1st Prairie Dog hunt in Northern Arizona

     This is my very 1st Prairie Dog hunt that I've been wanting to do for years.  I've often thought hunting them would be much like hunting Ground Squirrels here in California which is very fun, challenging and addictive.  Hunting them with AIRGUNS ONLY would only add to the fun and challenge.  Challenging due to the fact that I'm using air guns to make long distance shots.  And I'm not talking about 75 yards, I'm talking upwards of 300 yards.  My buddy and machinist Doug would join me on this weekend excursion and our guns of choice would be 3 guns each, 1 medium range and the other 2 would be for long range sniping.  But back to the equipment later in the post.

RANGE:  Well, it varies.  Typical ranges for shooting PD's can vary alot but its normally 100 yard plus depending on where you set up over a colony.  Where we hunted, the closer burrows just off the road 50-60 yards away presented no activity which is what I expected.  And where they were within close distances, it was too close to the hunting ranch which was not allowed.  We had to be 1 mile from the ranch before we could start shooting........EVEN WITH AIRGUNS!  So the further we drove from the ranch, the more we saw activity at the 95+ yard mark with a lot of them going into the 100's of yards.  And that was what i wanted....to shoot past the 100 yard mark.  My goal also was to push the 300 yard mark and that goal was achieved.  Doug made the longest shot of the trip which was at 292 yards using his Condor 257.  I made a hit on one at 288 yards and it gave a good THWOP but, the PD made it down the hole.  It took a while for Doug and I to figure out we were at 5500 ft elevation which made the long range shots harder because prior to the hunt, we sighted in at home where we were about 1500+ ft elevation.  A BIG DIFFERENCE!

PRAIRIE DOGS:  Across North America, there are a total of five types of prairie dogs: black-tailed, Gunnison's, Mexican, Utah, and white-tailed. There are two types of prairie dogs in Arizona; Gunnison's range across northern Arizona and black-tailed are located in southeastern Arizona. Of all the prairie dog species, the black-tailed prairie dog has the greatest range across western North America. They range from south-central Canada to the northern part of Mexico. For many reasons, the black-tailed prairie dog population has been declining. The last black-tailed prairie dog was seen in Arizona in 1960, and their range across North America has been reduced to less than two percent of what it used to be 150 years ago. The type that we would be hunting on this trip was the Gunnison PD and this species belongs to the squirrel family of rodents, and are predominantly related to the North American and Eurasian ground squirrels.  Gunnison’s prairie dogs are 12 to 14 inches (30 to 37 centimeters) in length and have tails that measure 1.25 to 2.25 inches (3 to 6 centimeters). This species weighs from 1.5 to 2.5 lbs (0.5 to 1 kg). On average, males are larger in size than females. Gunnison's prairie dogs have 22 teeth, and five 5 pairs of mammary glands.

GEAR:  For this trip and the type of game we are hunting, you don't really need a lot of gear.  You basically need clothing including a hat, gun of choice with a good scope, ammo, binoculars (a must), rangefinder (a must), a table and chair or a mobile/folding shooting bench (a must for long range accuracy) and lots of water and snacks (a must due to the summer heat).  A map of the area or ranch you are hunting is also nice to have.  I brought along my Bushnell PERMA-FOCUS binoculars and they proved their worth time and time again.  With my naked eye, I saw 1 prairie dog but when I looked at him through my binoculars, I saw 3 or 4 in the same area that just had their heads sticking up.  My Leupold rangefinder also proved its worth also as trying to GUESS these distances on flat ground will provide you with nothing but misses!

GUNS:  For me, I brought along my Corsair+ 7mm, my Talondor 257 and my Sam Yang .357 air guns.  Doug brought along his Condor 308, Condor 257 and his Condor .30 caliber.  The .357 and 30 caliber pellet rifles would be used for anything under 100 yards and the other calibers would be used for anything over 100.  Well, at least that was the game plan.  The Corsair 7mm makes roughly 215 FPE using a 120 gr HP bullets from a LBT mold.  The TD257 makes right at 160 FPE using a 70-74 gr HP/FP bullet from the Lyman 257420 mold or, 180 FPE using 100 gr spitzers cast by RJ Porter (@ http://www.accuratebigboreairgunammo.com).  The Sam Yang .357 currently shoots 35 cal 81gr JSB pellets at 910 FPS and is a hard hitter.  Doug's 308 Condor makes roughly 250-260 FPE.  His 257 makes 188 FPE using the same Lyman 257420 bullet that I do.  And his 30 caliber condor makes roughly 80 FPE using 44 gr JSB 303 pellets.

Here are some pictures of the rifles used:

Doug and his CUSTOM Condor .257

Doug Noble's full CUSTOM .30 cal Condor

My TalonDor .257 with Mad Dog Stock

My Corsair+ 7mm

My Recluse .357

With AZ hunting licenses printed out (AZ PD, licenses too) and my truck filled with gas, we head to Northern Arizona to hunt the Gunnison Prairie Dog...........

AZ PD hunting video

Stay tuned!

Tofazfou