Prairie Dog Safaris

lunde

lunde

Joined
Jun 20, 2000
Messages
3,668
I am driving to South Dakota tomorrow morning for this year's first Prairie Dog Safari. It's a 1,400-mile drive, from San Jose. I will get as far as Casper, Wyoming tomorrow night, which is only 200 miles from my destination in South Dakota.

I am bringing along three rifles, all chambered in .204 Ruger, and all made by Cooper Arms. One is an M21 MTV (Montana Varminter), and two are M21 Phoenixes. Two of the rifles are shooting handloads that use Sierra 32gr BlitzKing bullets and Winchester brass. The third is shooting handloads that use Berger 30gr Match bullets and Norma brass. These rifles shoot consistent five-shot quarter-inch groups at 100 yards. Muzzle velocity is over 4000fps, and the bullet is devastating on prairie dogs. In other words, they do not suffer. The energy transfer results in a distinctive "whap" sound, so even if there is no visual confirmation of a hit, the distinctive sound serves this purpose.

The best part about Prairie Dog Safaris is that I do them with my dad. A friend of mine from Florida will be joining us. This will be his third time.

The mornings and afternoons will be filled with hunting and rifle barrel cleaning activities, and the evenings will be used for relaxation, dinner, consuming alcohol, and BSing. Not necessarily in that order. ;)

Also, Sunday is Mother's Day, and it is nice to know that I will be able to spend that day with my mom.

Anyway, I am very much looking forward to getting away from the Rat Race for a few days... :thumbup::thumbup:
 
have a nice hunt ken and take some pics if you have a camera :thumbup:

i have hunted dogs on the little big horn river area, great shooting :cool:
 
Have a good time. :thumbup:


I have been missing reloading and shooting. I may need to get stated again. What do you use to reload for rifle a standard or progressive press
 
It has been almost 10 years since I have hunted the elusive Prairie Dog, but it does bring back fond memories. With the .204, are you able to watch the impact through the scope? Or is there still too much flash/bang/recoil to really stay on target?

Have fun!
 
ken, someday we will have to go to my spot. i use an old german weatherby 22-250, we shoot so many of these flea bittin varmints that we have to stick our barrels in 50 gallon drums of water to cool them down ;)


fbmantelope.jpg
 
Ken,

That sounds like a blast. I love the .204 round. Have fun. Take lots of pics. Hopefully your BAD arrives today and you can take it with you.
 
Tony G said:
Sounds like you're placing an order :p
Click to expand...
never know, ken might need a back up. i have a fleet of 22-250's but ken makes these new fangled 20's sound pretty good. the only other varmint rifles i have are a sako 22ppc and a barrett .50 ;)

.
 
Tony G, you wrote:
I have been missing reloading and shooting. I may need to get stated again. What do you use to reload for rifle a standard or progressive press?
Click to expand...
I use neither. I do have a single-stage press, specificaly a Forster Co-Ax, but I prefer to use an Arbor Press and L.E. Wilson hand dies. For priming cases, I use Sinclair's handheld priming tool.

About the rifles, the M21 (Model 21) action is single-shot. When hunting prairie dogs, I prefer single-shot. Prior to using Cooper Arms rifles, I used a Remington 700, and ended up converting it to single-shot. Cooper Arms started producing their first centerfire repeater action a little over a year ago, called the M52. It is not chambered in varmint cartidges, though. My dad has one in .30-06.

And yes, my camera is coming along. BrainOnSigs, who will also be hunting with us, is bringing along his D300 and a special lens for capturing "Kodak Moments" on the battlefield.

I find that .204 Ruger bucks the wind better than .223, and is flatter-shooting. Also, under most circumstances you can see the hits through the scope. Great cartridge. I have four rifles chambered in it for a good reason.
 
Skunk,

I have one of these, less the FBM LE resting on its prongs, hanging in my office at Adobe. I have four other antelopes hanging on my office wall, but they are Euro-mounted.

fbmantelope.jpg


When someone asks why I have antelopes hanging in my office, I simply tell them that the "Diversity in the Workforce" door swings both ways. ;) :thumbup::thumbup: :D
 
Sounds like a great time Ken. I know you will have fun! Be safe and enjoy the time with your parents. ( Sounds like a great Mother's Day present)
 
Here are the four rifles.

Cooper Arms M21 MTV 24" with Leupold VX-III 6.5-20x40 LR Varmint Hunter reticle scope:

cooper-m21-mtv-24.jpg


Cooper Arms M21 Phoenix 24" with Leupold VX-III 6.5-20x40 LR Varmint Hunter reticle scope:

cooper-m21-phoenix-24.jpg


My second M21 Phoenix has a 26" barrel and Leupold 45x45mm Competition scope.

Although I am not bringing this one along, here is my Dakota Arms Serious Predator with Leupold VX-III 6.5-20x40 LR Varmint Hunter reticle scope:

da-predator.jpg


Since taking the photo, I returned the rifle to the factory for grip checkering, along with smoothing the trigger shoe (aka, the surface of the trigger that is engaged by the finger).
 
Pocari Sweat eh? That a souvenir, given your job and Japanese wife, or do you drink much of it? Never cared for it myself, but I do miss all of the vending machines over there. ;)

Have a fantastic trip, sounds like a great time.
 
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