Posted on 05/08/2019 4:48:33 AM PDT by w1n1
Varmint Control builds Long-Range Shooting Skills - If you're Looking to Improve your Shooting Abilities, Helping Farmers and others out by Targeting Prairie Dogs fills the Bill.
I frequently find myself dreaming about connecting with spectacularly long shots. Not like a solid 100-yard kill shot at a whitetail, mule deer or elk resting at the fork in a tree, but long, legendary shots that immediately become the fodder for modern lore.
I’m talking about ridiculous “struggle to see with the naked eye” far at a target so small you struggle to keep it located in your optic. The shots you make that are so impossible your company will cheer, stand, high-five and dance in disbelief as you revel in your victory.
Shots like that don’t come very often. Sure, we see videos and hear stories of guys taking down an elk at 700 yards, or a standing shot on a whitetail at 400. Both are fantastic shots, but they’re irregular, rare and not shots we get to practice frequently before that time arises.
Am I right? If we are ethical hunters doing our part, then practice at different ranges under varying conditions is a regular part of our preseason preparation.
When that time comes, however, we pray for one shot and hope it hits true. Shooting at a target, a bucket or a watermelon is nice practice, just no substitute for the real thing.
What if I told you that such shots can be had not only routinely, but free of charge if you’re willing to provide the ammo, pay for gas and take a little bit of initiative by doing the leg work?
What if I said you could add four legs, fur and the thrill of a hunt to your practice? And that your practice would be a valuable public service for ranchers and row-crop farmers alike?
Interested yet? I thought so. Welcome to the wonderful world of prairie dog hunting, where the tag quota is infinity, the shots commonly vary from 10 to 500 (or more) yards, and the only thing limiting your success is your level of enthusiasm and a potential ammo shortage. Read the rest of prairie dog hunting.
OMG! Killing prairie dogs, an endangered species.
A couple decades back we were at a National Park where wife and I used to enjoy the evening talks given by the rangers. One talk was on prairie dogs. The the lefty honey that gave the talk said how extinct they were becoming, that one of the few places they have survived was in this park, and their habitat was only a couple of acres.
This was a flat out right lie. We toured the park before the talk, and knew for fact what could be seen from the road amounted to dozens of acres of them. We also knew they were all over the ranching territory nearby creating problems for ranchers.
Many of those listening to her lies got up and left. We never attended another talk.
I confronted a ranger over the lie, the guy just laughed and walked off.
When I lived in Middletown, Ohio in the early 80’s, one of my co-workers introduced me to prairie dog hunting. The farmers southern Ohio farmers were very happy to have you rid their property of them. I was using a 700 Remington chambered in.22-.250 with a Leupold 4-9x scope. Great fun!
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What if I said you could add two legs, black disguises and the thrill of a hunt to your practice? And that your practice would be a valuable public service for the entire country? Interested yet? I thought so. Welcome to the wonderful world of antifa hunting, where the tag quota is infinity, the shots commonly vary from 300 to 1500 (or more) yards, and the only thing limiting your success is your level of enthusiasm and a potential ammo shortage and of course getting arrested. Read the rest at liberal hunting.
Well that isn't what the article says, but maybe one day there will be open season on "enemies domestic." :-)
If the liberals keep pushing their insane leftist/socialist/communist/tyranny agenda they might just push this country into open war, and while NONE of us want that (Kosovo in the late 90's as I understand it was not a happy place), I suspect that they'll be even more unhappy with the process than we are.
We used to go to Wyoming to hunt pronghorn (antelope)
and deer. The hunts were in different areas so we
had to drive a ways to get to the antelope area. It
was a sheep ranch and the owner wanted us to shoot
every coyote we could see for obvious reasons.
Conversely, the cattle rancher where we hunted deer
wanted us to leave the coyotes alone. He said the
coyotes didn’t bother the cattle much but they
ate the hell out of prairie dogs and that was a good
thing. The holes dug the prairie dogs were hell on
horse and cattle legs.
They don’t have Prairie dogs in Ohio.
Most likely woodchucks in Ohio
I have shot 10’s of thousands of Prairie dogs.
.223 and 22-250 were mostly use but all the way up to my 416 Taylor.
What do you do with them, leave them for the coyotes and vultures?
Yep, except in Ohio (and in Western NY where I grew up) they are called Woodchucks. A different species from those on the West. The farmers were happy for you to shoot them. Their hay rake's wheel would drop into the woodchuck hole and the tines on the rake would break from hitting the ground.
good times
They would also tunnel under the barns and other structures.
The Fish and Wildlife Service has completed a status review of the black-tailed prairie dog and has determined it does not warrant protection as a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (Black-Tailed Prairie Dog)
Happy shooting! ^_^
My Sons call them, “Plague Puppies.”
They are known to have bubonic plague around here.
My Savage 22-250 works nice.
Also plague sources.
I ran into a guy at the range the other day shooting a Savage Model 99 in .22 Savage. Interesting gun that was way ahead of its time.
L
Groundhogs in Kentucky. Farmers would let us hunt as long we killed all we saw. Used a Remington 222, mom removed the “kernel” and then baked them in a big iron kettle with onions and potatoes.
Quite tasty.
Yes, the bits and pieces that remain after a solid hit are cleaned up by scavengers. IIRC, prairie dogs have been known to engage in cannibalism, too - so, self-cleaning!
This nonsense started back in the 1970s in an anti-gun, anti-hunting TV show called SAY GOODBY, and later another anti-hunting TV show THE GUNS OF AUTUMN.
Both showed faked hunting footage designed to outrage an ignorant public.
You were supposed to ping me!!!! LOL!!
What is a sod poodle? Doppler Dave sets out to find anyone ...
www.newschannel10.com/story/38318457/what-is-a-sod-poodle-doppler-dave-sets-out-to...
According to Amarillo Professional Baseball, “Sod Poodles” is a pioneer’s nickname for the “Prairie Dogs.” They say this fun-loving local animal is very aggressive in protecting its family and home. Other names suggested are: Amarillo Boot Scooters, Amarillo …
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