Prairie Dog optic

[LittleLebowski]

No matter what, you want as much magnification and clarity as you can afford. You'll probably spend most of your time at high magnification. Don't shoot a .204 Ruger, .220 Swift, or my beloved 22-250, because you'll ditch your .223 so fast...

My prairie dog gun is a Model 70 22-250 with an ancient (compared to today's scopes) SFP Leupold 6-20x with Boone and Crockett varmint reticle (works great, it's just another holdover reticle). I really don't miss with this rifle and it's killed a lot of animals.

[Trigger]

I would recommend a 40gr bullet, like the VMax, BlitzKing or Ballistic tip. Part of the fun for me is watching the impact through the scope. Lighter bullets in light calibers are my favorite. .223 with 40 VMax is about ideal. 20 VarTarg with 32 or 39gr is nice. 204 Ruger and 20 Tactical/Practical are nice, too.

Your 223 won’t heat up too fast, and your are bringing multiple rifles to allow them to cool. Tripod with a hog-saddle to shoot off, or even better a roto-bench.

Please post pictures after the trip!

[Crow Hunter]

Attachment 105388
You will love the Varmint. Mine is also .223 and easily puts 10 holes into an inch at 100m. I put a Bushnell 3.5-21 DMR Pro on top. You won’t find a better optic at the $1K point. Well known for rugged and repeatable dialing, great warranty, and made with good glass at LOW in Japan.

That Damn sexy right there.

[TOTS]

That Damn sexy right there.

Thanks! I like it!

[Crow Hunter]

No matter what, you want as much magnification and clarity as you can afford. You'll probably spend most of your time at high magnification. Don't shoot a .204 Ruger, .220 Swift, or my beloved 22-250, because you'll ditch your .223 so fast...

My prairie dog gun is a Model 70 22-250 with an ancient (compared to today's scopes) SFP Leupold 6-20x with Boone and Crockett varmint reticle (works great, it's just another holdover reticle). I really don't miss with this rifle and it's killed a lot of animals.

I wanted to start out with the .223 because I have other guns that shoot that and it is fairly easy to find locally and I wanted to make sure I really wanted to keep going before I got too deep into it. A .22-250 T3x was actually in my cart several times.

[mmc45414]

I have only done it a couple of times, but the opinion I formed from my limited experience is the top end magnification limit will be whatever allows you to stay in the scope to watch your impact. This is not like One Shot-One Kill, if you miss they will often stand there and let you shoot at them again. Or run a short distance and stop. So being able to go to school on your wind calls is, IMO, important. I landed a bullet right in front of one once and he just shook off the dust like a wet dog and stood there, letting me make an adjustment.

The two times I did it I used the VX-3 4.5-14x I had. I wished I had a little more so I have since bought, but never used, the VX-3 6.5-20x Varmint that sounds like what LL has. Both are side focus, and I think that is helpful. Neither scope has knobs, but I think it would be nice to have an elevation knob so you could dial, and then just hold the wind. We are planning on going again this fall, so I need to get my act together on this. If somebody makes a screw on turret for my scope I might consider that.

[BobM]

I wanted to start out with the .223 because I have other guns that shoot that and it is fairly easy to find locally and I wanted to make sure I really wanted to keep going before I got too deep into it. A .22-250 T3x was actually in my cart several times.

I was tempted by a Tikka 22/250 in a used gun rack yesterday. It had a Hawk brand 3-9 on it, so I would have to have re-scoped it. A friend made some good long shots with a Savage 22/250 years ago when we had a place to go in Montana.

[Crow Hunter]

I was tempted by a Tikka 22/250 in a used gun rack yesterday. It had a Hawk brand 3-9 on it, so I would have to have re-scoped it. A friend made some good long shots with a Savage 22/250 years ago when we had a place to go in Montana.

My only concern was barrel life on the .22-250, otherwise I probably would have gotten it instead. There was one locally that I almost bought a couple of times but instead I ordered the .223.

[Crow Hunter]

I have only done it a couple of times, but the opinion I formed from my limited experience is the top end magnification limit will be whatever allows you to stay in the scope to watch your impact. This is not like One Shot-One Kill, if you miss they will often stand there and let you shoot at them again. Or run a short distance and stop. So being able to go to school on your wind calls is, IMO, important. I landed a bullet right in front of one once and he just shook off the dust like a wet dog and stood there, letting me make an adjustment.

The two times I did it I used the VX-3 4.5-14x I had. I wished I had a little more so I have since bought, but never used, the VX-3 6.5-20x Varmint that sounds like what LL has. Both are side focus, and I think that is helpful. Neither scope has knobs, but I think it would be nice to have an elevation knob so you could dial, and then just hold the wind. We are planning on going again this fall, so I need to get my act together on this. If somebody makes a screw on turret for my scope I might consider that.

I am planning on mounting a SWFA 3-15, maybe it will come in before next year.

I figure I will wind up wanting more magnification but I generally favor FOV so I thought I would start there and upgrade if I find out I need more after my first trip.

I had a Leupold 4.5-14 tactical on a Colt 6724 for years and only used it hunting coyote once. I didn't get a shot because I couldn't find him in the scope because I had it dialed up to high. It worked great on the range though.

Sold it because I never used it and Colts were bringing a premium. Probably should have kept it.

[mmc45414]

I am planning on mounting a SWFA 3-15, maybe it will come in before next year.

I figure I will wind up wanting more magnification but I generally favor FOV so I thought I would start there and upgrade if I find out I need more after my first trip.

I am sure you will be fine, I sorta wanted the 4.5-14x to go back to the rifle it came off of, so being in the position of needing to buy another scope I decided to get the 20x.

I didn't get a shot because I couldn't find him in the scope because I had it dialed up to high.

This thread is being helpful, helping me to remember stuff I wanted to buy!!! Hahaha
One thing I might add is a piggyback RDO. The terrain might be different where you end up, but on the public grasslands in SD the dog towns will have a ton of holes, and they all look the same. We would roll into a town, trudge out to what looks like a good spot, get the rifle down on the bipod (I use two slings rigged up like a biathlon rig), and that much commotion drives them down. So you sit there getting a suntan for a few minutes, waiting for them to forget about you and start coming back out, while you glass for opportunities. But once spotted, it can be a bit of a stunt to get set prone behind the gun (an outfitter might be bringing benches) and relocate that specific hole (that might be 250yds away) in a field of a hundred holes. This trip I might experiment with a mount that gives me a rail on top to stick a cheap Romeo5 up there (the rifle already weighs as much as a car...).