I am going to Kansas in May to shoot for 3 days with 10X Outfitters. I will be taking my Savage M12 LPV in 204 Ruger, Minchester M70 in 7mm Rem Mag, and a scoped AR-15 (16" barrel 3-9 scope)

I am trying to decide on how much ammo to bring for each gun. From what I'm told I should be seeing thousands of them....this is a new experience for me since I am from New York City and I really don't know what to expect to see when I get there. As a guideline, the outfitter said that he usually takes about 200 shots per day, taking his time and really trying to make each shot...he added that if you shoot quick then you will burn a ton of ammo.

I am considering the 204 to be my primary gun, but I am wondering how much/pace I can shoot before the barrel gets too hot...dont want to burn it out.
The 7mm gets real hot after just 5 or 6 rounds, so I don't think that I can do much shooting with it before I ruin my barrel.

So with the 3 guns as a guideline, how much would you bring for each gun??

Any other advice/info for me would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Frank

One shot per minute = 60rds per hour. 8hrs at 60/hr = 480rds for an 8hr day. That is of course if you shoot a round per minute. I've never shot prairie dogs, but I have shot a ton of sage rats. In a prime area, a guy can shoot at a squirrel as fast as he can chamber a round and aim.

I'd leave the 7mag at home. When I'd go Pdog shooting, I'd usually take @1000 rounds per rifle. Be sure and use a watch to time your shots. When I'd take only one rifle, I'd shoot a round per minute and after every five, I let it cool for 5 minutes (by a watch) It's really easy to overdo when you've got a hundred of the little beggars jumping up and down hollering "shoot me next, shoot me next".

204 2000 rounds, AR 2000 if you are going to be using it much its very easy to burn through ammo with one.

7mag 10 rounds then you'll switch back to one of the others. I have taken along and shot p dogs with lots of differant calibers the non varmint cals get put away rather fast. After a few I can say yes I shot them with-----.

I have shot up to a 1000 rounds a day but thats in a large town that hasn't been shot that year
.
But my theory is I am there to shoot not watch and they do make new barrels.

Differant if you live in p dog country and can go a few times a month.

1000 rounds in a day??? Nothing like burning out a barrel in one days shoot.

Great stuff fellas, thanks!

Wow, I didnt't think that I would need that much ammo...as a City boy, it's hard to believe that there are so many targets in one place waiting around to be shot....can't wait.

So pretty much, with the amount of shooting going on, the barrels will be steaming hot, and I will constantly be switching them off to let them cool down...correct?? How hot is too hot?

This is great insight that I am getting here.

Also, in Kansas, what do you think the "Average" range of the shooting will be??

I would leave the 7 mag home.
I have shot 500 rounds or many more some days but I have 6-8 rifles to rotate.
If you stay aware of barrel heat and let the 204 and 223 cool some occaisonally, 500-600 per day ought to be enough.

quote:

Originally posted by wasbeeman:
1000 rounds in a day??? Nothing like burning out a barrel in one days shoot.

Hell of a lot fun too. Add to that a couple differant rifles not to bad.

I shoot 5 rounds and then switch rifles. Minimum of 3 guns per shooter and then when the shooting is good, you just have to take some breaks, unless you don't really care about the barrel. Often I will use a brand new rifle that is going to be stripped for using the action for a custom build- don't care about the barrel and the use helps break in and smooth the action and quickly identifies lug contact issues etc.
My son always brings his 300 Win mag and 50 rounds of ammo. Never shoots more than 3 in a row, but enjoys shooting at the 500+ yard dogs while letting his others cool off. We have resorted to using a funnel with a small hose and cold water for cooling when in a really good shoot- it is very hard to turn down a shot- so many dogs, so little time.
I hope you have a good experience. Depending on the time of the year, 200+ rounds is a decent day, but in no way what would be considered a great day.

The amount of ammunition you burn depends on how you like to do your shooting -- and how gun-wise the dogs are. If you are flying, be aware that regulations limit you to 11 lbs of ammunition in your checked baggage. It would be better to ship your ammunition to your host prior to your trip and thus not worry about carrying it. The same goes for your guns, for that matter, but he will have to find you a local FFL to which to ship them and you will technically have to fill out the form and go through the background check in order to claim them.

By all means if you want to try your 7mm Mag at some long range targets that's fine, but for any number of reasons (barrel heat, recoil, noise, etc.) you'll want to limit your shooting with it to only a few at a time. A box of 20 rounds per day would be a lot with a 7mm Mag.

If you take a gun on an AR platform be sure and do yourself a favor and buy a short 8 or 10 round magazine for it (or a better, a couple of them). Having a thirty rounder sticking down in the way of whatever you are using for a rest is a problem with the AR.

Dog towns vary in size, density, and especially in the amount they've been shot. In a town that gets a lot of shooting the little buggers become awfully gunshy and regardless of their numbers won't offer you nearly as much action, nor will they offer very close targets. Be sure to ask your guide what to expect in this regard.

yeah, its been covered.. I think the best points are like Duane said, 3 rifles and switch between them to keep the barrels cool as possible....

a day out there in a hot PD town, you'll see why I am a big fan of a bolt action 223, and Blue Dot or SR 4759...

no one mentioned it, but if Kansas is like where I have shot, even in Montana, then 80% of your shots/targets will be taken within 200 yds... 90% within 250 yds...

so keep that in mind....

for trigger time, I'd also suggest picking up a 22 LR of some sort...get your eye trained with using that...it will work out in short order... but there are times that you can nail some close ones with head shots with a 22... consider a 10/22...and/or also consider picking up a Bolt Action Savage or Marlin 17 HMR...

that can give you a killing machine within 125 yds all day long.. and further with a little trigger time spent....

I am sure you are a guy with a few bucks to spare, since you are going half way across the country to shoot prairie dogs...so a 10/22 and/or a Savage/Marlin 17 HMR would be a cheap investment...which will easily bring back most of the cost of one by posting it for sale on the Classifieds here or on 24 HR...

if you are not handloading your ammo, then definitely save more than what you paid for them in ammo costs alone...

3 to 5,000 rounds isn't much wear or tear on one of either rimfires in 3 days or so...

personally for the hassle, I'd leave the AR at home also...

if you can show up a day or so early, I'd even have the 10/22 and the 17 HMR ordered and picked up at a local shop...bring the scope of your choice for either, and then just a quick trip to the range to zero it and away you go..

then when you are done, take it right back to the shop you bought it from and sell it back to them.. more like renting a gun for 3 or 4 days..

and considering the price of ammo, heck instead of buying it there in NY ( which the cost must be high).. I'd order it ahead of time, at least for a 17 HMR from somewhere like Mid South.. and have it shipped to your hosts home or place of business well ahead of time...same with the 204 if you aren't a handloader...same with if you still feel the need for the AR....I don't normally like ARs on the varmint fields...

that way you won't have any ammo to take with ya..

and if you take the 10/22 suggestion also.... well if any Cabelas, Sportsmans, Bass Pro Shop or plain old Walmart is close by, you can go in and pick up all the 22 LR ammo you may need...

you can have plenty of fun with a 17 HMR for a big hunk of your shooting...

and I'd bet if you take back your 10/22 and 17 HMR back to where you got them 4 days later.. I'd bet you'd loose no more than $50 per gun...selling them back to the shop...

if you picked them up at a Walmart, they wouldn't take them back.. but you could get them pretty cheap, and always sell them to a local gunshop.. and still come out smelling like a rose...

and finally I'll warn you ahead of time... take this trip... and it won't be your last one...

varmint shooting is as much fun as you can have as a rifle shooter and it still be legal...

PS.. as Stoney mentioned, how much shooting you get in, depends on how wise the rodents get...

with a 17 HMR and a 10/22, they can stay pretty darn dumb... as there is not that much noise and it is harder for them to locate where its coming from...

and saving the 204 for the longer shots, they won't get overly wise either as the distance will tone down the shot's noise they will hear...

and a heavy barreled bolt action 17 HMR can be shot continually without having to be really let it cool.. and if it does need to cool... 5 minutes or less will handle it....

on my 223s with Blue Dot loads on a sporter barrel, by taking a 3 to 4 shots every 2 minutes, I have shot those rifles for 5 and 6 hours straight without any need to let the barrel cool, because it has heated up enough to change the point of impact...

Take a real good pair of binoculars.. some good glass on top of whatever rifles you shoot...a $39 Simmons on top a 10/22 will work... but if you have access to some Leupolds etc...bring them along, and then bring them back home... and have rings already if you take the suggestion to pick up a 17 Bolt action at Walmart or a shop in town...

Seafire's comments on rimfires are useful, but only if you're hunting a fairly "virgin" town. While May is relatively early for Kansas, since you are hunting with a commercial guide, he may have hunted these towns several time prior to your arrival. This doesn't mean that hunting won't be good, just that shots will be longer and your targets wiser. Under such circumstances a rimfire may be of little use.

As I suggested earlier, check with your guide about this issue. You can't expect him to take you to a town which has never seen a rifle before, but it is useful to know what to expect ahead of time. Also, find out how your guide will equip you for shooting. Some will have a trailer equipped with benches; others will have portable bench-type tables; others will have a blanket to throw on the ground and expect you to shoot from a bipod or "over the saddle of your dead horse". (I like shooting from a specially equipped golf cart, but so far I've found no one else who takes this novel approach.) Just find out what to expect so that you won't be disappointed in where and how you hunt.

Most of what i would have said has allready been gone over...

A .17hmr is a fantastic Idea, we do this and it saves money and wear on the big boys....

If shooting factory loads, order online and have them delivered directly to the outfitter and you can allways work out shipping back home ups ground , or work the ammo into the tip if the guide is ok with that....

Great advice fellas...keep it coming please!

Prairie dogs get muzzle blast smart so I start out with rimfire rifles ( 17 HM2 and 17 HMR ) for shots within 80 and 150 yards. Should you get into a town that has not ben shot over have a brick 500 rounds for a 17 rimfire rifle . Test fire you rim and center fire rifles to find out which ammo your rifles like. There is no point in shooting at 300 yards with a rifle will group over one inch at 100 yards. I live in prairie dog country and tune up my rifle and reload ammo for them. I like rifles that shoot 1/2 inch groups at 100 yards with a 6-18 X AO scope mounted on it. -- Ask you guide about how much ammo you could use--

Take a lot. You will have more fun than you can imagine and the ammo goes in a hurry.
I would take at least 1000 rounds.

Frank:

I have done this before. However, I shot in Utah. We did the vast majority of our shooting with 22 magnums. We shot well over 1,000 rounds a day. There is no recoil. The ammo is cheap. We found that we could shoot at surprising distances (over 200 yards) when we could see where the bullet will impact.

There is an 11 pound limit on ammo.

I have also shot 223 and 22-250 but not as much.

I don't want to sound like I'm discounting rimfires as effective prairie dog rounds as I have used .22 LR and .22 WMR both, and they are a lot of fun. If the town is relatively undisturbed, as one poster mentioned, you can start with the rimfires and move to the centerfires as the dogs wise up. This is a great strategy.

But wind can be a big factor in Kansas in May. You are more likely than less likely to have a gusty, 15-25 mph wind than not (although you could get lucky and catch a "calm" day with only 10-12 mph winds.) Very much wind renders rimfires largely ineffective, or at best, frustrating. So my advice is not to travel half-way across the country thinking that you are going to do a great deal of your shooting with rimfires when the conditions may make that extremely difficult.

If your guide is worth his salt, he can tell you whether to bring/buy/borrow a rimfire or not.

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:
I don't want to sound like I'm discounting rimfires as effective prairie dog rounds as I have used .22 LR and .22 WMR both, and they are a lot of fun. If the town is relatively undisturbed, as one poster mentioned, you can start with the rimfires and move to the centerfires as the dogs wise up. This is a great strategy.

But wind can be a big factor in Kansas in May. You are more likely than less likely to have a gusty, 15-25 mph wind than not (although you could get lucky and catch a "calm" day with only 10-12 mph winds.) Very much wind renders rimfires largely ineffective, or at best, frustrating. So my advice is not to travel half-way across the country thinking that you are going to do a great deal of your shooting with rimfires when the conditions may make that extremely difficult.

If your guide is worth his salt, he can tell you whether to bring/buy/borrow a rimfire or not.

Good advise here.

quote:

If your guide is worth his salt, he can tell you whether to bring/buy/borrow a rimfire or not.

Best advise.

This sounds very fun and I might have to look in to this.

Great advice fellas...thanks!

I did speak to the guide today and he told me that i can expect to take 300-500 good aimed shots per day...of course much more if we go crazy with the AR's.

He also said that he felt that the 17HMR would get blown around too much to be much good.

With this considered, maybe I should take more ammo for the 204...I now have enough for 200 per day, but the question is how many rounds can I put through it in an 8hr day and not burn it out???

What do you think?

I always figure 600 rounds per day. I take three or four rifles with at least 200 rounds per day for each. We switch rifles when the barrel gets hot and stop and clean at lunch time or when our percentage of hits falls off indicating that we need to clean. My primary rat guns are .204 and .223AI, but on an early hunt the .22 Hornet and/or .22 LR. gets a good work out. I also occasionally shoot an AR in .223, a .243 and a 6.5x284. The .243 and 6.5x284 are reserved for extremely long range shooting. ie: 500+. If it were me I would leave the 7mag at home and take a scope sighted .22LR. Ship ammo to your guide ahead of time. 1,000 rounds for the .22 should be enough.

I dont know how fast and how long one must shoot to burn out a barrel. With a new installed barrel costing around 5 to 600 $ I dont wont to find out. So when I go out prairie dog shooting I may switch around with three rifles. I have a number of p dog rifles so I take the rifes that match the shooting conditions. Too go shooting I have had to drive 3 miles for one town and 7 for an other town . During the spring when the p dog pups first come out I mostly use a 17 HM2 and 17 HMR rifles with 17 Fireball for backup. The rimfires can be shot as fast as one sees a target. Later is the summer I use the 17 Fireball, 204 Ruger , and a 22-250 Rem or 220 Swift. The rifles are switched when the barrels feel warm.

This post is not nearly as tongue-in-cheek as it may appear. If this is your first Pdog shoot, I can almost guarentee it won't be your last. It is an addictive sport. So with that thought in mind, you realize that the ammo won't go bad so if you have too much, you can just use it for practice or save it for next time.
My point is you can't have too much but it is a really suck feeling to reach in your ammo pouch and find it empty when there is still plenty of light and time to shoot some more.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by wasbeeman:
It is an addictive sport.

That's what I'm afraid of...

Always better to come home with ammo instead of running out of it way out in the field.

I learned that our teenaged sons would never come back with any .22lr ammo anytime, however!!!!. Take 1,000 rounds out....when is it time to come home?.... when you run out of shells.

I like the 10/22 advice and I would suggest replacing the barrel with a target grade bull barrel and 16" is enough length and replacing the stock also. A trigger job on the 10/22 helps and then your are ready after a scope. We like the Butler Creek clear 25 round magazines with the steel lips. I've found Winchester Xperts with the large cavity HP to be the best for one shot stops on a rockchuck which can run from the large cat size to the small dog size. Prairie dogs are smaller than rockchucks so a .22lr should be adequate.

Don't forget to spend some time with a very good high caliber spotting scope and a video camera. We find the guy behind the scope has almost as much fun as the guy shooting.

quote:

Originally posted by Leopardtrack:
Great advice fellas...thanks!

I did speak to the guide today and he told me that i can expect to take 300-500 good aimed shots per day...of course much more if we go crazy with the AR's.

He also said that he felt that the 17HMR would get blown around too much to be much good.

With this considered, maybe I should take more ammo for the 204...I now have enough for 200 per day, but the question is how many rounds can I put through it in an 8hr day and not burn it out???

What do you think?

Every dedicated shooter I know is always looking for an excuse to buy a new rifle. I think you've found one. I would suggest that you look for a good bolt action .223 that you can add to your battery. If you have need of a sporter in this caliber, then a sporter-weight barrel is fine. If you have no need of a sporter, then go ahead and look for an HB version. Scope it with whatever is your favorite scope; I would recommend something in about a 4-12X range which will allow its use as a hunter/walking varminter in addition to a "fixed position" gun. Be aware that anything of higher magnification than about 12x will make it impossible for you to see your own shot impact (due to the narrow field of view and losing the sight picture under recoil). If you can't see your own shots about 90% of the gratification from making a good shot is lost. It also makes adjusting for the miss more difficult as it is much better to see it for yourself than to have your guide/companion describe it to you. Having a scope of much higher power not only negates your ability to see your own shot, but higher powers also become much more problematic when mirage creeps into the picture. If you can't see a prairie dog when magnified 12 times, then it's probably too far away to shoot at and hit.

Buying another gun will give you an additional rifle in the "rotation" to allow more cooling time for your other rifles. Being the same caliber as one of your other rifles, you can exchange ammunition between them so that the ammunition can be used in whichever turns out to be your more favored rifle.

You don't mention if you'll be hunting with others in your party. Actually, I feel that group hunting is more entertaining than hunting by yourself as you (1) have extra eyes to call shots for you, and (2) observing while others shoot is nearly as entertaining as shooting yourself. If you have additional shooters in your group, then you will naturally have more time for barrel cooling and will take net fewer shots than otherwise (and thus need of a bit less ammunition).

Something else that may or may not have been mentioned previously is the need for a good binocular, preferably in the 10X range. Such an instrument is invaluable in locating your targets, reducing the eyestrain from squinting through a scope with one eye, and for spotting the shots of other shooters.

What kind of resting aparatus (if any) is your guide furnishing or recommending? Lots of people like forearm-mounted bipods, but in many instances they profoundly impact the way a gun shoots and its point of impact, so no one in my group of PD shooters uses one.

Man. I'd come to the states to do that much shooting in a day. Sounds like a lot of fine.

I recently got some info on how to cool barrels. That may help.

Don't worry about burning out a barrel.

Swap guns as often as you can to let them cool.

At the end of the day what you can learn by running 3 guns in a prairie dog town about shooting will more than make up for the cost of 3 new barrels from the gunsmith.

If your that worried about barrels, just have one rifle rebarreled.

A new barrel in a AR is cheap anyway.

I was told one or two magazine loads per gun then rotate is a good way to time rotation.

I'm also going on my first PD hunt in june in SD, Taking 5 guns a heavy barreled 17 hmr, 2 AR's in .223 with 10rd mags, 2 243's,....will rotate the first three until I need to extend the range beyond 200 then will drop the 17 and rotate the 2 243's in. I'm going with 2 other guys so with spotting there should be able time to cool. Also i'm taking 5 magazines for the .17 and 10 for the ar's, to balance loading with shooting,...if you only have one magazine you will be spending time reloading the mag after each rotation.

quote:

Something else that may or may not have been mentioned previously is the need for a good binocular, preferably in the 10X range. Such an instrument is invaluable in locating your targets, reducing the eyestrain from squinting through a scope with one eye, and for spotting the shots of other shooters.

People always worry about how many guns?

I was out as a guest of someone a week and a half ago...they were not out thick until the afternoon...

getting back into the swing of things, I had to keep shots in the 150 to 175 yd range..only in the afternoon did it get busy...

I went thru 50 rounds of 22 LR from a Model 94/22 and about 10 rounds thru a 17 HMR in an NEF single shot...in the afternoon, I got out the 223, and went thru a 100 rounds in about 3 hours...it was loaded to 22 Hornet speeds, so it was easy on the barrel....

I never had to change to another gun due to barrel heat.. In fact it never warmed up much at all...

yet doing the math, 100 shots in 180 minutes..

all single shots, and all identifying my target at first with a pair of 10 power binocs...

managed to pop a rock chuck at 350 yds tho..after missing one in an open field at about 300 yds...

it was a beautiful day.. and since then, nothing but rain for the last 10 days...

It is all about the rate of fire and the powder burnt compared to the bore size. I have used up enough barrels and am finally able to ingnore the cry of "So many prairie dogs, so little time"!

Hello Fellas,

Just back from my Kansas PD Shoot. I recieved ALLOT of useful advice from you all so I thought that I would report back to you all.

Here are some thoughts in no particular order:

1) Damm, did I learn allot about shooting in the wind...something I really never did before being from NYC. We had a 20mph wind blowing. I found that past 300 yards or so my hit ratio really went down. The wind was gusting all over the place and I started to feel that I was wasting ammo past 250yards.

2) A spotter is essential. With the wind blowing so much, my spotter was able to give me corrections that made hits much more possible.

3) My 204 Ruger was awesome! It splattered dogs and I was usually able to see impacts. Without wind, It really did shine over my AR-15 past 300 yards. The AR did however make follow-up shots easier, since I was able to walk my misses in to make a hit...something I had much more trouble with than the 204.

4) My 17HMR was a waste of time in the wind and I left it in the truck.

5) A big surprise was how much shooting I did with my favorite rifle, a 7mm Rem Mag loaded with 160gr Accubonds. I gained so much confidence with it which will pay off on big game. I use a turret knob, and long shots were easy with it. It bucked the wind SO MUCH better than the 204 or AR. I killed 2 dogs at 516 yards...one on the 1st shot and the second with my 2nd shot...this all with 20mph wind. I was holding approx 12" into wind with a regular duplex reticle on 4.5x14 Zeiss Conquest. A reticule with hash marks or dots would have made hits easier.

6) Damm those PD's are small! I thought that they were much bigger than they are...more fat grey squirrel sized. I had trouble seeing them at first until I started looking small and for parts of the PD's instead of the entire body. I learned to scan the mounds and would often see just a head sticking up. They are also a much lighter color than I expected, and looked light tan in the sun.

7) It ws not as much shooting as I thought that it woukd be. I probably fired 600 rounds in 3 days. There would be dry spells of around 5-10 minutes until one popped up. I anticipated continuous shooting all day long. IOn dry spells it was fun finding them out there with my Leica Geovids.

I totally enjoyed myself and I will definetly do this again...maybe in another state next time...wondering how the states differ??

What great practice/training for big game...that's why I enjoyed my 7mm so much. I shot 200 rounds in 3 days and had to be careful to not heat the barrel up too much. On a calm day, the Savage M12 204 with Vortex 6-24 PST was a killing machine. I made a few 200 yard headshots as well with it. Again, the AR-15 was fun, but not the equall of the 204 or 7mm.

I will think of more and post here but I just wanted to give you some comments from a 1st time PD shooter.

Thanks Frank

Thanks for sharing Frank,

I have 9 days before I go,....And have been getting the last of the gear together,....I think I'll have to assemble a few more of the .243 rounds if the wind was such an issue with the .17hmr and .223

i'm now going to assume your next rifle will be a 22-250 or 220 swift.
then a 243 or 6mm rem.
i usually take the 223 bolt gun with cast boolits at 2700,and swaged 60 grainers at 3100
then the 220 swift at 3200 with the same swaged and step it up from there.
this gives me the same crosshairs at different distances.
i step up to the 7x57 ackley with 100 gr bullets at over 3,000 fps from there for the long shots.
and if i really wanna reach out there i get out the armalite ar-30.
which generally gives anybody next to me time to let thier bbl cool down.

Leopard: Congratulations on a great hunt. From your accurate description, to which we can all relate, I think we can now classify you as a veteran PD hunter.

As you discovered, a "big gun" can come in handy when the wind is huffing and puffing (and there are very few times in the spring on the Great Plains when it is not!) Although your favorite hunting rifle filled this "big gun nitch" on this trip, for your next trip you may want to invest in something like a heavy barreled .243 or 6mm Rem. The 6mm's shooting 70 to 80 grain bullets won't "buck the wind" quite like a 7mm with a 160, but they are much better than any .22 centerfire. You'll find that they are much easier to shoot than a 7mm and your overall hit ratio with them will be better than with a larger caliber.

600 shots in three days may not be a record, but it was certainly worthwhile, wouldn't you say?

By the way, your impression of Pdogs being somewhat smaller than expected was probably due to the earliness in the year. You see, the pups have just emerged from the dens and are small, young, and dumb compared to the adults. The adults will stay largely out of sight when the shooting starts, so most of your targets are going to be the juveniles. From your description, the town you hunted has probably been hunted fairly regularly. If you should happen to get a chance to hunt a "virgin" town next time, and a little later in the year, you'll suddenly think that prairie dogs seem larger than you thought and that shots come more frequently than you remembered.

quote:

I totally enjoyed myself and I will definetly do this again...maybe in another state next time...wondering how the states differ??

A prairie dog is pretty much a prairie dog wherever it is found (the common blacktail variety, at least). States do differ some in their regulations and license requirements, but most of the states where shootable populations are found take a pretty casual attitude toward prairie dog hunting. Of course, the further south you go, then generally the earlier you can hunt. In the southern end of PD range dogs are pretty active all year around (obviously less so in cold weather -- but so are we hunters.) In the more northern climes it may not be practical to hunt dogs until the weather warms enough to stir activity. Most people prefer to defer their shooting until the pups are born and big enough to survive on their own. This is usually around the end of April in the south and sometime in May as you go north.

The most significant way in which prairie dog hunting will vary from place to place is how much access shooters have to a particular town and how hard (and frequenlty) it has been hunted. If you are lucky enough to have a guide with access to a "low pressure" town, then you will get a lot more shots and at closer range compared to an "experienced" town.

Just one note: Last year's extreme and extensive drought in Texas and the Southwest has been hard on Pdogs. The place(s) I go on the Texas High Plains have been hurt so badly that I doubt making any trips at all this year. So I envy everyone who is located where they have some good shooting available.