PD bonanza?

[270man]

Fellow PD (and other varmints) shooters:

Please give me your experiences/opinions regarding the number of shots at prairie dogs in one day. Here's the deal -- A friend of mine says he sometimes fired 500 rounds at PDs in a single day back in his home state. I just read a published article by a guy associated with Hornady where he says he has experienced 1000-round PD outings several times.

I"m a bit skeptical but won't argue with anyone who has actually done this or witnessed such a shooting bonanza. If a hunter begins shooting at 7am and continues until 7pm, he has spent 12 hours in the field. That is exactly 720 minutes. 500 PDs calculates to one shot at a PD approximately every 1-1/2 minutes. For 1000 shots, the shooter must fire a round every 0.7 minutes (every 43 seconds).

If you throw in breaks for lunch, calls of nature, moving to a new PD town, etc., then the shooter has to fire even more often to get in the 500 or 1000 rounds. Another post on this forum says that the hunter fired 200 rounds or more. 200 rounds is believable and plenty enough shooting to make me envious.

270man

[Jonesy]

I've brought out the Core Bon people a few times and they've shot an easy 5 to 600 rounds each. I have easily shot over 1000 rounds of 22lr in an afternoon. I've used AR 15 type .223 varminters and probably shot close to 1000 rounds in a day. It's easy to burn up ammo, just how many dogs are you hitting? At a dog town that is not hammered very often, the 22 long rifle is the trick. It doesn't make enough noise to frighten them and they stay out. You use anything bigger and the sound and the impact of the bullet hitting near sends them down.

Any more, there are not a lot of dog towns like that, a few, but not many. They usually get shot at so frequently that they hit the holes at first sight of anything or they get poisoned, usually the latter.

[gspsonny03]

If you can get into a dog town that's 100 to 200 acres in size and haven't been shot at much or at all and you get there when the pups are just starting to run around the hole, it's not uncommon to shoot that many rounds. A lot of times you can get as many as 4 to 5 shots at the same hole. My Brother and I had just a place many years ago. We could burn up a brick of 22 shells for close dogs and use our 22-250's for farther dogs and shoot 500 rounds a piece. We still couldn't put a dent into the towns and the guy had them poisened. Usually you can't get that good of a job by poisening them but this guy that did this job was good and he got a lot of them. Really hated to see that, but I can sure understand it from a Ranchers point of view.

[skb2706]

I shoot pds all the time, spent all yesterday morning shooting them. Its pretty common for guys that spend a bunch of money to do it will shoot hundreds of rounds in a couple of days. Those of us who have all the opportunity to shoot them anytime tend to shoot some and call it a day. Over the weekend I shot 350 rounds between me and my son. It was very hot and dry with millions of biting black flies. I shot all I could want. I also stay at my sisters so the daily drive is less than 20 miles one way to shoot. I often question the total number of rounds some guys SAY they shoot as time only allows for so much. A friend of mine drove 1100miles to shoot with me for three days, he used a total of 600 rds. and was extremely happy with the time and the shooting.

Most shots I have shot in two days was 700 and I wouldn't do it again.

Between eye fatigue, the heat, the biting flies, gun recoil and exposure to the sun I see no point in taking beyond comfort and fun.

PS if you shot 1000 rds of ammo in one day from a CF rifle in 100 degree weather, bright sunshine there are a couple possible observations-

1. you are desperate and have spent big bucks to get there

2. its free and you are in ideal conditions with more amenities than most peoples homes offer.

3. you are lying - anyone with 4th grade math can figure out how rediculous that is

4. you are stupid

[gspsonny03]

Sounds like someone got their sore tail stepped on here. Mighty bold statements from someone who doesn't know the gun, the man behind the gun or the terrain they were in.
Depending on what kind of gun you use and how fast you want to shoot it, I think it could be doable. I also didn't see where anyone said they shot a 1000 dogs.
If you aren't shooting like they do on most of the hunting shows and taking 10 minutes to get the cross hairs on the animal you might be able to. Also if you have your own land and you are comfortable with your safety factors and don't really care if you kill 1000 dogs you can burn a lot of powder in a short period of time. Just my 02 cents

[skeet]

Although I have never shot a thousand rounds at PD's in one day. I have shot over 1300 rounds of 12 ga in one day...more than one time, too. Used to shoot pigeons in towns and at grain elevators. It was the best way to get rid of the pesky critters. We got paid to do it. Not a lot but the shells were free and we shot 'em. Most pigeons 4 of us ever killed in one day was 3900. Yep..it was a JOB!! But somebody had to do it. And shooting over a 1000 12 ga shells is a real chore. In a 10 yr period I shot over 600,000 shells(well over). So it should be fairly easy to shoot 1000 rounds of (relatively) light recoiling varmint rounds in one day if you have the targets and the inclination to do so. I have a Bushmaster varminter(very accurate by the way) and the biggest chore with it is loading the mags. It is very easy to shoot. Also, it is very easy to shoot 10 rounds in a short period of time without heating the bbl up to any great degree..and then go to another rifle for a bit. My largest caliber I use for varmints is a 243 Ruger #1..but it heats up rather quickly.

[skb2706]

Originally posted by gspsonny03
Sounds like someone got their sore tail stepped on here. Mighty bold statements from someone who doesn't know the gun, the man behind the gun or the terrain they were in.
Depending on what kind of gun you use and how fast you want to shoot it, I think it could be doable. I also didn't see where anyone said they shot a 1000 dogs.
If you aren't shooting like they do on most of the hunting shows and taking 10 minutes to get the cross hairs on the animal you might be able to. Also if you have your own land and you are comfortable with your safety factors and don't really care if you kill 1000 dogs you can burn a lot of powder in a short period of time. Just my 02 cents

It read just like this


"I just read a published article by a guy associated with Hornady where he says he has experienced 1000-round PD outings several times. "

10 hours (number of shootable hours in an excellent day)

60 minutes in an hour times 10 = 600 minutes

You are suggesting someone actually sat down and shot one shot every 36 seconds without stopping for anything. I want to see it..............still say its rediculous. No tail to step on I just know when to call "BS".

[scalerman]

If you are talking about a bolt action rifle with each shot being carefully and thoughtfully placed then I am inclined to agree with you. But if you put a semi-auto into the mix and also that not every shot is taken with the utmost of care then it would be very easy to go through a suprisingly huge number of rounds in a day. I have had days hunting ground squirrels where I personally burned up 200 rounds out of my single shot bolt action 22 while my companions each went through a brick of shells and more in their semi-autos. It is not outside the realm of possibility to go through that many shells in a day.

[skb2706]

Actually I am saying that I have 10000 acres of private family farm land to shoot pds on. Most has been shot only a very little and the shots come as quickly as you would like. I bring friends from all over to shoot with me and will contend that very very few people can keep up a shooting pace for even one day like that. This is a sampling on some of the weapons they will bring........you decide for yourself, we don't use rimfires.



It often seems like you have shot much more but the actual count is nearly always way less.

We shoot for eradication as this is pest depredation at its finest so the motivation is there.

[Jonesy]

I've been shooting and poisoning PD's for over 30 years, have shot PD's numerous times with people all over the world as well as with owners and employees of Dakota Arms, Satterlee Arms and Core bon ammo to name some. But I guess I really know nothing, I don't have a problem with that, I have nothing to prove to anyone. I would rather hunt with a challenge than shoot a damn prairie dog anyways, all you do is burn up ammo, big deal. For the most part PD's equals boredom or work for me, I do however enjoy the kick others get from them.

How's this for BS, I could shoot at a different PD town every day for months! I use to be the natural resource manager for Meade County South Dakota, was born and raised here, and from ranching background, know where hundreds of PD towns are. When I do go now days, it's only to bring someone and it's to a close friend or family members place, have a couple dozen relatives that ranch yet and several hundred thousands of acres to enjoy. The largest PD town I poisoned out was over 1400 acres. My harshest stint was poisoning between 5000 and 8000 acres of PD's every year for 5 years straight. If you take an average of 6500 acres a year and multiply that by an average of 30 PD's per acre, over that 5 years, it makes a million PD's give or take. Pretty rude huh? You can shoot 200 PD's in an hour or more with a 22 lr, it's easy, message me and I'll tell you how. What is fun is PD fishing!

So with what I've got and done, why would I care? Cause I really don't... If someone has a chip on their shoulder or is jealous, that's something they have to deal with, not my area of expertise.

[Tall Shadow]

That's a heck of allot of Prairie Dogs Jonesy!

I can only dream of being able to find a few places like that, when I make a long awaited trip out to South Dakota next year! It's a trip a few friends and I have been talking about for years(Literally).

Don't let people giving you grief bother you. You and Your's know what is true, and what isn't.

Now tell us about Prairie Dog Fishing!


Tall Shadow