2 weeks to Varmint-ageddon.

Attention South Dakota prairie dogs. The end is neigh. Repeat, the end is nigh.

It’s 2 weeks to my annual varmint hunting trip to SoDak and I’m stoked already. 1500 rounds of ammo is ready, I’ve got a new AR varmint platform that will be taking its first trip west along with all the old favorites. There’s nothing in the world like the freaky flat .22-250 blazing away in the wide open spaces. The Tikka will join us again this year, and now I’ve got my newer Savage pimped and figured out, so there are lots of good options for reaching out with Big Bopper.

Also, I just enjoy my little Axis .223 so much. No recoil, and it just wacks them so well at 300 and under, it’s just such a joy to take the first 20 shots with this rifle. It’s wearing a new Boyds thumbhole stock now, which just makes a terrific rifle that much better.

Hopefully we can really light ’em up and by that I really mean, “Hopefully we have good weather.” The weather has been the killer in the last 5 years, I’ve gotten rained out on trips twice. I also hope we can keep the rifle breakdowns to a minimum. I’ve broken a rifle on each of the last 2 trips, this kind of shooting is not easy on guns. Luckily both breakdowns were fixable back at the hotel, but it seems like sooner or later…

Anyone else going west this summer for dogs, chucks, or gophers?

Grouse

I went over Memorial Day weekend to SD and had a blast! Wind cooperated, nice temperatures, and rain only came in short, scattered evening showers. We’d come in, cook some dinner and bs for another hour while the sun went down. Then, grab a cold one and foldout chair to look at the brilliant starlit skies and listen to the ‘yotes converse.

I can’t say that I’m set up very well for this but I sure have a lot of fun! This year, I took a 22WMR with a heavy barrel, bipod, and thumbhole stock for shooting around the campsite, 40gr. rounds. I too have those Savage Axis’ that shoot incredibly well. The .223 for 100-300yd shots, thumbhole stock, 4-12x44mm scope, bipod……shooting 55gr. HP rounds. The 22-250 stainless has a Boyd’s stock but not a thumbhole model, bipod, and 6.5-20x44mm scope shooting 45gr. HP rounds. I was shooting clear out to 650yds but my longest hit was about 525yds.

Over the course of 2 days, I only shot 160 rounds (walking around was very slow as I was nursing a bad knee and using a crutch) but I smoked enough of them that I lost count. My guess would be in that 20-25% range. For me, that’s not too bad given the non-varmint optics, factory ammo, entry level rifles, and the very present fact of not being a schooled, well practiced, range shooter. Plenty of room for user error but I was impressed by how many misses were so close! It made me feel like big game would be in a lot more danger!

Nothing broke down and all went fine. Got to see some antelope, including a newborn baby hiding in the grass, and a camp member shot a rattlesnake and we dared to dress it and grill it. It was actually quite good!

This will most likely be the extent of my SD adventures until next year but I’m looking forward to that return already!

Have a great trip Grouse! I left a few for ya!

Most of our trips will be July and August.

Biggest change will be shooting from blinds. We are on colonies that are so shot up and educated.

If timing works out, planning on doing a couple Polymer80, builds and then trying to burn them up. The world of polymer has advanced so incredibly far and many cases surpassed machined aluminum. Can’t wait to build these.

Tomorrow we leave to head west! I can’t wait.

This trip will see a couple of firsts for me.

1. I’m taking an AR west for the first time.

This is not without some deliberation. ARs have a pretty dubious reputation in varmint hunting circles. They cost more for the same level of accuracy, they are fragile relative to time-tested bolt guns, etc. My guide just rolls his eyes and and says he carries extra trash bags to pick up the pieces for when they break–and they always seem to break.

It’ll be interesting to see if my Mossberg MMR can perform to at least reasonable expectations. It will be used in rotation with the bolt guns, so I will try not to overstress it.

2. The forecast looks good. For once! It’s been 5 years since I had a primarily sunny forecast for South Dakota in June. It’s going to be hot, but hot is easier to deal with than wet is.

On a somewhat sad note, my father says he’s going to hang it up after this trip. The heat and the walking are getting to be more than he really enjoys at 75. His favorite varmint rifle is near retirement due to wear and he said it’s time to take the hint and focus on less heat-intensive hunting.

We’ve had some terrific trips west together, that’s for sure. He witnessed my 79 pace p-dog one-shot kill with an iron sighted .22 pistol once back in the 1980s. We had a lot of fun out west, so I’m looking forward to one more trip.

Grouse

Sounds like this will be a VERY sentimental trip for you. Enjoy

Do you go private or guided. my cousin keeps telling me to come out but never lets me know when. I have been wanting to go for years. they get n private for free and always shoot around 500-1000 rounds a day.

Mike Klein wrote:

Do you go private or guided. my cousin keeps telling me to come out but never lets me know when. I have been wanting to go for years. they get n private for free and always shoot around 500-1000 rounds a day.

I go guided these days. Mainly for the efficiency. Just show up and start shooting. No running around trying to find dog towns that have died out, etc.

Round counts per day are a very subjective measure of varmint hunting. Even more so in the AR era. We shoot a consistent 150 to 200 rds per day, but 95% of those shots are under 400 and my focus is on hit percentage so I pass on poor percentage shots.

Driving out now. Shooting starts tomorrow.

Grouse.

Day 1 report. We were on fire. Lots of varmints and hot barrels all day. We savaged a town this afternoon with an 80% hit rate and 60+ kills in 2 hours.

It’s hot out here. 98 today. Went through 8 bottles of water and 2 Gatorades myself just today.

All guns were flawless. No breakdowns.

Grouse