And so it begins...

Rocky Raab · #1 04-19-2007, 09:35 AM

Another prairie dog season, that is.

I've written here of the rancher who has such a terrible infestation that his 100-acre pasture and tens of thousands of dollars in irrigation gear are ruined. This year, he begged us to come shoot the place early to get as many nursing mamas as possible - and thus the pups which are still underground. Normally, I refuse to do that as cruel and inhumane. But this isn't a sport situation, it's truly an eradication attempt.

So my shooting buddy and I went out there Tuesday while the weather was good (70* and near calm, partly cloudy) before a forecasted front. When we got there, we learned that a whole family had just shot the place for a week solid. It was either that or poison the whole ranch, and as they have horses grazing, that's not a viable alternative.

Anyway, there were still a few smaller dogs (males, probably) and much larger ones (the females) up and about. We settled in and began. Standing on the tailgate and using the pickup shell as a bench, we'd glass and shoot until the dogs went down, then move a couple hundred yards and start over. We don't need to shoot much beyond 275 yards this way, and I made some hits with the Hornet even at those ranges before the wind came up, then switched to my .223.
My buddy By Smalley uses his 5mm/35 SMc round exclusively for this. I would use mine, but my supply of brass is low and I'm still working on test loads for him. His 5mm/35 launches 30-gr Berger bullets at 4500 fps and really does a number on a PD.

We worked at it until 5 pm but the shooting was slow. Partly due to the heavy shooting the week prior, and also due to the increasing clouds. PDs do NOT like to be in cloud shadow, as they can't see the wing shadows of eagles unless it's sunny. Every time a cloud rolled by, they'd quickly go to their holes until the sun came out again. But we managed to kill 50 or so by the end of the day.

We'll go back as soon as the good weather returns. It was sunny and 70* Tuesday, but it started spitting rain by that evening, and on Wednesday we got three inches of snow. Still cold with mixed rain/snow this morning, and four more days of storms forecast. Time to reload more ammo! We have three other ranches almost as badly infested, and we have promised those ranchers to shoot their places, too.

Tall Shadow · #2 04-19-2007, 03:47 PM

Wow! Rocky.... They are that bad out there huh?

I knew that they got bad, but I'd thought it had been a bad couple of years "Out West" for the PD population to pose much of a problem for landowners....I guess I was wrong.....Wow!

I can only hope that the winter/spring will have been good for the South Dakota PD's (and, unfortunately, bad for the land owners) for Our planed trip out there this June.

Do You, or anyone else, know of any SD landowners who are looking for a little "help" with their PD populations?

Tall Shadow

toxic111 · #3 04-19-2007, 04:18 PM

I am hoping that it warms up here soon so I can get out and play with the hummer and the local gopher population... damn snow..

Rocky Raab · #4 04-20-2007, 09:27 AM

Tall Shadow, the PD infestation runs in pockets. We can drive down that road for miles and not see a single mound, then round a corner and for the next two or three miles, they're everywhere.

My partner has been shooting that one ranch for five years with almost no effect, but he didn't used to get there much before June. The Wyoming DWR estimates that there are 2,000 PDs that winter over in that pasture, but after the pups are up, that number jumps to 10,000. Even 2,000 are ruinous to a pasture, as every single one of them will eat a bail of hay a year.

That's why we started real early this year. Killing a nursing female is like getting six or seven per shot. It's not sport, and it isn't humane, but it is better than poisoning the place and having a lot of accidental "spill" deaths in eagles, hawks, coyotes and badgers that eat the poisoned ones. Not to mention the guy's own livestock.

Sorry about SD, I don't have to drive past millions of PDs just to shoot them there. So I don't have any info for ya.

Tall Shadow · #5 04-20-2007, 10:57 AM

No problem Rocky!, I just Had to ask....just in case!...

I really didn't think you knew of any........but one can never tell!

You being our local "Big Celebrity" and all!

What you describe (The "pocket effect") sounds like what most everyone has been telling me about them in general. You might "luck out" and run in to the Mother-load, or have to "shoot & move" the whole time you're out.

I wish that we could afford to dive a little farther "Out West", as all of the people I've been hearing from are having good luck shooting lots of PD's out your way....It sounds like the conditions have been ideal for a population growth of them for a few years out there.......Oh Well, I just hope it's going to be good in South Dakota too!

Take Care!

Tall Shadow

skb2706 · #6 04-20-2007, 12:24 PM

Started for me three weekends ago. And since it is my sisters farm land and she farms wheat and not prairie dogs we shoot all we can. Although I think we may be off a bit on numbers out here on the plains there is still a ton of shooting to be done.

Check out the new shooter taking and connecting on her first shot...320 yds.

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Drew_CarreyAB · #7 06-04-2007, 01:54 AM

Man.....I wish I had a shooting ground like that...I can see for lotsa yards and I could crank out the 300WM for some real distance there. Is the rifle a T/C or a NEF? What caliber is the rifle?

Catfish · #8 06-07-2007, 06:46 AM

Ok Rocky,
You brought up 1 I`ve never heard of. What case is the 5mm/35 SMc based on. Sounds like maybe a 35 Rem., but I would think there are many cases with nearly the same volume that would be better suited. SO, WHAT IS IT ?????

skb2706 · #9 06-08-2007, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Drew_CarreyAB
Man.....I wish I had a shooting ground like that...I can see for lotsa yards and I could crank out the 300WM for some real distance there. Is the rifle a T/C or a NEF? What caliber is the rifle?

drew- My sisters place and you can shoot from where we are out past 450 yds. ....that is one of many places we can shoot but this one has a burm that puts you 15 feet above the lay of the land. The gun is a custom MGM barreled TC Contender carbine in .204 Ruger, Weaver 16x scope and a nice Bullberry stock that makes for a nice little rig. My son has a similar setup but his is a factory job with a Mueller scope. We do prairie dogs.........
We'll take a few other rifles and a couple more barrels but the .204s get the bulk of the shooting.

Your .300 WM would wear you down in a short bit of time. I have taken mine out just to see what it will do but it is far from the "ideal, all day, 300-400 rds. kind of pd rifle".

June 22-24 we'll go smackl them around again before the black flies get so bad we can't get out of the truck.