Longest distance for 90% hit rate ?

[LitLBoy]

The Floor!

 

[spencerhenry]

ran 100% on wyoming ground squirrels last week. closest was about 30 yards, furthest about 160. The close ones are pretty tough because the scope will not focus that close and you have to guess what is the animal and what is not.

shot every one i saw, that was 14 shots, 14 kills with 17AH.

 

[bddc2012]

My oldest son and I returned from a prarie dog hunt last September where we shot .223,22-250, 25-06 in several rifles including ARs, we confirmed killed over 70 % 250 yards and under this was with on and off again 20-35 mph winds most of the 3 days.With the wind as it was anything past 250 yards is nothing more than a crap shoot at best I took numerous 400+ attempts with my 25-06 hitting 6 out of 37 not a high % at all but the main purpose of our trip was to spend time together before we run out of time. The wind is the equalize . Have fun

 

[JamesnTN]

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Under prairie dog town conditions with the rifles that are taken prairie dog shooting...

What is the longest distance that you will have a daily average hit rate of over 90% on prairie dogs ?

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A lot of variables there, % of hit rates will also depend on shooting from a bench caliber of choice and time frame and also how many shots taken ( 9 out of 10 or 90 out of 100)
An example I feel I could do 90% with my 300 WM my 284 Shehane, 6-284 or 6 Dasher out to 400 yards and possibly 500 with the bigger calibers.

 

[Silverfox]

Like other posters have mentioned shooting conditions will make a lot of difference on the longer shots. My hit ratio is around 95% and above on shots up to 200 yards but if it is very windy, that percentage might get down close to 90%. I seldom take shots much over 250 to 275 yards. I also turn missed shot casing mouth end up and if I get a double or triple, I turn those mouth end up casings mouth end down ;D

The calibers I use are .17 Tactical, .17 Remington, .204 Ruger, .22-250, and .243.

 

[Jtate]

I am about 95% at a third of a yard, with my sears craftsman claw hammer, I forget how many grains it is. The dog rats got to be sleeping layyed out on the mound, with a lot of wind. The more wind the better it help cover up your sound and smell when you are sneaking up on them. I am going to make a gilly suit and do a test on if it helps getting in to range easier. Here is a hint if ya are missing with your rifle due to the wind switch over to the hammer.

 

[AckleymanII]

Have shot the rats for nearly 20 years.
A hit ratio that high, with typical prairie conditions, could only be accomplished at ranges slightly over 200 yards.
Much depends on equipment used, caliber, and the amount of trigger time the shooter has had on the prairie.

Here is a guy that has done some shooting!

Now, my first question would be how stable is the table you are shooting off of? You absolutely have to get that elbow supported to have great accuracy. Also, muzzle breaks put my % of hits way up because I could see my exact bullet impact.

Our dog rifles are heavy. We ordered the McMillen hunter class and Benchrest stocks with the front forearm and butt empty, filled them with a mixture of bird shot and epoxy. Guns weighed between 19-28 lbs depending on the size and length of the barrel. A 19 lb 223 that has a stock like described with a 27" Max heavy varmint barrel on it with a muzzle break, will be an absolute killing machine to 250 yards at a minimum, misses are rare indeed with a 6x24x variable scope on it with target knobs to dial up and down as the range changes.

Guys with a low percentage are usually using the hold over method, and wind changes the point of impact so you end up with what would be actually considered a "floating" zero. You aim for a specific place on the p. dog, then adjust accordingly to clean out that "party" of dogs.

 

[Frankr]

Interesting read. We only have ground hogs here in PA. I think it really depends on the rifle and load. what we have used for years has been a screaming 22-250 (a 55gr at 3,850FPS) extremely accurate,fast, flat and even wind defying. Or my favorite a 6BR pushing a 65 V-max 3,500 FPS.. we consider a 200 yard shot a give me shot. meaning there is no challenge to it at all. not saying we can never miss,it happens. but it's one of them don't know what happened things. we set up where most of our shots are over 200 yards. 300 to 600 yards would be a nice field. but they are getting harder and harder to find and the very few place where we can shoot have no Hogs. I think we could be 90% with the rifles we use at 300 yards. 80% at 400,50% at 500 and so on. Now I have hunted with a super accurate 40x in a .223 for a season and 300 yards is tough for it. I had two hogs one day standing up at 300 yards The size of beavers. I shot like 4 times at each of them and the wind so tricky I was just hitting all around them. they would have never lasted two shots with the 250 or the 6BR. as I was able to mark most of my misses that day.so I think in my experience the rifle and load matters. Now I have a 6XC and we have been shooting a groundhog size donger at 500 Yards. I seem to be able hit it 90% + but have not been able to get out and actually try it ground hog hunting. due to work, loss of good fields, a month of rain. hay not cut. actually there are a few fields that I seen were cut only like two weeks ago..But I been too busy..Most of the time the hay is down the first of july. but we had a month of rain. then super hot muggy for the last month. so a day of ground hog hunting very different from prairie dog hunting. if we set up in one hugh field I know we would sit glassing. for hogs. we could see them anywhere from say 100 yards in front of us to 920 yards far treeline. so it would depend on where you spot one. say you spot one at 385 yards. you set up and shoot. you miss. then the next shot you correct and hit. then you kind of know from there. but the next one you might spot at 560 yards or 285 . you get the idea. a day of ground hog hunting you might shoot 20 rounds your buddy shot 18 rounds and you killed 15 hogs on a good day. but yea I think if they were all 300 yards it's possible to maybe be 90% there but they are never all 300 yards. nothing like being in a fresh cut hay field that just goes on for ever.

 

[SBS]

What a downer from SDW!
On a hot spring time town where you get a lot of shots at 100 to 250 yards we often get 18 or 19 out of 20. We shoot 223 or 204 from the bench. Most misses would be a head shot, gust of wind, or stretching the distance.
Later in the year shooting a lot of 200 to over 400 yards with some wind, we take turns shooting 10 shots then spotting for 10 shots. 5 out of 10 is good. Sometimes we do a little better but often times not that well, especially beyond 350.
Set ups where we shoot out to 500 and more get real tough. We all get one occasionally but percentages are terrible. Some of our guys don't even try those.
I did 3 for 7 at 675 yards in May with my 20BR and that is exceptional in my world.

Our experience is similar to Hotshot's. Early June we had a lot of 150-250 yd. dogs and fortunately, little wind. Even 300 yd. shots were spot on with rifles zeroed for either 200 or 300; very few misses shooting off stable benches with accurate rifles. By early Sept., ranges were farther and wind was up when we shot. Close ones were mostly at 200 and shortly all shooting was at 300-400, with very few attempts at farther ranges due to the wind and mirage. Takes a lot more ammo later in the year to thin them out much.

 

[pdog]

Range is relative to conditions, equipment and experience. There is no one answer to this question.

One hint that may improve your percentage is to shoot the largest dog that is horizontal first when shooting in a new direction or distance. Distance and bullet drop should be easy for you to determine with today's equipment and adequate shooting experience. Wind drift is always a challenge. Make your best wind estimation, adjust accordingly, and take the shot. Having a target that is 7" to 9" long greatly improves your odds. Observe where exactly the bullet hits, adjust accordingly and then commence eliminating the balance of his neighbors. Once you have fine tuned your wind drift allowance the vertical dogs and head shots are much easier.

pdog

 

[DuaneinND]

Having shot dogs with SDW for the last 25 years or so and knowing how many rounds he has sent down range and last but not least how much he hates to miss! His assessment is pretty accurate. Yes there are times when it seems like the bullet is guided by radar and a person seems to hit every dog, but there are other times-----.

 

[waterfwlr]

Range is relative to conditions, equipment and experience. There is no one answer to this question.

Totally agree.

 

[CSM19Z5M]

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Under prairie dog town conditions with the rifles that are taken prairie dog shooting...

What is the longest distance that you will have a daily average hit rate of over 90% on prairie dogs ?

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It will be interesting to read the responses to this question! LOL Seeing as nobody has to or has anyway to 'prove' their percentage and with it being the internet and all my guess is a 15-20% 'fudging' of numbers.

Are 100% of the shots with an adult standing at attention? A lot more meat than a head shot or shoulder shot with one half way out of his hole or on all 4's grazing in the grass.
Wind? How much and constant or switching direction?
How fast and precise are you selecting targets? Meaning are you there to see how many you can kill or how many rounds you can shoot? How young/small are the pups or all adults? I ask this because you have 3-4 times the target size between when the young ones come out and an adult dog which will make a huge difference (well it does to me).

I have rarely ever heard or heard discussion of kill ratio to ammo spent! Most want to brag about how many hundred or even THOUSAND rounds they shoot in a day or trip! If you don't have the carcass to prove a hit what does a gut shot count? If you find blood that doesn't confirm a kill. Therefore are you shooting to just "hit" a pdog or kill him? If your primary goal is to "hit" them and secondary to kill them then that is a big difference.

Most here will disagree with me because it is ONLY a pdog so they and coyotes etc it doesn't matter how they die. Guess I am a bit twisted but don't find their life any different than any other animal, none of them deserve to suffer and you either kill them or stay home and watch Jackie Bushman on TV!

My worthless .02 cents worth! Let the bashing and exaggerated statistics begin.
Respectfully,
Dennis

I'm afraid I have to agree with this comment. I got beat up in some comments a while back by a guy who questioned my criticism of shooting at running varmints. His opinion was that it was no big deal to hit a moving varmint with high percentage hits with modern precision rifles such as he shot. I disagree but that's life. SDW is right on here.

 

[barefooter56]

Bryan Litz discusses this in his book "ACCURACY and PRECISION for LONG RANGE SHOOTING" in chapter 2 Under Calculating WEZ (Weapons Employment Zone). And in "Modern Advancements in Long Range Shooting " WEZ (Weapon employment zone) Modeling.
He may even have a some of this on his website at APPLIED BALLISTICS. Good reads.