Top_Heavy's World

The heat waves, rising from the bare ground, made it almost impossible to shoot. I felt as though I was looking into a fast flowing stream even at only 6 power. The Redfield scope was usually excellent for reducing this "Mirage". The prairie dogs were out in full force after the rains for 2 days, and I was excited about the opportunities! The first sunny day after a front is always "as good as it gets" for these little rodents. I was in a dog town that was over a mile square. I could see the far end on the horizon and the North end, to my left dissappeared over a little rise. I folded down the windshield of my customized Jeep Wagoneer, to allow for shooting while under the comfort of the canvas soft top. We started with .22 rifles and pistols, the quiet little guns effectively working out to about 100 yards. I moved up to a .22-250, great out to extreme ranges, when the heat waves are not so noticable, but today they were only good to about 200 yards. The shooting was fun and fast. Dogs ran from mound to mound, stopping routinely to stand and look for predators. Morning became afternoon and the wind picked up. With the wind came clear shooting! I broke out the custom .243 and I started zapping the little buggers with 95 grain ballistic tips. The longest shot that day in the wind was 327 yards on a standing dog. Not like some of the TV shows claim, but a long shot in over 15 mph cross winds. I was lucky enough to have 30+ dog towns back then, and the farmers didn't want sport hunters, they wanted the dogs killed. I shot enough of them that they didn't have to poison the towns! I kept the little grass eaters under control and got to shoot dogs for years! What a trade off! If you ever get the chance to Prairie Dog hunt I would recommend it, for practice and lots of fun!

I was so into Dog hunting that I modified a 1973 Jeep Wagoneer. I cut the top off of the entire vehicle, bolted the spare on the roll cage system that I built, made a fold down plexiglass windshield, and I made a 2 ply canvas rag top. The rag top wasn't waterproof, but it sure helped in the hot NW Texas sun. Bias Ply 32"X7" tires provided the traction and the factory V8 was enough power make it through any sand we encountered. I actually drove this Jeep, as is, from South Texas into Canada and back.

These are some unusual hero shots... Happy hunters with Prairie Dogs! Matt Schrantz and I shot dogs in Wyoming.

Jeff Cave and I shot dogs in Texas.