The DIY Hunter

Vortex Viper Model 1885 Talley One Piece Base 243 WSSM Rifle

Sighting in my Model 1885 in 243 WSSM with the new Talley one-piece base. Talley's new one-piece base is pretty sweet. It is much better than the dovetail turn-in style that has been the only option. I do think Talley should rethink their rings as they take a little too long to get the scope mounted level.

Find more information on setting up Model 1885 High Wall - Bases, Rings, Triggers Etc.

The Vortex Viper scope wasn't too bad either. It's my first Vortex rifle scope to try out.

The three teenagers setup shooting prairie dogs.

The three young men set up blasting away at the prairie dogs.

This year Dallen has been reminding me over and over that we missed last year and that we need to go shoot some Prairie Dogs. I wonder if he likes going. :) It is a lot of fun spending time with your son shooting a lot of rounds with high powered rifles I must admit.

This year Dallen invited two of his good friends to come along for the fireworks show. Unfortunately, we picking the windiest day ever to go. On our first set up early in the morning I just set up the tripod with a spotting scope and the wind blew it over into the dirt. Luckily the scope was fine just a little dusty, however, I put the scope up for the rest of the day fearing it would get damaged. There is always a strong wind in Wyoming but we usually are able to get a couple of hours of shooting in before the wind starts roaring but not on this day. 

I set up the camera as best as I could to take some video of the boys shooting. With the wind, it was very difficult to keep the camera from shaking uncontrollably. I tried to set the camera up directly behind the Expedition as best as possible trying to keep it out of the wind but it helped little.

There appeared to be a good number of dogs this year. Thanks to the wind there were still a good number of dogs when we left. The area was the driest I have ever seen it. It could definitely use some good rain storms this summer. The dust was really bad especially combined with the extreme wind.

On one of our setups as I was watching and spotting for the boys, I noticed a good-sized prairie dog that was hiding in the sagebrush nearly out of view. After many numerous attempts to show the boys where it was none of the boys could ever see it, so I put the camera on the spot and bumped them off the bench. You can see the shot in the video below. I was using the same 95 Gr. Berger VLD load and Model 1885 rifle that I used to take my cow elk back in January this year. I have changed out the bases, rings and rifle scope to a Vortex Viper since my cow elk hunt. The shot was my first to two shots I think I took for the day.

Below are a couple of the better shots that we were able to get on camera. It took some editing in Adobe After Effects to get the video somewhat stable to be able to watch.

Panorama of Western Wyoming prairie dog hunting

Panorama of the area in Western Wyoming where we go hunting prairie dogs.