When I got to the area I intended to hunt, I could tell the weather would eventually be a problem. I could see thunder storms forming in the distance, and the prevailing wind was blowing them directly toward me. With no time to waste, I dug out my RWS Rapier, got geared up and started my hunt.
The dog towns here in Arizona are populated by the Gunnison's variety of prairie dog. They are not as large as the Black tail variety of Wyoming, and they aren't anywhere as numerous. Actually, they're quite scattered throughout the dog town area. This reminded me more of hunting ground squirrels, than the prairie dogs I'm used to hunting in Wyoming.
I had scouted several areas that would be good for hunting with powder burners, but were way to open for hunting with airguns. No chance of getting within a hundred yards of most of the dogs. I finally located a good sized town that was perfect for hunting with airguns. It has plenty of ground cover, and getting to within 50/60 yards is doable, at least sometimes.
With thunder storms brewing, the wind was ever present. I could hear dogs barking out their warning calls here and there but I wasn't able to see them in the vegetation. As I hunted along, I was glassing the tops of mounds that were visible. As I got out into the sage and vegetation, I could see other mounds that weren't visible until you were almost on top of them. This was going to be very, very, challenging.
I would occasionally see a prairie dog sitting on a mound out at 100 plus yards, but in closer, I was obviously in their danger zone, and for the most part, they were only showing a head above the top edge of their mounds.
The first one I dropped was a 51 yard head shot with the RWS. I stopped for the requisite photo op. I then continued to hunt while keeping an eye on the approaching storm. I could see lightning and hear thunder off in the distance. The wind was starting to pick up even more, so I knew this hunt was going to be cut short.
I hunted in a big loop back to my vehicle. Along the way I dropped several more prairie dogs, and started to get the hang of spotting them in the thick vegetation. The other gun that I had wanted to hunt with was my Mac1 Discovery. Rain drops were starting to pelt me intermittently, but nothing serious yet. I decided to put the RWS away and hunt awhile with the Disco.
I got the Disco out and started hunting in the direction the storm was coming from. I wanted to keep a close eye on it's progress. I was several hundred yards from my 4Runner, when I spotted a small prairie dog down on all fours, on the top of a mound facing me. The range finder said 46 yards. The wind was in my face, the gun is sighted in at 50 yards, so I put the crosshair on its nose and squeezed the trigger. I heard and saw the pellet impact, and the dog rolled off the mound. The pellet entered just under the chin and exited about mid back. That was it for the Disco portion of the hunt.
I decided to get a picture and hightail it back to my vehicle. The lightening was occurring more frequently, and I could see it was raining very hard in the distance.
I got back just in time to throw my gun in the back of the rig and hop inside before the skies really opened up. I immediately headed for the pavement, which was about five miles away. The type of soil that prairie dog towns are typically found in, turns to the consistency of axle grease when wet. It also wraps around a tire like rolling up a carpet. It can be a real challenge keeping the front end of your vehicle going in the direction you want. Whatever you do, do not loose forward momentum. The rear tires were throwing some nice mud rooster tails, but I did make it back to the pavement. The track I left looked a lot like the one a snake leaves when crossing a dusty road. Fishtailing was the operative word.
For the first attempt at hunting prairie dogs with airguns in Arizona, I was very pleased. I wasn't happy about the weather cutting the hunt short, but learned a lot about the area I had found, and will be back out next week to give it another go.
Here are a few pics. I've included a shot of the country I hunted in to give some perspective.
