208muley

Great hunt! Envious and can't wait for my backpack hunt next year. Thanks for sharing.

Just an update after the purchase. Went out today to figure out what my moa adjustment is for my turret. I sighted in at 100 at ben avery and had .5 or better with the nosler 140gr accubonds. Figured I might as well stay with them if they shoot that good. So out to the desert we went at aprox 4500' . To say the results made me happy is an understatement! I was .5 moa or better all the way to 700! I want to thank my buddy Jeff, who really knows these guns, for being there to coach this rookie how to set up and shoot this rifle. With a lot more practice and maybe working up a load it's kinda cool to think about how good this gun may shoot. Anyways, I guess all I need is for a whitey to step out anywhere inside 700 and he will be in trouble.. Thanks for the education everybody and good hunting.

First let me say, I have been a bow hunter, except one strip deer hunt and I borrowed a gun, for the past 20 years or so. But with my family hunting now I have decided to get back into rifle hunting Coues deer again. So where do I start? I want to be able to kill at the 500-600 yd range and have fun practicing at much further range! I used to practice at 100-120 yards with a bow to make 50-60 yds feel like a chip shot. So I have a ruger m77 7mm mag bone stock. I know the caliber is way good but is this rifle good enough? Do I keep the action and build around it including change out the barrel? I am also going to hand load, don't know a dang thing about that either, but that is another topic. Or do I just get a whole new set up. I am not lucky enough to work with unlimited funds so I would like to keep it under 4k for gun and scope if I can. So what say you guys. Can you help a brother out!? Thanks, Eric

Has anyone noticed if their point of impact or group size changed for the worse after putting a bipod on? How about at further ranges say 5-700 yds?

Carp! His brow tines are a dead givaway. Wrong angle off the main beam. Kill him and take a sample to a biologist to find out. No matter what the species is you will stil have a dead deer and that's the best part. Good luck!

What time of year is your hunt? Which hunt do you have? Whatis the weather doing that day? Early season when it's hot you are best served looking on north and east slopes. November, with all the pressure from hunters look in the thickest stuff possible and look for them bedded. Dec look on southern, western, Eastern slopes. The later in dec it gets start looking for where the does are. If it gets super cold glass the sun line. Amazing how many deer will stand when the sun hits em when it's cold. What I just said applies to more mature bucks, little ones can be found with does anywhere. And if the wind is really blowing on any slope then what I said previously doesn't apply. They HATE the wind and will ALWAYS be out of a big wind, all their senses are weaker and since pretty much everything eats em including squirrels , haha, a strong wind moves em to less windy spots. I could get more specific but that's what I think in a nutshell.

I put down 8 archery on the poll BUT the early rifle multi-unit is pretty darn good if you know where to look.. And a lot less people in a big chunk of dirt! Peaks rifle is super tough but can be very rewarding. 22s ml is the biggest sleeper in the state but you have to know where to look. One you haven't mentioned but is just like 8 for points needed is 7w.... Can be a fantastic hunt for 330-360 type bulls with occasional whopper in there.. Good luck with your choices....

If you are thinking about a guide, two words Greg Koons... The man is awesome on the cabeza.

Refreshing to hear someone put priority on family vs a giant bull. I like it! Drop me a pm, I have hunted and guided in that unit for over 20 yrs. you gotta earn a big boy but if a 300ish bull floats your boat i got a bunch of spots you can go and who knows maybe get a much better bull than 300.

Is the .270 sold? Can't tell with the last few posts.

How about a score on that bad boy!?

I personally wouldn't worry too much around the baca and the jjj ranch. Hunt as close as you can. Both ranches are very well posted especially the float. The jjj has some land posted that is questionable.. If it is call the wm for the unit and let him know exactly the spot in question. I did this a few years ago guiding an antelope hunt. I got approached by chads guys and they were all pissed that I was in there but a quick call to the wm and a very short convo with the guys we continued on our way legally hunting an area that I wanted to hunt. Killed a great buck too. Remember in the state of az the burden falls on the landowner to post his land PROPERLY and on land that is legal to post! Good luck to your son!

Bozarth Mesa, Goodwin Mesa. Especially around the edges. But if all else fails Goodwin Mesa. If you can figure out how to get around the private property, north of Goodwin is really good!

You can get on the "BO" right now. Also the land that is private is well marked and you will know it. Remember the burden is on the land owner to post their land PROPERLY if it is private. This is not new Mexico!

Pm sent darr.

Thanks for the review. This is the pack I'm looking at getting for backpacking Coues deer. As there isn't a place to try before you buy, I have a couple questions. Do you think the carbon frame is tough enough to handle the abuse of coming out heavy with gear and a boned out whitey as compared to an "h" frame? Does it flex too much with heavy weight? 70-90 lbs. is the fabric tough enough to handle the az brush from catclaw to manzanita etc? How did you like the lumbar pad? I've heard it has a "weird" feeling.. I just wish there was a place in north phx or anywhere in az for that matter that I could try before I buy. Anyways, thanks in advance. Eric

Her site her rules. Period. My bet is this forum gets real quiet as we all know hunters don't talk or become active in political things about hunting till its to late, then complain like crazy after the fact. My personal opinion is that any political talk should be allowed as long as it stays civil and no name calling. Jmho

So what kind of scope, brand, reticle, power etc should I put on my gun no matter what I end up getting? I have heard that leupold 8.5x20 is good. I also have heard vortex makes a good one. Huskema and night force are probably out due to price. I know that I will have a turrets on it. Is a level important? The advice I got about guns was great so now how about some on the glass? Thanks guys, Eric.

So I did some research thanks to 308nut, and the gun checks out fine. I was offered a great deal on this gun, perfect for backpacking coues deer, and It has never been shot so I bought it. It is getting bedded and floated as we speak. With that said, I have a rem 700 in 30/06 that I may decide to build off of if I really enjoy shooting the 280ai. This gun thing is somewhat new to me as for the last 20 yrs I have been, minus one deer, a bow hunter. Wish me luck guys and thanks for all the education, between this thread and the one on scopes I have learned a ton!

Great info amigos! thanks Eric

So what is the real difference in focal plane. I know that Sfp means the reticle doesn't move when power changes. Ffp magnifys the reticle with the power change... What I don't know is what the pros and cons are for both.

I hear ya pack hunter. I killed my best Muley at 83yds even though I had borrowed a gun to shoot really far! I drank the koolaid ! Can't say anymore than that. However, I decided to buy a lightweight long range gun due to the country I'm finding really good whitetails in. Shots can definatly be 5-600. Just want to keep it simple cause when a 125" buck steps out at 537 yds and I'm getting all excited about killing him the last thing I want to do is forget one of the 25 steps I need to do to shoot one of these high tech scopes and miss the deer and screw up the the peace of the wilderness with a whole bunch of loud swearing. Lol Range, dial moa, aim, squeeze, hopefully smile for hero pics sound so much better.

I have a superior safe from the safe factory store. Just off i17 and bell. Love it! Dave is a great guy and as I found out , my neighbor! Get more safe than you think you will need! Not just guns but, optics, jewelry, important papers and a whole lot more stuff ends up being put in there. It looks great in my trophy room as well!

Awesome info wh4c, I have gone ahead a bought a kimber mountain ascent in 280ai. I am having it floated and bedded as we speak. I bought the gun primarily due to be super light and great for backpacking for Coues deer. I would like to get a lighter scope as well, if possible, the gun came with 1" talleys and that's what I would like to use. I have heard good things about about the 6.5x20x40 vo leupoldvx3. With just a duplex reticle with turrets sfp. I want to keep it simple as I can to shoot out to 700. Am I way out of line with my thinking?can you shoot longer ranges without all the drop charts, moa reticles, and such? I am not locked in to anything yet but I do want to get this done ASAP so I have time to work up a good load and hunt. Thanks

Ever open a can and worms came out and you didn't know crap about what kind of worms they even were!? Well it has happened to me! This is way more confusing than what gun to buy! So now I'm starting to learn about parallax, FTP, Sfp, different reticals. My head is about to explode. I do not want to be a sniper at 1400 yds. I want a gun to backpack hunt with, I think I have the gun figured out, and a scope to get it done out to 700 yds. But practice out further. Ease and simplicity of use is important. Am I pipe dreaming to think 700 yd shots can not be donewithout a computer present? Haha. Help me out guys