This is the first time I've had my .25 cal Marauder out after prairie dogs since last season. What a fun gun to hunt prairie dogs with. The .25 cal really drops the hammer on these things.
I picked this gun up from Mac1 Airguns last year when they first became available. The accuracy is right up there with the three other most accurate guns I own. Those are an FX 2000, RWS Rapier, and my new AA 510 TC, all in .22 cal.
I have a Crosman CenterPoint, 4-16x56mm Power Class scope, with 30mm tube mounted on the top of her. This is a big scope with a bit of weight. Just what I'm looking for when mounting a scope on a prairie dog rifle.
Most of the time, it's going to be windy in the dog towns, and I want some weight in the rifle, to help me hold it steady in those conditions. My .25 cal Marauder runs 11.75 pounds with scope, camera, and mounts. This has become one of my favorite prairie dog rigs.
Sunrise was at about 5:45, so I was in the town at 6:00, and ready to hunt by 6:15. It can be in the low 90's by 10:00/10:30, so I like to get an early start. There was a time, when the heat didn't effect me all that much, but as I've gotten older, that is no longer true. I should have purchased stock in Gatorade. I've become a really good customer.
I hiked about 300 yards away from the road, and started working my binoculars, looking for prairie dogs out in the sage. One of the first things I saw was a cottontail rabbit, with its ears glowing in the early morning sun. They do that when backlit, and that's what I'm looking for when hunting the little critters. Except, at that point in time, I wasn't hunting them, I was after prairie dogs.
It wasn't long before I started to spot prairie dogs here and there. The vegetation is getting pretty thick and tall, so each trip out there is a bit more challenging as far as spotting the dogs is concerned.
The closest shot of the day was at 40 yards, and the longest was at 101 yards, with lots of targets inbetween.
My Marauder gets 16 full power shots on a fill. Something told me, that it was going to be a good day, with lots of shooting, so I put my AirHog Pigmee tank on my belt and carried it with me. I'm glad I did, I had the best single day hunt I've ever had on this ranch. As a matter of fact, I was having so much fun, that I forgot to take very many pictures. I took a total of two. LOL. I did shoot lots of video though.
Usually, I'm lucky to get ten or twelve shots on dogs, in a three or four hour hunt. This time I got over 40. It was a busy and fun few hours for sure. The Pigmee tank was definitely great to have along.
I was hunting with the Benjamin 27.8 grain, .25 cal dome head pellets. They shoot sub half inch five shot groups at 50 yards, and that's the kind of accuracy you need for hunting prairie dogs at long range. They generate 44 fpe at the muzzle, and average 848 fps, with an extreme spread of only 23 fps. This is on a 3000 psi fill.
Below, are some video clips from the hunt. They may take 20/30 seconds to load, and run about 3 minutes and 45 seconds.
It was an awesome hunt. I've got more video clips that I'll get posted when I have a chance. I'm headed over to California on business for a week, so it'll probably have to wait until I get back. Stay tuned, more Benjamin Marauder air hammer footage coming soon.
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