Earlier in the week I was in Gillette Wy on a PD hunt. I was on private land as well as BLM land. The first place I stopped at looked to be a target rich environment. I could see quite a few mounds, but some could not be seen due to the grass around them being a little high. However activity was slow due to rain in the early morning hours, heavy cloud cover and 47* when I got there. A few were moving around, but the others stayed down. There was no wind at all as can be seen by my wind tail in the first photo. They slowly started coming out after a few hours and with little to no wind, the shots with my 20 VT were very easy. The wind would slowly come up and go back down and I would switch from the 20VT to a .223.
Pictured: 20 Vartarg, Remington 700 SA, 15" 10 twist McGowen barrel, Nightforce SHV scope in a modified ARS stock.
Not Pictured: .223 Remington XP-100, 16" 7 twist McGowen Barrel, Nightforce SHV scope in a McMillan XP-100 stock.
The next day, I shot from my tripod or a bag off the rear of my truck bed. I was on the move most of the day going from one dog town to the other. The weather started off cool, but there was bright sunlight and the dogs were really active. The only drawback today was the wind, someone left the door open and it was at least a 25 mph wind gusting a little higher. I was shooting in one spot and I could see with binoculars, a bunch of dogs on a hill side not too far from where I was. I didn't set up my shooting bench this time since I was on the move. By walking around and using my tripod, I was able to shoot with the wind and hit ratio came up significantly.
At the end of 2 days of shooting, I must say it was a great time and ready to go back next year.
Pictured: 20 Vartarg, Remington 700 SA, 15" 10 twist McGowen barrel, Nightforce SHV scope in a modified ARS stock.
Not Pictured: .223 Remington XP-100, 16" 7 twist McGowen Barrel, Nightforce SHV scope in a McMillan XP-100 stock.
The next day, I shot from my tripod or a bag off the rear of my truck bed. I was on the move most of the day going from one dog town to the other. The weather started off cool, but there was bright sunlight and the dogs were really active. The only drawback today was the wind, someone left the door open and it was at least a 25 mph wind gusting a little higher. I was shooting in one spot and I could see with binoculars, a bunch of dogs on a hill side not too far from where I was. I didn't set up my shooting bench this time since I was on the move. By walking around and using my tripod, I was able to shoot with the wind and hit ratio came up significantly.
At the end of 2 days of shooting, I must say it was a great time and ready to go back next year.
