Prairie dog season is in full swing in Arizona. I am curious as to the type of equipment others use.

What rifle?

What scope?

What cartridge?

Out this way, I shoot prairie dogs all year round, at least when the weather is above 20 degrees in the winter. Will be going out again this weekend.
Rifle---Savage FVSS in .223
Scope--Mueller 4-16 Mil-dot
Cartridge--Winchester Brass - Varget powder-55 Gr. V-Max
Rangefinder--Bushnell Elite 1500
The better hunts are all walkins--Never see another soul
Use several different bi-pods

Good doggie shooting to all of you that participate--tr

I shoot out east at my sister place and all her neighbors. Give me about 10000 acres to work with year round if I choose although they start harvest in two weeks and that is a poor time to shoot.

My son and I shoot and my wife is our spotter. We take a collection of TC Contender carbines/barrels including
MGM .204 ruger
factory .204 Ruger
Bullberry .221 FB
VVCG 6mm 30-30 AI
.223 Remington

using scopes
Mueller 4.5 x 14
Weaver KT15
Bushnell 3200 10x
Burris 3 x 9 40mm BP


Other rifles include a custom barreled Savage 110 in
22-250 AI
Remington 700 SA in .260
Remington Sendero in .300 Win mag

anything else we can fit in the truck. I leave my shooting table out on the pasture in an old out building, chairs at my sisters place and take the rest.
I am going this afternoon for a couple days so I am working off my list.

This one is my baby
23" MGM .204 Ruger cut from a Shilen blank
Bullberry buttstock
handmade lignum vitae foreend for weight and balance
1 1/2 lb. trigger on original Contender frame
Weaver KT15 scope
can make 400 yd. shots with anything in its class.
Will also shoot 'toe to toe' with the 22-250 AI bolt gun.

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My sons girlfriend taking her very first shot and making it with the same rifle. 320 yds - center mass.

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Howa 1500 Varminter Supreme in .204 Ruger with 32 Vmax at 4040 fps and 40 V-maxs at 3650. Both have done exellent out to 400 yds. (I've not tried anything farther out) Scope is a Bushnell Elite 3200 in 4-12. The 12 power has been more useful than I expected.

Last weekend we had a great time during the p-dog opener!

My first love on a 'dog town is my Savage 12FV in .223. It has a Millett 6x25 with a 56mm objective and side focus. 45gr Hornady V-Max bullets over H-335 powder does the job out as far as I am capable of shooting.
I have tried a Remington 700ADL in 6mm, my Browning 1885 in 7mm Mag, a Ruger 77 in 220 Swift, my Ruger 10-22, and now I am going to try my Beretta Storm in 40s&w as soon as I get some 135gr HP bullets loaded for it. "Dog Dunking" is an extremely fun pastime.

Savage 112 in .223 Weaver T15.
Custom Mauser 400 supreme with douglas bbl, 6x18 Redfield, 25.06
Savage 116 300RUM, Burris 3.5x10 for the long shots.
Marlin 1895g Lyman reciever sight.....just for fun !!!!

I like my Contender set in 17 AH. The carbine has an 18" Bullberry tube and will push a 20 gr VMax out at 3500 fps. The pistol has a 12 " Bullberry tube mounting a Burris 3-12X pistol scope and gives 3200 fps. Have taken PD out to 289 yds with the pistol. Have missed the last two years of PD shooting, another itch that needs scratching. The Belding Ground Squirrel in CA are fun but, they're not PD.

When it's time to switch from the 17 AH, there's the 223, the 22-243 Middlestead, the 22-250 Mauser 98, the 17 Jet Ruger #1 and for the long renge stuff a 6 X 284 with a 30" tube and a leupold 32X target scope.

Hi Handloader, Just started varmit hunting and I picked up a Savage FLV in the Ruger 204 I placed a B&L 4000 elite on top of it and a bipod.
I am still looking to see if Savage supplies a wagon for this rifle (just kidding). I am loading 26.5 grs. of hodgdons h4895 in winchester case and 39SBKs. I can not believe how accurate this little calibre is.

First time post-
To Arizona prarie dog hunters:
Where do you go?
I've never done it, and want to-
All I have is a CZ 452 .22LR with
no scope yet.
However, I'd sure like to hear your
suggestions.
Thank you.

DavidBAz wrote:

First time post- To Arizona prarie dog hunters: Where do you go? I've never done it, and want to- All I have is a CZ 452 .22LR with no scope yet. However, I'd sure like to hear your suggestions. Thank you.

I don't live in AZ but I will offer up some general tidbits from many years of shooting them.

- getting someone to tell you where "their spot is" is like getting them to give up directions to their goldmine
- you can shoot pds with just about anything that launches bullets...no doubt, but your 22lr will be limited in its effective range. You will likely see many dogs that are out of range for your 22lr but well within the range of most centerfire varmint rifles. Beyond 100 yds. is mostly a lob shot for a 22lr.

Ruger M77 MKII VT in .22-250.
Ruger M77 in .257 Roberts.

And, on occasion, everything else form .22LR to .45-70.

Encore Rifle w/ 204 Barrel
Simmins Whitetail classic 6.5x24x50mm
Hornaday factory ammo w/ 32gr V-max
4 boxes left, then its time to start reloading

Welcome to the HuntingNut odawgp Sit and stay awhile, A lot of good people here
Joe

I use a Bushmaster AR-15 with a heavy 20 inch barrel with 55gr Vmax, Rem 700 LTR in 308 with 168gr match bullets and just for fun i take my .50 BMG rifle shooting 750gr Amax bullets