I left Williston a little after 7:00 a.m. and got caught up in the normal oil field traffic jam at the intersection of Highways 2 and 85 4 miles west of Williston. The ND Highway Department is making big changes at that intersection because they are going to make Highway 85 a four lane highway between Williston and Watford City, ND. I can’t wait until it is done. It took me 14 minutes to go 4 miles in the morning traffic mainly because they choked the traffic down to one lane going through that intersection where it used to be two lanes going west and one lane for tuning left when you are driving west. After I got through the intersection there were only a couple other places where they are doing road construction. Traffic is murder and the stretch of road west of Watford City has had many, many, many fatal accidents.
I got to a little prairie dog town where I wanted to set up my target and make sure my newly cleaned rifle barrel was shooting where I aimed. I had treated it with a couple patches wet with Lock-Ease after I got the barrel clean. I parked the pickup so I could have a steady rest by shooting off the tailgate. I put my silencer on the end of the barrel of my Savage 12VLP .204 Ruger with a SS 1 in 11 twist super match grade Pac-Nor barrel on it so I could shoot my target. Before I had a chance to set up my target box a prairie dog was barking at me from about 100 yards away. I figured at that distance even if my first bullet isn’t spot on I should be able to hit a prairie dog. My bullet found its mark—SPLAT!!!
I took out my range finder to check if there was a PD mound at about 100 yards and my range finder didn’t work!!! I opened the battery compartment and there was no battery in it!!! No wonder it didn’t work!!! I carry an extra 9-volt batter in my back pack so I got that out. It was a used one from July 2013 but I put it in any way since it was the only battery I had. It was way too low on juice so I’d have to make do without my range finder today. I stepped off 100 yards and set up my target box and got back to the pickup and got my scope cranked my Leupold 6-20x50mm long range scope up to 20x. I wasn’t real steady when I fired off shot #1 and knew I had wiggled when squeezing the trigger. I got my rabbit ear sandbag out for the butt of the rifle and hunkered down and concentrated on making a better shot on the second try and felt good about that shot. It was about 7/8" high and dead on for windage. That will work for me so I was good to go!!!
I drove the pickup further west to where I’d have to park the pickup and cross a creek on foot. I grabbed my binoculars to do a little scouting of the dog town. There were lots of adult prairie dogs out feeding in the warm morning sun. They looked almost as big as rock chucks!!! I headed back to the pickup and got my backpack and other gear ready for a walk-about shoot. I left the pickup at 9:31 a.m. and did a leisurely walk around the small dog town. I did not see any pups out so I didn’t want to shoot too many prairie dogs for fear I would be shooting nursing females. I did wind up shooting 12 prairie dogs in this small town and only one of them was a female. I quit shooting after I killed the female and walked back toward the pickup and got there at 10:45 a.m. I went 12 for 12 on shots that ranged from about 75 yards to 200 yards. I’m shooting 27.2 gr. of H4895 and using 40 gr. V-Max bullets coated with hBN, Remington 7½ primers, and WW casings. (This load is safe in my rifle, so if you care to try this load make sure you work up to the 27.2 gr. load in small increments.) Counting the PD I shot before shooting the paper target I went 13 dead prairie dogs for 13 shots—Lucky “13”.
Here’s a photo of a satisfied recipient of one of my 40 gr. V-max bullets with the rifle I was using today.
Here’s what the 40 gr. V-Max did to this prairie dog from a distance of 140 yards. This one looks like it got sucked back down into its hole.
I decided I needed a nap when I got back to the pickup and woke up at about 11:55 and had lunch. After lunch I headed south of this dog town to see if I could fool a coyote. I spent about 30 minutes on one stand, during which the wind shifted from coming from the SW to blowing from the NW. I was facing south and the wind switch was blowing my scent right into where I thought the coyote/s might approach from. Nothing ever showed up and I decided to head for another spot.
I took a lot of time to photograph blossoms on my walk back to the pickup so I’ll put a few of those photos in here.
Wait a minute!!! I almost forgot the “Hero Photo” of me with my first PD of 2014!!!
I had to head back to Williston so I could clean up and get ready to go to my oldest granddaughter’s band and choir concert at 7:00 p.m. I wouldn’t be doing my grandfatherly duty if I didn’t attend her concerts. There will be lots of days in the future of calling coyotes and shooting prairie dogs, but those granddaughter spring concerts only come once a year.
I look forward to visiting this prairie dog town and the others that are in this area a little later this month when the pups are up out of the den and don’t depend 100% on mother’s milk. I won’t feel so guilty about shooting a female when the pups can fend for themselves.
