17 HMR for Prarie Dogs?

notsorichguy

notsorichguy

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 99.1%
212   2   0
Location
The city that rhymes with fun
I have the opertunity to go out for dogs in the spring.

I was thinking that a 204 Ruger would be the cats meow..... but I am unsure if I will have the $$$ and the time to get a new rifle ready for the spring.

What I do have is a Remmy 700 in .243, but it has a sporter barrel..... So I am on the fence as to wether it is up to the task of the 350+yrd shots and the volume of shots I was told to expect. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my .243! When I hunted deer with it I took deer at 300+yrds with it Coyotes too, but Prarie Dopgs are much smaller......

So I started thinking...... I have a Savage 93R in 17HMR..... Would that do the trick?

I have a 6-24 x 50 on it already, and I can reliably take gophers with it out to 200 yrds.... Does it have the "punch" to take dogs?

Or should I just "kill" my Credit card & my Line of Credit and buy the .204, brass, primers and powder to make this hunt a reality...???

Sugestions.......

Cheers!
 
Put a pile of ammo on the CC - don't get a 204 ruger if you already have a 17HMR it will kill a gopher at 200 (if you can comfortably hit it). A 204 may have more punch but that barrel will heat up pretty darn fast.
 
Why think about it so much?

I used to shoot prairie dogs a lot when I was younger out in Manitoba. All we used was a .22 and got great results. And you can shoot all day for practically nothing...

~$20 for a box of 500 .22's? Doesn't get much better than that.

Get some 36g hollow points, those dogs will be exploding left, right and centre.
 
I shoot prairie dogs each September in South Dakota and have killed thousands over the years. Myself and two other shooters killed 900 in two days of intense varmint hunting last month. I personally fired 475 rounds and acounted for at least 300 kills with my 222 Sako varmint.

What I can tell you is that a 17 HMR is plenty of gun for the close in stuff...I'm talking to about 150 yards should you have good optics, shooting skills and be amoungst dogs that will allow such close contact. A 17 will not tear up dogs like 22 centrefires do but kill well otherwise at the aforementioned ranges.

My personal opinion is that 22-250's, 243's and the like are a bit too much gun. Way too much muzzel jump, recoil and expensive as these burn a lot of powder.

As stated before I shoot a 222 and IMO calibres of this type are best. My pals shoot 223's and a 20 cal. would be a good choice as well. A 22 LR is so useless for dogs that it's not even worth mentioning.

Must mention optics as well. IMO a 20X is about as low as one would want to go...25X would be better. Dogs are big targets when compared to our western Canadian gophers but shot distances are furter as dogs rarely let you get within 200 yards before doing the disapearing act...only in "virgin" dog towns will they allow less distance between you and them!

Weather plays a big factor as well. Like gophers dogs like sun warmth, light wind and dry conditions. So if your equipped with the proper ordinance and mother nature cooperates...and on a good dog town you can expect long range varminting second to none! Good luck.
 
Just to clarify....

I shoot ALOT of Gophers! I personally am responsible for 450+ gopher casualties this year alone, and I haven't been out for Gophers since July......

I am not talking about hunting gophers, I am talking about hunting Prarie Dogs.....

Thanks for the good advice M12shooter. What you said echo's what I have been told to expect in the spring. From what I understand the area we will be hunting will be in Western North Dakota and Eastern Montana. One of my friends goes down every year (he has family out that way) and has extended the invite. I am really looking forward to it!
 
I would get rid of the 17 and shoot a small centerfire. Whatever you can shoot the cheapest. 204 would be good, and the 243 is a little too much heat.
Have fun!
 
I went south 3 times this year for dogs and it is a blast. I shoot 222 and 22-250 my buds shoot 204 and 6mm. Sometimes with the 22-250 I miss the show but the fellow with the 6mm rarely sees the show but thos ballistic tips give the spotters a good show. In my opinion a 17 HMR could be used on a virgin dog town other than that the shots are 200 + yards and it would not be very effective. The weather is a big factor with wind just about every day we were out shooting. Even a 204 with 32gr bullets is affected quite a bit let alone a 17HMR. as for the difference in reloading 222 or 204 compared to a 22-250 it is only 20% just more powder. The cheapest way for you to try it would be to buy some brass for your 243 and load up some ballistic tips and try it YOU WILL BE HOOKED. What we found is you need an accurate rifle load combo and good glass.

Good hunting
Edge
 
I had a Savage 93R17 HB .17 HMR and a Tikka T3 varmint in .204 this spring and the .204 was worlds above the .17hmr and not much more to shoot if you reload.
I usually take out my custom Ruger 10/22 for close work and the .204 for the distance precision work.
A prairie dog is not much bigger the the richardson ground squirell, which is our "gopher"

Cheers!!
 
According to the pros .22-250 or .223 loaded with Hornaday V-Max or Sierra Blitzking for the best explosive effect.

Check seekersoftheredmist.com or prariedogbegone.com for some useful loads and caliber choices.

I had a chance to go shoot Dogs in Texas a few years ago while on a work related trip. We used a .204 and a .223. It was stupidly hot out and the silly buggers just stood there... Like shooting cans of tomato sauce on a fence rail. We were shooting out of a F350 diesel at about 150m - Might have got closer but didn't want to leave the A/C. Saskatchewan gophers are a bigger challenge IMHO... They have the sense to duck after the first couple shots =)
 
Hey "notsorichguy" (I love that name!), you pose an interesting question.

While I have not shot "prairie dogs", I try to get out for our "gophers" as much as possible. I love my 17 HMR but for me 175 yrds is a practical limit. I have tended towards a 204 and it is great to shoot on these. Funny thing though, if I have the scope turned up much past 14X, it still moves just enough to miss seeing some of the hits. My 222 with 40 gr V-Max or ballistic tip works well to about 300. You can watch every hit and that makes it entertaining in itself. My 220 swift lifts enough to not see too many hits. I like the suggestion of the 223 as they are readily available at reasonable costs. Good luck with your decision and make sure you let us know what you decide to do.
 
For the price of the 17hmr ammo now adays... you might as well just get a small bore centre fire. What is it? $15 for a box of 50.... you can load some awesome .223 for that price and use it for coyotes as well.

IMHO... ditch the 17 on the EE and find a .223.

Plus if you run out of ammo... you can always buy cheap .223 at Wal-Mart.
 
I have pretty much decided to go with a small center fire rifle at this point...... The only problem I have now is $$$. I am leaning towards a .204, but I like the idea of a .223 that I can plink with cheap ammo..... What about semi's anything out there worth while or should I just go buy a good bolt action?

I talked it through with the "missus" She says "go for it...... But you can't spend out of savings for the equipment, but you can for the trip"

So this means I have to go through my "collection" and see what I can sell to get the $$$ to buy a rifle, scope, dies, 500 brass, 1000 primers, 1000 bullets and 3 lbs of powder... :(

I figgure I need $800 for the rifle, $800 for the scope, $100 for primers (i know its a bit much but better safe than sorry), $55 for dies, $500 for bullets and $120 for powder..... $2475+!!! But what is brass worth? I suppose I better figure out what I want before I make up a shopping list.....

I tend to buy cheap (read inexpensive) stuff.... Like Optima Shotguns and Norinco Pistols. They work well but I will have to gut my collection to scare up the cash. Anything that might be worth something (in my safes) I don't wanna part with.....

I do have a couple of nice pistols that I can sell, and an old shotty I never use anymore and a Muzzle loader I was thinking about trading in on a smokless model...... Hmmmmmm I can see a way through.... I just gotta take some pics and to the EE I go!

Thanks for all of your replies fellas!
 
casterpollox said:
For the price of the 17hmr ammo now adays... you might as well just get a small bore centre fire. What is it? $15 for a box of 50.... you can load some awesome .223 for that price and use it for coyotes as well.

IMHO... ditch the 17 on the EE and find a .223.

Plus if you run out of ammo... you can always buy cheap .223 at Wal-Mart.
Click to expand...

lol cheap walmart ammo, they never have any.Ya a guy can reload pretty cheap for some. I think 17hmr is at about 15-25 for 50rnds. I bought 2 bricks of 17 before the increase. Im shooting CCI tnt 17grn HP. They work good but my 204 is a sure a tack driver and it hits hard.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom