A few months ago I made a fall prairie dog hunting trip. I usually make one or two prairie dog hunts every year, but this year was different. This summer I was fortunate enough to get a new gun, a Nosler Custom Handgun (NCH) in 22 Nosler. The NCH is basically a remake of the Remington XP-100 that was discontinued about 25 years ago. When the NCH was unveiled, it was rather expensive, but Nosler later came out with a different model (Model 48 Independence) that’s considerably less expensive as it doesn’t have as many custom features. Like the XP, the NCH is a single shot bolt action with a long barrel (15”) that’s chambered in rifle type calibers. The trigger is located well in front of the bolt. It’s designed to use with a scope (I put a Burris 3-12X handgun scope on mine). My gun was actually sold by Nosler on their website as a “used” gun. It’d been used by writers on reviews and hunts as well as displayed at shows. The gun was in very fine shape and did not disappoint me. Everyone knows a new gun needs to go on a hunt so I scheduled a fall prairie dog hunt, my third hunt of the year. All my other pd hunting buddies were busy, but my brother-in-law was able to go.

We drove all night to the panhandle of OK, getting there just in time to eat breakfast at a local restaurant. My other hunts to the same town earlier this year during the Covid outbreak were hampered by the state imposed restrictions. At the time, most restaurants were closed and the ones that were open had very limited hours. Fortunately, everything was back to normal for this trip.

Weather is the one thing hunters can never control. The first day was cold, blustery and cloudy….all day long. Although the temperature finally reached a high of 52 degrees near sundown, the clouds never cleared. I wore my heavy hunting jacket all day. The wind gusted to 15 mph. Prairie dogs don’t normally move well in such weather and that was the case for day #1. I exclusively shot the new gun all day. My loads used 40 gr Varmageddon plastic tip and Hornady V-Max bullets. The loads were very flat shooting w/ a muzzle velocity of 3500 fps. The 22 Nosler was developed to provide velocity between the 223 Rem and the 22-250, but in an AR 15 package so it’s plenty potent for prairie dogs.

The weather was very nice on the second and third day. It was sunny both days w/ minimal wind and temperatures into the upper 70’s-low 80’s. On day two I continued to exclusively shoot the new gun. Early on the third day I shot the last of the 22 Nosler loads so I turned to long time veterans, Remington XP-100’s in 22 BR and 6 BR. I was pleased w/ the 22 Nosler as it shot well. As expected, the bullets were sufficiently destructive.

The county fair was scheduled for the weekend of the pd hunt. It was originally schedule for April but had to be postponed due to Covid. Saturday morning we had to “detour” through town because of the parade route. My brother in law joked that we should’ve joined the parade, towing our pd shooting trailer complete w/ rotating shooting tables.

Fall pd hunts are usually a mixed bag: the dogs will have usually been shot extensively, but the cooler weather is more pleasant. On day 1 I shot about ½ as many rounds as usual; day 2 about ¾ the usual and day 3 the typical number.

All in all, it was a good hunt and a nice maiden trip for the 22 Nosler. I’m looking forward to many enjoyable trips w/ it in the future. Since the barrel is threaded, I’m looking forward to buying a suppressor for it. And for anyone looking for a nice bolt action rifle, I’m sure the rifle version (Nosler Model 48) of my NCH would fit the bill.

Shooting.

We should’ve joined the parade.

Relaxing.

First kill for the new gun.

This post was edited on 12/2/20 at 9:22 pm