Prarie Dog Hunting 22LR and then Centerfire ??

[foxguy]

So I have read by PD shooters that they use 22LR for the close dogs and then get out the centerfires for the dogs further out. They say using 22LR keeps the Prarie Dogs up longer providing them more shooting.

So, this has me wondering if PD shooters have tried a 22LR Target Rifles with a Silencer to keep the noise down for more shooting with the 22LR. They are making some 22LR hollow points that is pretty accurate now.

I have never tried Prarie Dog hunting, If i was to go out I think I would try the silencer on a 22LR Barreled target rifle and a 204 Ruger centerfire rifle. I'm thinking the 22 LR could be used for shots to 100 Yards with known hold over from 50 yards out to 100 yds.

What do the experienced shooters think of this Idea??

 

[mongo chicago]

Living in the commie state of Il. I can't have a silencer. But the outfitter we go with uses one with great success varmint hunting. If I could I would.
I use a 22 mag for short ranges (150 yards and under), even without a suppressor the dogs do not disappear from the noise.

 

[CJ6]

We always brought 22's out with us when PD shooting.

 

[Tommie]

Tried 22LR one time on prairie dogs. After a few shots it was a waste of time without dead-still wind conditions. A .22 WMR is a little better. A little. Effective rimfires for prairie dogs IMO start with the .17 HMR. Never tried a .17 WSSM but I’ll bet it’s a ton of fun.

 

[Goatie]

Honestly I never thought a .22 would be more than just a novelty when shooting prairie dogs. We just never get all that close after the first shoot for it to be beneficial.

 

[AckleymanII]

I learned to leave the 22 LR at home after the first trip, Ruger 10/22 with a new 40x take off barrel, built by the guy that built the 22 Olympic rifles, crawlers abound. Close dogs are 100 yds and further out, you shoot a lot of ammo. Guys that love the 22 Rim fire, typically will drive all over the p. dog town, shooting the close dogs, they just keep moving, and this method of hunting WRECKS a dog town.

I then started taking the 22 Mag with a leupold 6.5x20 with target knobs marked to 200 yds, and had some success, Ruger 77, Browning A bolt, Mauser 201. After a couple of years, the 22 Mags stayed home.

A pard and I shot a 5 gallon bucket of 17 HMR when he was developing the round, various weights of bullets from 14g to 23.5 low drags. The 17 HMR round is effective.

Then went to a 221 fire ball, and 17 Ackley Hornet, hit a home run out of the park with these two cases. The 17 Ackley Hornet became pard's and my favorite shortish range case, due to little cleaning needed with AA1680 and no recoil. We started loading the 221 fire ball with Blue Dot and 40g bullets at 3220 fps, with 600 round cleaning cycles, a great 225 yard load.

 

[Dgd6mm]

I went 10 for 10 in Wyoming last year with my Tikka T1X and SK Standard Velocity.
60 yards to 116 yards, off the hood of the truck with Harris bipod.

 

[Clam]

I’ve shot plenty of prairie dogs, my 2 cents:

.22’s are a waste of time. If you do manage to connect with one, the impact will be uneventful at best- mostly crawl down the holers. A .17hmr is slightly better.

We have used .223, .204, .221fb, .19 Badger with great success. No suppressors, because as they heat up and accuracy falls off my buddies get more hits. We like splat, flips, spins, doubles, triples even fourples!

Barrel heat and having to clean often are our real enemies. The .19 Badger and .221 FB are what we use almost always.

Prairie dogs start at about 125yds. - I’m not saying you’ll never get any closer, as you will, but you need a good rest, and plenty of ammo. ALSO- make sure your rifle and ammo are dialed in before you get there! Listening to bs excuses and having to stop and screw with equipment when the dogs/pups are up creates a real problem.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

I like to setup twice a day, shoot the under 100 yards with any of the rimfires(I like 22 mag and 17 wsm). Good private ground will often see 1/2- 1 hr(30-50 rds each) of close shooting for 2-3 guys.

 

[LAH]

I have a place where I only use the 22 RF. It's the perfect setup.

 

[Clam]

Come to think of it, I only described above what I do. some people like setting up a canopy and spend the day doing long range, some with those real heavy pistols. It is all fun.

 

[Iowa Fox]

I'm not a fan of the 22LR for PD's. Unless you noodle them they are in the hole. I much prefer the 223 with Blue Dot for light PD loads.

 

[Ray123]

I have shot rockchucks, much larger than PDs with 22LR... and ya don't need super sonic. Subsonic target loads work great at 30 yds or so with good head shots...the old 60 gr subs would do fine if accurate in your gun...but a 40 grain will get the job done ... I poured out half the powder and reassembled a hi velocity 22 LR pushed it into chamber with my finger it was probably 600 to 800 fps muzzle velocity but killed the Rockchuck at 25 yds with head shot...as a field experiment...but you have to be stealthy and wait a long time for the right shot.

 

[sw282]

l shoot Prairie Dogs with a centerfire to see them BLOW UP. Rimfire can't do that

 

[Dgd6mm]

My centerfire cartridges are .223 with Hornaday 53 vmax and 6br with 105 Amax. I shot and killed many Pdogs from my property in the morning and back to my property in the afternoon for months with my bull barrel. 22lr rf. Oh what fun.

 

[jepp2]

If i was to go out I think I would try the silencer on a 22LR Barreled target rifle

All my experience is with centerfire and 17 HMR, I don't think a suppressor on a 22LR rifle is going to gain you anything over not suppressed. The report is so quiet anyway, it just will not make a difference on the distance you are going to shoot.

I talked to some guys that were driving and shooting 22's, like mentioned above. I talked to them at 9:30 in the morning and one guy said he had already shot 350 rounds. I was interested enough I bought a 22 to do the same thing. I put it away after I shot 2 pd's. Both were crawl offs. Took it on another trip and never got it out.

But I do use a 17 HMR (exclusively the last 2 years). I find the reduced muzzle blast over centerfire the pd's do stay up much better. Barrel heat isn't much of an issue, and the shooting is more challenging. Longest hit with the HMR is 283 yards. But as I was told by others, once it goes subsonic, the hit is much less dramatic. Most of my shots are 100 to 225 yards. I mostly switched from centerfire to the rimfire to save me time in trip prep (not having to load 7K rounds) and the shooting is more challenging.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

I don't see crawl offs when prairie dogs are hit ribcage and forward with either the 22 mag or 17 wsm. Going to try Federal 30 gr TNT 22 mag on a run to SD next summer.

 

[AckleymanII]

Rem 30g tipped did a good job and Win Supreme, But neither was reliable on coyotes or bob cats, pass the 40g Win Hp!

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

Some ranchers will poison to control pd, I would rather shoot(economically) as many as possible. I remember ranchers giving me 22 rimfire ammo to shoot(long time ago). Very effective first week or 2 after pups hit the mounds. My favorite time is August, full grown pd, suppressed 22-250 or 204/20p 150 yards and less. Air and mist show.

 

[Rick in Oregon]

Wow. No love for the 22LR for grass rats?

I've been shooting GS and PD's for a very long time from OR to MT, WY, & SD and would not even think about leaving my 22LR rifle and handguns at home. I'll admit to now shooting more squirrels than PD's, as the GS shooting is better, the targets more stupid and plentiful, but the joy of having a nice 22LR belt gun for the close ones cannot be overstated. With the price of fuel now, staying closer to home shooting squirrels is also a new reality.

My Clark Custom 10-22 with the results of the 40gr WW Power Point HP from 40 yards:



My Smith M317 10-shot 22LR works well too. I've killed over 200 PD's with this one:



Kimber 22LR conversion on my Kimber .45 CDP frame works quite well also:



Even a Compact conversion on one of my EDC's gets used, and is accurate enough for 40-50 yard work:



The same pistol wacked this jackwabbit at a paced 52 yards when it blew through our rat camp and stopped for that fatal 'look-back'. Rested off the front fender of my truck:



And almost lastly, to illustrate why I never leave my rimfires at home, this snarly badger was taken at 25 yards while I was at my bench shooting squirrels, sort of sneaked up on me from behind. I had my Kimber Target conversion with me that day:



So I'll strongly disagree with the negative 22LR comments when out for PD's or squirrels. To me, having one handy is a fact of life, but then I spend over three months a year in the field having my way with the rats, and have learned I get much more shooting (and fun) when a rimfire is with me.

Parting shot. A great day on squirrels with my Sako Vixen 17M4 and my Kimber Target conversion close at hand for those rat-sappers that get inside the wire:



These guns are sort of like desert whilst shooting my 17M4, 17HMR, 20VT, 223, 221FB or even my K-Hornet, and cost a lot less to do so, especially when the "fun-factor" is considered. Maybe the naysayers just need to get out more and shoot more to fully appreciate what the rimfire is capable of. Rant over.