I'm headingto WY to hunt Mule Deer next month and I figured I'd take a rifle along to hunt some Prairie Dogs should I tag out early or just plain kill some down time...

What's the average range to shoot them and is a .17 HMR a good rifle to use on them?

.17 HMR is a great PDog rifle. I don't know if there is an average range. I know guys who shoot them from 50 yds out to a couple of guys who are trying to hit them from a mile. Good luck on your hunt.

Most will depend on how much the town has been shot. If they don't get shot much most all of your shots will be 100 yards and in. Smart dogs that get plinked alot will be 100-200 yard range.

.17 will be fine, you may have to be a little more patient than with a .20 that reaches a little further.

Thanks guys... My .17 is sighted in and grouping real well at 100 yds but I haven't shot it any further...

Put a bi-pod on your hmr and if the town has been shot at alot, plan on doing a "walk about", and you'll probably be able to find plenty of targets that will be in range of your hmr. Word of caution, might want to tote along a butt pad if you do go on a walk about. Sitting down on a cactus will ruin the fun reall quick.

So should I put a medium length bi-pod on it and shoot from the sitting position?

I would recommend shooting from a sitting position when doing the walk about that Howler mentioned.

If walking around the town be wary of snakes as well. Good place to find rattlesnakes.

LOL...Great, so now I need a butt pad and snake boots...Anything else I need to pack?

BTW, I'm going to be hunting in or near Wheatland, WY. Anyone know what the terrain and such is like around there?

Yip, plan on shooting from the sitting position. I went upto Casper, WY. for a 3 day prairie dog shoot this summer, and on the last day we were there, three of us went on a "walk about" to reach parts of the ranch that we weren't allowed to drive to, and it was the best shooting we had. Around Wheatland you'll find gentle rolling hills, some sage brush, and wide open spaces. You could even have some deep wide gullies that allow you to sit on the edge and look down into a valley with prairie dogs, that's my favorite shooting position, above looking/shooting down into a valley.
Yip, you'll need to keep an eye out for rattlers. Two guys in our group saw rattlers near Casper. No near misses though. Not a lot of snakes, but enough so to be aware of where you're walking. There were 14 of us, and only two guys saw snakes.

Thanks for all the help folks...