The unseasonably hot weather that spoiled my elk hunt in Montana probably contributed to the good conditions for prairie rodent shooting while we were in New Mexico. We had good shooting, with shots generally between 150 to 250 yards. My longest confirmed shot on a dog was 337 yards, with my closest at 47 yards.

The only damper on the shooting was a group of migrating Harris hawks, plus a couple of marauding Golden eagles. While shooting in the most productive areas, we would often shoot 2 or 3 dogs, only to have 15 or 20 hawks and eagles descend on the PD carcasses. Once this happened, all the dogs would stay in their burrows and the shooting would dry up. At this point, our only choice was to move to another PD town.

The majority of my shots were taken with my Sako .243 Win using 55gn Nosler Ballistic Tips with H4895 powder. This proved a very effective combination, often lifting the dogs several feet on impact. The terminal performance of the Ballistic Tips was very satisfactory. Due to the limited ammo I could bring on my flight, I also used Bob's .223 Rem. While the .223 was a little more sedate when compared to the .243, it still proved an effective PD killer. Bob loaded the .223 with 50gn Vmax's with a full load of Varget. Bob shot his .223 Rem and his .22-250 loaded with 55gn Vmax and Varget.

Most of our shooting was from rifles rested on the car. Here Bob lines up a PD with his 22-250
 
 

I found the top of the vehicle the best place to shoot from. Placement of the car was critical, but it made a very stable platform.
 
 

I have very few "trophy photos" because so many of the prairie rodents I shot were devoured by hawks. I shot this one with Bob's .223 at around 150 yards.
 
 

The rodents all seemed to be in fine condition. I took this fat old boy with the .223 at around 200 yards.