Off for Montana

[waterfwlr]

Well, leaving tomorrow morning for my annual prairie dog assault. Me and the old man are bringing our usual 2 rifles each. A couple of real accurate AR .223's. A 6mm AR turbo 40 degree, and my trusty 6 br. I was hoping my 6-284 would have been ready by now for the real long shots, but no good. Every year I try to make a shot 100 yards longer than the year before. We'll see.

 

[Nomad47]

Good luck. I hope you don't bring back any ammo.
And give us a full report when you return.
Have fun.

 

[CaptainMal]

You are on your way but we want a full report on return.

 

[waterfwlr]

Ok, I'm back. Good trip as always except for the wind. Man was it blowing. Both days of 35 mph winds. Talk about humbling. We went through most of our ammo. About a 1000 rounds. We could have shot it all but was waiting for the winds to calm down and they never did. My old man made a nice shot in the wind at 637 yards with his 6 AR turbo. I hit one at just over 1100 with my 6br and a 87gr vmax but he hobbled into his hole. So close. We tried to position the wind at our back when we could but it was tough. Saw 2 snakes for the first time out there. A bull snake that lunged at me hissing and pissed, and a rattle snake in the prairie dog town when I was assessing the damage on a kill. I heard him rattling before I saw him. I cut him in half with a 50gr HP. As usual, can't wait till next year.

 

[itchyTF]

Wow! That's a long way for only 5 days including travel. I don't have the stamina to drive straight through to SD, so I burn most of 4 days in travel and 5 days pulling the trigger. My son & I had to return non-stop on one trip because he forgot when he was supposed to be back on duty. SD to NJ, a few hours sleep then down to Charleston, SC. YOUTH!!!

 

[Nomad47]

Thanks for the report. Great job on the 1100 yard shot AND on the rattlesnake. :

 

[waterfwlr]

ItchyTF, we flew. I don't have the time to drive, maybe when I retire.

Thanks Bill.

 

[Danger]

The important thing is you spent time with your Dad . I am proud of You as I am sure others are . The older you get the harder the long shots are in the wind 400 + shots are hard shots lots of kickers LOL . I am spoiled living so close to Wy But when you shoot in Big Windy you always have 25 to 45 MPH wind It keeps my skills honed . Glad a Good time was had by all

 

[lrgoodger]

That wind can be a bear, but if it is steady you can compensate for it. My second time out to Wyoming (3 years ago now) we had a day where the wind was steady all day at 20 - 25 mph. We were set up with it blowing from 3 o'clock (that was before I learned to set up with it at our backs and before I started clicking for windage) when I set my longest PD kill at that time. It was 693 yards and I was holding about two feet into the wind. 15 minutes later I killed another one on the same mound. My shooting buddy couldn't believe it. He kept saying, "Your gun is more accurate than mine." He fired 25 rounds at dogs around 500 yards away and couldn't hit one. When I told him there was nothing wrong with his gun (I built it for him), he jumped up and said, "You do it!" I sat down and killed three at 500+ out of the other 25 rounds in the box. I got up and said, "See. I told you. You've just got to be persistent."

 

[Grimstod]

Pictures please! I love Montana. Have lots of friends there and it gun heaven I hear.

 

[rcol317]

Glad to see good reports on Montana. I'm of today driving to do one week fly fishing one week dog shooting with some guys. Going to try out a new 20 Var Targ and a new 6mm AI in just re barreled hope we don't have the wind. Driving from Scottsdale, AZ. Long trip!

 

[rcol317]

Been hunting MT dogs all week. Best shooing I've experienced! Shot with some friends the last few days and we had shooting almost all day between 4 guys. Shot today by myself and enjoyed a new little 20 VT I just bought . Now is understand all the rage of the little VT. Set up this morning on one town, shot dogs all day until 5:00 PM. There was not one time that I didn't have a dog to shoot at out to 350 yards. I didn't know it was possible but I got tired of shooting. WOW! Montana is a PD secret that I've discovered. Going to extend my stay tomorrow for one mor day of great shooting.

 

[TAJ45]

An increase in poodles is good news. Maybe with the extra moisture there will be a turn around in the numbers. I have yet to make my maiden voyage to a colony shoot. It's on my bucket list.