Best Caliber for Long Range Prairie Dog Hunting? | Gun Talk Radio

One of the best calibers for hunting prairie dogs is one of the most common. Christian calls in to ask the important question as to what gun he needs to hunt long-range prairie dogs? He believes an accurized 22-250 would do the job, but Gun Talk’s Tom Gresham, Chris Cerino, and Kevin “KJ” Jarnagin have a few thoughts on what might work better. Shooters must consider recoil and other factors to enjoy a full day of hunting prairie dogs.


Copyright ©2022 Freefire Media, LLC

[bill]

I have been shooting prairie dogs for over 20 years. After many forays with standard and wildcat cartridges, I have settled on bringing a 4-gun battery with me each year. The shoots are normally 3 to 4 days, and it is not uncommon to shoot upwards of 300 to 400 rounds each day at a leisurely pace. I handload and after 20 years have more than sufficient brass, bullets, primers, and powder on hand. The final four for the past almost ten years are all bolt action rifles, in 204 Ruger, 223 Rem, 22-250 Rem and a 220 Swift. By alternating the rifles, overheating is not an issue and there has not been a dog that I have considered too far with this squad of rifles. I would only disagree that recoil is an issue. None of these cartridges in the rifles they are chambered in have ever become uncomfortable to shoot. I don’t rush and none of the rifles while being bolt actions has hindered follow-up shots. I have nothing against prairie dogging with an AR (I own several), I just enjoy the bolt guns too much.

[Chris-D]

I've been going out west every year for a few years now to do prairie dog shooting. We don't normally shoot long distances(500+) but it is fun to challenge yourself to do so. I especially love trying to shoot my .22lr out past 500 and have had successful shots in the 500-600 yard range. My suggestion on the topic for people new to prairie dog hunting is to bring rimfires, .22lr, .17hmr, .22 wmr, ammo is cheap(er) you can shoot all day and all are great to have when you're letting your centerfires cool. Here's what we usually have within the group - .17 and .22hornet, .223 rem, .204ruger, .22-250, .220 swift. .243 win, 6mm creedmoor, 6 prc and 6mm arc would be a great addition, especially if you want to sit farther back from the dog towns and practice longer range shots.

[jmfjmf]

Last week I did my first sage rat shooting (Klamath Falls area), it made a great excuse to finally get a 17HMR (Ruger PR), got a Vortex Crossfire II 6x24 put on it, 50 to 250 yards shoots pretty easy.

[nospam]

Cost is relative. If you've never bought or built a good rifle, $1, 000 seems like a lot. If you already have a couple of good shooting rifles with good glass on them, $2, 000 seems like a budget friendly build. That being said, just because an AR is expensive, doesn't mean its super accurate and just because it's not super expensive doesn't mean it's not accurate. Most of my ARs were not purchased with accuracy in mind, but 3 of them were. Two are RRA uppers chambered in 223 Wylde and they will hold 1/2 moa or better with hand loads. The other is a 24" upper chambered in 6.5 Grendel from Sanders Armory and its also sub 1/2 MOA. For an AR, you want a good barrel, you want the barrel extension that's fitted or shimmed to match the upper receiver, and a good trigger. A good but stock (Magpul PRS or Luth AR) is also really helpful.

I've only been on one PD trip and I was able to take one at just under 700 yds with the Grendel. I also took the RRA flat top with me and was drilling them pretty consistently at around 400 yds with it. Most of my shots and hits were with a Savage model 12 in 223. It's a sub 1/2 moa gun, but I was limited to 400 yds by the optics (6-24 Athlon Argos). I've since upgraded the glass on that rifle so I can take advantage of its capabilities. A decent to good FFP optic with a Christmas tree reticle is almost a must IMHO. The RRA flat top that I took had a decent Vortex HST optic, but it just had a standard duplex reticle which made corrections/hold overs a lot more difficult. The Argos worked well out to 400, but at that distance the crosshairs were bigger than the pups and the clarity was starting to become an issue. Can't wait to get back out there.

We ended up taking one day and walked across a pretty good size town, stopping every 75 yds or so and shooting everything out to 150 yds. For that distance, I had a wood chuck load that I took with me that did great. Between 7 and 9 gr of Green Dot under a 40 or 50 gr vmax gives around 1900 fps. Sounds like a 22 mag. During load development, NONE of the charges I tried shot much over 1 MOA. The accurate loads were at or near the 1/2 MOA mark. They won't cycle an AR, but they won't over heat a bolt gun either. Can't wait to get back out there.

[tomtomtom]

I would suggest a 22 Nossler. My favorite prairie dog gun. Easy to reload for

[txhuntsman]

Very partial to the .22-250 personally but there are so many good ones.

[reinbeck]

Bench shoot heavy barrel 204. Walk n stalk 17hmr.

[exothermal.sprocket]

.223 Rem won't overheat your barrel as quickly, it's cheaper to shoot. Probably max 400 yard for good energy.
.22-250 Rem will reach out hundreds of yards further with just as much energy but it's going to heat up your barrel quickly and cost more. Max 600 yard with good energy. Give the barrel time to cool after a few successive shots.
.204 Ruger would require dedicated cleaning accessories, but this is a very quick 20 cal bullet, north of 4000 fps. Something to consider.
If you want to keep it challenging and under 200 yards, you could run the 22 WMR or 17 HMR. You won't burn up the barrel, it'll be cheap to shoot, the recoil is nothing.

[danielandrews]

22-250 is great for punching holes reliably thru level 3 plus plates. Those hornady 22-250 loads going at 4000fps or faster will destroy a prairie dog

[BuckeyeShooter]

6mm creedmoore. And a 6 ARC or a 224 valkyrie is my favorite. You can stretch all these to 1k yards and shoot praire dogs. 223 does not buck the wind and 22 250 burns barrels out to fast. It's funny because we shoot 1k yards. Longest kill is over 1200 yards with a 6.5 creedmore RPR. 1k is very realistic these guys don't know what there talking about

[combatcurtful]

I shoot a 6mm/06 and have ground hogs on video between 400 and 700 yards and even out at 700 they blow up in the air and these are bigger than prairie dogs

[JPtogether-fgnm]

too much recoil from a 22-250? that's strange indeed! this new generation?