P-dog shooting in Montana

[Hetta]

Hi everyone -
I'm new to this site, but wanted to share a weekend spent in Montana a couple weeks ago. With the nice weather we have had this year it seemed to be time to do an early shoot and see some new country. Most of my p-dog shoots have been in SD through the years, so it was fun to see new country and shooting requirements in another location. My buddy is a big yote hunter and has great relationships with several ranchers in the area we were shooting, so my job was pretty easy...show up with ammo ;D.

He was breaking in two new rifles during the weekend we spent out in the field; a Tikka .223 (bought used from a guy that said it didn't shoot well) and a 6.5X47 built by a local smith that builds top notch rifles. He was shooting 75 Amax's in the .223 and 140 Jlk's in the 6.5X47. I have an old #1 in 22-250 that needs to be rebarrelled and a .204 Cooper that has about 3000 rounds down the tube. My buddy has NF scopes on all his rifles, with drop charts used for all distances ranged. I witnessed some amazing shots over the course of the two days we shot.

Here are some pics of the weekend with lots gore!

First day 530 yard shot with the .223:

The .204 turns them inside out with 39 grain BK's:

The shooting line:

The old #1 still works:

Ranged 947 yard shot with the 6.5X47:

Jeff pointing to the 947 yard shot:

jeff telling the p-dogs that it is OK to come out again ... yeah right:

It was a great early season shoot and gave the local yotes and eagles (two goldens we saw) plenty of free food for a couple days.

 

[Waskawood]

Thanks for the nice post Hetta. Welcome to the forum. Nice to see another Minnesotan in the mix.

 

[jerrschmitt]

Great photos. I've still got two months to go for my trip. I'm really getting itchy.

 

[Geronimo Jim]

Welcome. Thanks for the great photo's.

 

[Hetta]

Thanks for the welcome guys...I am just getting into the LDS sports. I have a 6BR coming in the next couple weeks and am in the process of buying all the components for a 6.5X47 build on a Defiance action. With the amount of lead time it takes to get a McMillian/Manners stock, along with barrels (I have only used Brux up to this point), I wasn't going to wait for a whole year to get something built before I could participate.

Damn expensive is all I can say...but I've already told the kids not to expect anything but a few rifles when I tip over. ;D

 

[Nodak7mm]

Thanks for the welcome guys...I am just getting into the LDS sports.

Hetta, I thought you were Lutheran?

;D

 

[Hetta]

Thanks for the welcome guys...I am just getting into the LDS sports.

Hetta, I thought you were Lutheran?

;D

;D That deserves a loooong Norsk....yaaaaaa

 

[effendude]

I have told my kids that all they will get when I am gone is used up brass for recycling.......

Great pics. Where in Montana? I have had great luck right off of I-90 at an exit called Prairie Dog State Park. Usually no other shooters there and it is very convenient. ;D
Scott

 

[Hetta]

Every time I drive by that place my finger gets twitchy ;D.

We were South of Billings on a ranch my buddy does a lot of yote hunting on. Really different from the p-dog towns I'm used to in SD. Instead of large amounts of p-dogs/acre, these were spread out in smaller clusters all over this ranch (about 85,000 acres). Some clusters had been shot at more than others, but they didn't dive for cover if they were more than 400 yards away from where we set up. Most of the locals that the rancher lets shoot are not shooting over 3-400 yards. I went through about 600 rounds for the two days of shooting, so it was pretty good.

 

[CaptainMal]

That's a lot of shooting.

Where's the snow? Cold? Wind? You fake those pictures. April in Montana is still Siberia.

 

[Hetta]

That's a lot of shooting.

Where's the snow? Cold? Wind? You fake those pictures. April in Montana is still Siberia.

It has been a crazy winter for the Northern tier of states this past year. I only got my snowblower out 3 times and what snow we had melted within a few days. It did snow a couple inches the Friday night I arrived in Billings, but it was gone by 10 AM the next morning. Saturday was cool (45 degrees) and we needed light jackets, but Sunday was warm in the 60's. These p-dogs will come out in the middle of the winter if the sun is out. My buddy hunts yotes on this property on a weekly basis, so he has been watching them play all winter long.

Normally I don't start shooting until May, but with the mild winter and lack of snow it was time to get an early shoot in and expend some ammo that has been sitting on the reloading bench all winter ;D. I had a little over 1000 rounds with me between the 3 rifles, so I was disappointed to come back with any ammo. I didn't mention in the first post, there was a 6.5 WSM with me as well that I had built last summer for larger game that I thought would be fun to test on p-dogs...what a mess it makes with the 130 grain Siroccos ...and great "air time" for skippy!

The #1 that needs to be rebarreled can now go off to the gunsmith and have the whole summer to get a new tube, give me time to work up new loads (it is being rebarreled in a 6BR chamber), and give me time to play with a couple other rifles that are coming in. .

 

[WillinDenver]

Welcome to the forum!!!!

Nice pics. Hope to get some going from Colorado in a few days, waiting for the pups to get out.

Montana, the ONLY state I've not been in, I've been in all the rest in my military career, not Montana, some day.

Will

 

[SShooterZ]

Great photos, thanks for sharing. Looks like you guys had some fun and some darn nice shooting.