VarmintAir's Airgun Hunting Blog

Logun MK II .20 caliber. Setting Her Up To Hunt Prairie Dogs. To Bad They Are No Longer Made.

The Logun MK II is an exceptional PCP. This one is a .20 cal that I purchased new about four years ago. The design is a little different in that it doesn't have a removable magazine. Instead it has an inline magazine that is an integral part of the receiver. No magazines to remove and reload, just pull back the spring loaded follower, drop in some more pellets, release the follower and keep on shooting. It's kind of like having a 35 round magazine.

The bolt action on this gun is as smooth as silk. On some bolt guns the action can be a bit hard to cycle. Not on the MK II, she's as smooth as can be. 

I've killed a truck load of California Ground Squirrels with it. It loves 13.6 grain .20 cal JSB Exact pellets. It shoots them at an average of 925 fps with an extreme spread of only 26 fps over a 35 shot string. The rifle is a fantastic hunter, and I love the thumbhole stock for field use. 

Unfortunately, about a year and a half ago I ran out of the JSB's, and they were not available anywhere, so she has been quietly sitting in her case, in the closet, waiting for them to become available again. She shoots the 11.2 grain .20 cal Beeman FTS right at 1000 fps, but this particular rifle does not shoot them well at all. It may be driving them too fast, I don't know. 

The good news is the .20 cal JSB's recently became available again, and I laid in a substantial supply. Today I cleaned the barrel, and in anticipation of hunting prairie dogs with the rifle this coming Wednesday, I did a quick and dirty sight in at 20 yards indoors. On Tuesday, I'll get her out to the National Forest and do a final sight in at 55 yards. I shot both five shot groups standing off of my Stoney Point telescoping bipod. After shooting the top group I did a scope tweak and fired the bottom group. 

Its been a while since I've had the opportunity to hunt with this rifle, and I'm really excited about hunting prairie dogs with her on Wednesday. 

 

Fun Is An FX Monsoon - Nice Weather - and a Prairie Dog Town

 

As I pulled into the hunt area I could see a few dogs out in the vegetation. I got geared up and was hunting fifteen minutes later. Since this was the first time I've hunted prairie dogs with the Monsoon, I gathered up the first three I dropped with it, and grabbed a quick pic. They were taken at 51, 58, and 70 yards. 

The 18 grain JSB's really anchor them in place. The days winner of the "Dirt Nap Contest" goes to a youngster that caught an 18 grain JSB pellet at 102 lasered yards. That's the second longest kill with the Monsoon. The longest goes to a California Ground Squirrel that won the original "Dirt Nap Contest" by catching a 16 grain JSB at 107 lasered yards.

 

Contest winner.

 

It was a fun half day hunt. It was very humid and 90 degrees by 11:00 AM, so I pulled the plug and just drove around doing a bit of exploring. I found a couple of other good spots with prairie dogs, but it was getting too hot and humid to hunt. Next week, to beat the the heat and humidity, I plan on being in the dog towns just after sunrise. The good news is, prairie dogs are early risers and so am I. 

The only shade available is what you bring with you. The hatch on my 4Runner gives me a few square feet of it to use while refilling my mags.

 

This isn't anything like the incredible prairie dog hunting in eastern Wyoming, but this is very challenging, and still a lot of fun. I lost count, but would guess I got a couple dozen before calling it quits for the day. 

I bought my Monsoon out of the second shipment into the country two or three years ago. It is an amazing rifle. It's as accurate as a lot of my nice bolt, and side lever guns, and the semi-auto action is a hoot to shoot. It has functioned flawlessly since day one, and it's a blast to hunt with. FX Monsoon, the 10/22 of air rifles.

Wide open spaces. Arizona prairie dog country.

FX Monsoon Set Up To Shoot .22 Caliber 18 Grain JSB Jumbo Heavy Pellets For Prairie Dog Hunt

The last time I hunted with my Monsoon, I was after California Ground Squirrels, and I had been shooting tin pellets. Now, I'm going to hunt with my Monsoon in a prairie dog town here in Arizona, and wanted to switch it from shooting tin, back to shooting lead ammo.

All that means is, I clean the barrel thoroughly, and re-sight the gun with the lead pellet of choice. I normally shoot the 15.9/16 grain JSB Exact Jumbo in this gun. It performs beautifully with that pellet. 

I had finished sighting it in with the 16 grain JSB's, and had put it away, getting out my FX 2000 to sight it in with the 18 grain JSB's. It shoots them absolutely lights out, as does my RWS Rapier. After finishing sighting in the 2000, and almost as an after thought, I wondered how the Monsoon would do with an 18 grain pellet. 

I got the Monsoon back out, and since the target frame was at 30 yards, I decided to put five shots into a prairie chuck target and see what it could do. It absolutely blew me away. This is as good as the FX and RWS do at the same distance. They are are both bolt guns and the Monsoon is semi-auto. It shoots the 16 grainers well, but not like this. 

We don't have an official range here locally, so for range work, I head out to a favorite spot in the National Forest and set up my shooting stand and target holder. By the time I got around to re-shooting the Monsoon, I was running out of time, so I only shot it at 30 yards. I have the gun sighted in at 55 yards with the 16 grain JSB's. I then shoot it at 30 yards to get my hold under info. The good news is, the 18 grain pellets shoot to the same POI as the 16 grainers, so I'm just going to substitute 18's for the 16's and hunt prairie dogs with them tomorrow. I know one thing for sure, the prairie dogs are going to hate this rifle, pellet combo.

The picture of the target is a bit blurry because I was in a hurry to get things put away and get back to town to pick up my wife. I shot one quick picture, not realizing it was blurred. The gun shot what I call a "bug hole" with the 18 grain pellets. 

The heavier weight pellet will carry a couple more foot pounds down range, and also buck the ever present wind a little better than the 16 grainers. I'm really looking forward to hunting prairie dogs with this pellet.

Five 18 grain JSB Jumbo Heavy pellets at 30 yards.

 

Airgun Hunting Arizona Prairie Dogs

I've been hunting prairie dogs for close to four decades, but never in Arizona, and never in Arizona with airguns. I've spent about 20 months exploring and searching for prairie dog towns and areas to hunt with my airguns. In the process, I've been on my fair share of wild goose chases.

The Sylvatic Plague is probably the single greatest threat that prairie dog towns face. Unlike hunting, it will wipe out an entire town in one year or less. It kills them above ground and below ground, 24/7 it doesn't care. 

Through persistence, and lots of scouting, I was able to locate some viable towns that were perfect for hunting with my airguns. The season opened on Tuesday so it was time to check out some of the towns I had pre-scouted.

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 eastern Wyoming, and they aren't anywhere near 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 eventually located several good sized towns that were perfect for hunting with airguns. They have plenty of ground cover, and getting to within 50/60 plus 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 the 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. The dogs could see me through the vegetation in front of the mound, but I couldn't always see 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 I learned a lot about one of the areas 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.

 

"MURPHY'S LAW" - Backup Gun, Never Leave Home Without at Least One.

I think everyone has heard of "Murphy's Law". That's the one that says, "everything that can go wrong, will go wrong". Most of us have experienced that with something at some point in our lives, and some of us have experienced it many, many, times.

My first hunting experience with "Murphy's Law", was with a powder burner, but the lesson learned certainly applies to hunting with airguns as well, as a friend proved a few weeks ago.

I remember the first time good buddy "Murphy", contributed to a jackrabbit hunt I was on as though it happened last week. The lesson learned that morning, 45 years ago, has stayed with me to this very day. 

I had driven about three hours to an area a friend had said was just loaded with jacks. I was going to hunt with a Winchester Model 43 in .22 hornet, that I had purchased used about 6 months before. I had worked up an excellent performing handload for it, and was really excited to try it out on some jackrabbits.

After a long drive, the last half hour of which, was  down a teeth rattling dusty washboard rutted dirt road, I arrived at the designated area. I excitedly got my rifle out, loaded up the three round mag, dropped another dozen rounds in a pocket, and headed out into the sagebrush to start my hunt.

I had walked maybe a hundred yards into the sage, when a couple of jacks broke out of the brush about 60 yards in front of me. One of them went 20 yards and stopped. I had the rifle sighted in for 100 yards, so this shot was pretty much a gimme.

I settled the crosshairs of the Bushnell scope on the jack's head, and squeezed the trigger. When the shot broke I heard a loud, "WHOP", and the jack dropped in place. Oh man, what a great start. I could tell this was going to be a really fun day.

At the sound of the rifle firing, a second jack sat straight up about 110 yards out. I quickly racked the bolt to chamber another round, but something was wrong, seriously wrong. The frickin bolt wouldn't close. I could see the second round sticking part way out of the chamber, but the bolt would not close on it.

I quickly racked the bolt again, ejecting the second round onto the ground, and ran the bolt forward to pick up the third cartridge out of the mag. I hadn't been reloading for very long, and quickly thought, "hmmm, maybe there was something wrong with the dimensions of the second cartridge that wouldn't let it chamber.....well, if that was the case, I had the same problem with round number three, because it wouldn't chamber either. %#*&@

Okay, now it's time to slow down and try to figure out what the heck was going on. The partially chambered third round easily extracted when I pulled the bolt back. This just didn't make any sense to me. The only thing I could figure was, there must be an obstruction of some sort in the chamber.

I held the rifle at a angle so I could look down into the chamber, and sure enough, a portion of the cartridge case from the first shot was still in there. I had just experienced my first ever case head separation.

I had just driven three hours, fired one shot, suffered a case head separation, with no way of getting the front portion of the case out of the rifle's chamber, and worst of all, NO BACKUP RIFLE. DUMB! I was out of commission. It was a long frustrating drive home, and I swear I saw that second jack flip me the bird as I drove off.

From that day forward, I have never, ever, hunted with fewer than two, and usually three rifles along for a hunt.

I dodged a "Murphy"s Pellet" last summer while prairie dog hunting in Wyoming. Because I had learned the "take a backup rifle" lesson many years ago, even had this event happened differently, it really wouldn't have been a big problem, because I did have another rifle with me. The drive up there and back is three days each way, and there was no way I would go on that trip without a backup gun along.

My FX 2000 is my go to long range prairie dog rifle. The gun is insanely accurate all the way out to 100 yards and beyond. I hunted exclusively with the FX all week. It was flawless, and I killed hundreds of prairie dogs with it out to 90 plus yards. Little did I know, that "Murphy" had a great opportunity to mess with my mind, but his timing was just a little bit off this time.

When I got home from the hunt, I took the rifle out of its case to clean it and discovered that there was no air in the gun.  It had about 150 bar left in the air cylinder when I cased it for the last time in Wyoming. On the trip home, a seal let go and dumped all of the remaining air.

I purchased the rifle used about 4 or 5 years ago, and I have shot the heck out of it since, so I can't really complain. But, I know for a fact, that the only reason that seal didn't go on the first day of the Wyoming hunt was because, ole "Murphy" knew that I had a backup gun with me.

Last month, a buddy and I were hunting ground squirrels in California. We were having an excellent morning trading shots. We were dropping ground squirrels left and right. He was hunting his Daystate Air Ranger in .22, and I was hunting my Mac1 .22 Discovery with the "Quality Stock Works" stock on it.

My buddy was lined up on a nice fat ground squirrel at about 55 yards,  he pulled the trigger and........NOTHING HAPPENED. He racked the bolt again, (not thinking about the fact that he has now double loaded another pellet behind the first), and pulls the trigger again. This time the gun fires, but he misses low and the squirrel takes off for parts unknown. 

The gun worked fine for a few more shots, and then the trigger just gave up the ghost. The good news is, he had a second rifle with him, so no harm, no foul. I would have gladly loaned him one of my backup guns, but it's just not as much fun as hunting with your own gear.

I'm heading out next week to hunt prairie dogs and I'm taking three rifles. The FX 2000, RWS Rapier, and my Mac1 Discovery. All three guns are .22 caliber. The Discovery will be shooting the 15.9/16 grain JSB Exact's, and the FX 2000 and RWS will be shooting the JSB 18 grain Jumbo Heavy's. So, c'mon "Murph", bring it on. I'm ready for ya. 

Anyway, the message here is, NEVER GO HUNTING WITHOUT A BACKUP GUN! If you do, chances are very good that, "MURPHY'S LAW" will, at the most inopportune time, come into play and ruin an otherwise fun hunt. You can COUNT ON IT.

  

  

 

Safely Hunting California Ground Squirrels in Rattlesnake Country

I am occasionally asked how I handle hunting California Ground Squirrels in rattlesnake country. Especially when the grass and other vegetation is tall. The answer is, I'm extra alert, and I hunt with a Stoney Point telescoping bibod. They make several different models. I bought the tallest one. I think it's about six feet long when fully extended. I can always adjust it shorter if need be.

When going through tall grass, I use it in front of me, much like a blind person uses their cane to probe along in front of them. I use the bipod to move vegetation aside while watching for snakes. If I'm going to glass an area in front of me for squirrels, I stop to do it. I never go farther than I have cleared in front of me with the bipod.

Even when hunting in relatively open areas, I automatically, and quickly scan the ground in front of where I'm going, for 15 or 20 feet at a time, to make sure it's clear of snakes. I have been doing this for so long, that I don't even think about doing it. It's just automatic.

Never step over a large rock or log when you cannot see what is on the other side of it either. They will coil up next to and under those things, and when you step down, you may get bitten. It's never a good idea to put your hand down ground squirrel holes, or into old hollow logs and stumps either.

It's not like they are behind every rock and log, but you need to be aware that the possibility is always there. Some years, I only encounter a few rattlesnakes. Other years, like this one, I encounter a lot. The better the years ground squirrel crop, the more rattlesnakes there seem to be. I don't let the possibility of encountering a rattlesnake spoil my hunt. I'm just a bit more aware and cautious while hunting. 

If you do come across a snake up close, the bipod is handy for getting the snakes attention off of you by sticking the end of the legs in its face, or even use it to push on the snakes body while you move away. I had a situation this year, where I came around a large boulder and a rattler was coiled and buzzing a few feet away. I immediately stuck the end of the bipod in the middle of the coil and stepped a couple more feet away. The snake did strike at the bipod legs leaving venom on them.

You do not want that stuff on your skin, so wipe it off in the dirt, and when you get back to your vehicle use a handy wipe, or baby wipe folded over several times, to clean off the legs. Do not use a tissue or toilet paper, the stuff will soak right into, and through it, possibly getting on your skin.

They can only strike about half the length of their body, so it's not like they can hit you if you are five or six feet away. It is disconcerting as hell though, when the first indication there is one near you, is the buzzing. Some of them even hiss and buzz at the same
time.

I carry baby wipes in my vehicle to clean my hands with before lunch etc.. Keep a ziplock sandwich bag, or something similar, that you can put the venom contaminated wipe in, and toss it in the trash when you get home.

I just never hunt without my Stoney Point bipod. It's great for probing a path through grass and vegetation, it can also come in handy for dealing with the occasional up close rattlesnake, and best of all, It's a great rifle rest. It makes hitting small targets at a distance a lot easier.