Small Game

Beyond the Rifle: Essential Gear for a Successful Prairie Dog Hunt

When most shooters think about prairie dog hunting, their minds go straight to rifles, scopes, and a pile of ammo. But ask any seasoned “dogger,” and they’ll tell you—success in the field often comes down to the gear you bring besides your firearm. From hearing protection and shooting mats to portable benches and wind gauges, these extras can transform a hot, dusty day into an efficient and enjoyable hunt. In this article, we’ll cover the must-have ancillary gear that keeps you shooting comfortably and accurately all day long. And if you’re looking for deep dives into the best rifles, optics, and cartridges for prairie dog hunting, be sure to check out the full Prairie Dog Rifle, Optics & Ammo Guide from StepOutside.org.

By Bob Robb

Comfort and Communication in the Field

There are several items besides rifles, ammo, and optics that will make your day afield more fun. First and foremost, you need to communicate with the others in your shooting party, so electronic hearing protection is the ticket. That way you keep your ears safe and are able to talk to everyone in the group. You will also want excellent eye protection, preferably those that sit off your face a little to prevent fogging, as much for the shooting part as for protection from the blowing grit, sand and dust you’ll find in prairie dog country.

Reading the Wind and Cleaning Your Rifle

A little wind gauge can help you dope the wind and get a feeling for where you have to hold the crosshairs for different wind speeds.

A complete gun cleaning kit with cleaning rods, brushes, jags and patches for each caliber is important, too. Taking a little time on high-volume shoots to clean the barrel several times a day is a good idea, as is completely cleaning the rifle at day’s end.

Get Low: Shooting Mats, Bipods, and Tripods

A real bonus is a shooting mat if you’re going to shoot prone, a common shooting position for prairie dogs. They’re also a little kinder on your butt if you like to shoot from the sitting position. While this isn’t optimum for long-range shooting, it’s great added practice for big-game hunting. I bring along bipod (which you’ll also need for prone shooting) or tripod shooting sticks and do quite a bit of firing from the sitting position, as it’s a position I find myself using a lot on spot-and-stalk hunts in the fall.

Portable Benches and Shooting Rests

On a really active town, you’ll often be set up in the same place for quite a bit of time, and this is where portable shooting benches are a great tool. These portable benches allow you to emulate your range’s permanently installed sitting benchrests back home, greatly improve visibility and aid in accurate shooting. There are several on the market—some are mediocre, others pretty deluxe and some downright creative—and any one of them is better than shooting prone for an entire day. Another one of their benefits is that once you’ve worn out an area, the bench can be easily moved to the next viable spot.

Sandbags, Rests, and Shooting Vises

For prone and bench shooting, you’re going to need a variety of sandbags and shooting bags. Squeezing a small sandbag under the buttstock while shooting prone (and with a bipod on the front end), allows you to make tiny elevation changes without fussing with your scope. Larger sandbags placed on the hood of a pickup, a boulder or a shooting bench add stability to the front of rifles not wearing a bipod and protect those rifles at the same time. Bench shooters also tend to favor shooting vises. They usually have some sort of protective material the fore-end will rest against, some swing side to side, and most will have some sort of knob arrangement for elevation adjustments.

Plan Like a Pro: Sun, Snacks, and Safety

In all likelihood you’ll also be out away from the conveniences of a human-populated town quite a ways, so be prepared for anything and everything. On hot summer days on the plains, the sun can be brutal. Protect yourself with a good hat, sunscreen, polarized sunglasses, lightweight pants, and a long-sleeved shirt. If it’s not too windy, setting up an umbrella or tarp so you can get out of the sun for a spell is worth its weight in gold. That’s where you can set up a couple of folding chairs and a cooler filled with ice, cold nonalcoholic beverages, and snacks. Folding chairs are perfect for spotters as well. Fill up your gas tank, have plenty of liquids and food, bring a basic first aid kit, some bug spray and rain gear and always watch the weather. One year in Wyoming my group was forced to make a run for it when a tornado sprang up seemingly out of nowhere and raced right towards us!

That was almost as exciting as the shooting. On that particular day, four of us tallied how much ammo we had burned in the eight hours before we had to head for the hills. I still have my log book, and the number was 1,087. That’s impressive and why prairie dog shooting is something you should seriously consider giving a try.

Special thanks to StepOutside.org for providing this insightful content.

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