my conditions. This is even with a fast .22-250. I learned the hard way that inputting DA and temp is very important.
At home, my elevation is 600' above sea level with a DA range of -500' to +3000'. Where I shoot prarie dogs, in the Texas panhandle, the elevation is 4500' above sea level with a DA range of 4200' to 8000'. By having a Mil/ Mil scope I can input the environmentals and have the correct trajectory for my conditions. This is even with a fast .22-250. I learned the hard way that inputting DA and temp is very important.
I have used both mil dot and uso mdmoa reticle. Once you get used to either they work equally as well. Pdog shots are typically so fast I don't have time to dial. You get accustomed to ranging by feel after a while that you don't need a range finder. I still use a set of leica range finding binoculars to reference landmarks such as a bush or fence post to to glass the kill box.
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It can be done. under some conditions I was having a terrible time getting good consistent readings from my LRF. The furthest I have gotten a good range on a PD using mils was in the neighborhood of 650. That's what I dialed for, and the shot connected. Beyond that the conditions deteriorated enough due to mirage that tryong to get a good reading on them was hit or miss.
I have went pd hunting a few years back. My ranging skills are not the best so I took a range finder. When I used a ret I could be off just a little bit and miss the dag (of course). If I just used a range finder, my first round hit ratio went up. More shots save with the range finder, the more I got to shoot and kill. Like said above, use the ret for hold off.
Ive always used mildots on my PD rifles. I Like keeping it simple. i dont range with them... all my optics are mildot or MOA reticle--AR and BOLT. When i shoot with my buddies (also using mildots) we spot for each. Each of us being on the gun..we can call out hits and misses and
explain our holds on a Dogg....Example.. Shot---"miss. Low." "Ok, ill hold 1/2 or 1 mildot over" Shot --"Hit". if i missed again he could take a shot holding another dot...
Not perfect science...but it is nice to use for communication. A range finder is a must on a Pdogg trip. but,....sometimes its hard to get a hit on a flat prairie field past 300yrs.
i personnally havent had any trouble with doggs being covered up to much at distance. We have sent hundreds of 50-55gr vmax rounds out to 5-700 yds...with Vietnam era hit ratios sometimes....but damn its fun.
with a .223...but fun .
explain our holds on a Dogg....Example.. Shot---"miss. Low." "Ok, ill hold 1/2 or 1 mildot over" Shot --"Hit". if i missed again he could take a shot holding another dot...
Not perfect science...but it is nice to use for communication. A range finder is a must on a Pdogg trip. but,....sometimes its hard to get a hit on a flat prairie field past 300yrs.
i personnally havent had any trouble with doggs being covered up to much at distance. We have sent hundreds of 50-55gr vmax rounds out to 5-700 yds...with Vietnam era hit ratios sometimes....but damn its fun.
with a .223...but fun .
I run mil dot scopes on all my rigs. Makes for fast adjustments for hold over/winds when needed, they dont cover up p-dogs until you start shooting past 400yds, & at that range you arent blocking them even at 800 yds Im not covering totally them up due to the reticle.
I run Mildots. Last year, my first year PD shooting, I was at a good location where they ignorant to my repeated missed shots because of miss ranging and wind. So I was just using the dots to make quick holds and shooting again. They were only running if you got really close and if you got closer they went flying!
We dont have prairie dogs in the communist democrat state I live in, but we do have woodchucks. I use mil/mil scopes on my varmint rifles but not to range with the mil dots. If I take a long shot and miss by a quarter mil {windage or elevation} I simply turn the correct turret that much and make the shot. Might not work for dogs, but for woodchucks...they are kinda stupid and slow sometimes.
A Mil dot will cover a different amount of the animal at different distances: Like , say..... 3.6" of one that is at 100 yards.
It's hard to accurately Mil a moving prairie dog. The reason you want a gradiated reticle is for windage holds on movers.
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