catclaw

If you split yourself open, twice, with a rifle like that, you need a scope with more eye relief is all. I have an 8 lb (all up) 340 WBY that I shoot with just a T-shirt- no sissy pad or anything. I haven't ever hit my eyebrow yet. The FACTORY Norma loads shoot a 250 grain Woodleigh at 3200 fps- this is right up there with a 338-378 so I am sure the recoil is the same. I have watched two guys lose their hearing from muzzle brakes while hunting and won't use them anymore. I think they are fine on a prairie dog rifle so you can see the hits, but hearing protection is the order of the day anyway. This is the main reason I don't handgun hunt- too loud without protection. I have been there and tested them with a meter. Even the "quiet" ones are way too loud. No doubt they are effective, just loud!

I can't think of anything I would rather NOT shoot than a 16" barrel with a muzzle brake- OUCH! 6.8 lbs all up. You could get a rifle with a 22-24" barrel at that weight if you tried. It better shoot bug holes!

If your gun is that heavy, why on earth would you want (need) a muzzle brake? In any event, you can't fire a rifle like that with a muzzle brake in place without hearing protection unless you want to do PERMANENT damage to your hearing after only ONE shot. I don't want to have to worry about putting ear plugs in before I shoot.

There are two schools of thought on this and Tim and I have discussed this somewhat. On an animal small enough to dominate with shock and awe (energy) the VLDs are probably as good as it's going to get; accurate, flat shooting and low wind drift along with devastating terminal performance. This is on animals under 130-150 lbs. A big mule deer is probably not going to be completely overwhelmed with a lot of the VLD bullets shot from standard "deer cartridges". I would want to keep my shots close enough that I had a lot of steam left when it hit. When you are talking elk, that's a whole different thing. They are big and tough and about as bullet-proof as it's going to get in North America. Unless you are shooting a 408 Chey-tac, you are not going to knock a big bull off his feet. Period. I prefer a tough, deep penetrating bullet for elk because when I see the elk I want and it may not be broadside, I want to be able to take the shot NO MATTER WHICH WAY HE IS FACING! If he is facing away, the 270 caliber VLD is a very poor choice. I think the elk would run off a LONG ways with this type of shot. With a Barnes X, it is going down. If you shoot a 110" whitetail in the bung with a 270 cal VLD, it's probably going to floor him. Pick your poison but be ready to turn down some shots that are good. Apparently you shouldn't compare the Sierra MKs with the Bergers. When I was hunting in Mexico, all the guide kept saying was "don't ruin the cape". We were ALL using David Miller preferred 168 grain Sierras and I guess they had destroyed a few capes with shoulder shots. I kept holding further and further back to avoid the cape damage. According to Tim, the Bergers don't exit and make small holes going it- this is a good thing! I would prefer the Accubond to the Berger for elk hunting.

Tim- that is one funky looking buck- a nice one though!!!

15 feet!!! Dude, what are you smoking??? signs only have to be every 1/4 mile and at gates and corners. Trespassing can be a revocable offense!

There are a bunch of good systems out there and it somewhat depends on what you call FAR. If 500 yds is far, then you will be well served with a Leupold B&C or varmint hunter reticle. I have both and can hit fine out to 500 with it. Beyond that, you need to start twisting turrets. I still like the B&C reticle and will dial in for a longer shot. I have shot 1000 yd BR competitively and it is not that tough to figure out exactly what your bullet is doing. Sierra's published data was good enough that I could use PEJSA software to give me a 100 yard zero that would be on at 1000 yds. In my case it was 26.4" high at 100 yds. The first round was with 12" at 1000. Darrel Holland has a nice system as well. He uses S&B scopes which are very expensive though. I have both the VXIII and the VXIII LR. I also have the new Bushnell Elite 4.5-30. I think this might be just the cat's a$$ for long range as you can crank it as high as the mirage will allow. All of my Leupie LR scopes are 4.5-14. On my elk hunt last year I hunted with Desert Diesel and he had a 6.5-20 LR. I was going to use my rifle if the range was under 500 and his if over ( in the middle of building a house and all my reloading stuff was in boxes and I had 150 grain partition loads for my 300 that I used in Kodiak the month before) DD's Accumark was using 220 grain MKs and had killed a bull the week before at +- 700 yds so I wasn't worried. When I finally found the bull I wanted through my 15s I set up for the shot (395 class bull). When I settled behind the 6.5-20 cranked up to 20 I saw that the bull had a broken antler that I didn't notice at 15x. I passed on the bull and ended my hunt. THAT is the advantage to the 20x or higher magnification. I agree with Casey that I really don't like 6.5 as my bottom power but depending on the way you hunt, this may not be that big of a deal. Look at your budget and decide accordingly. Amanda- 3500-6500 is not going to make enough difference to worry about it unless you are shooting 1000 yds. Where it makes a difference is when you sight in a rifle at Ben Avery (1200 feet) and then go hunting in Colorado at 11,000 feet and need to take a 500 yd shot.

Casey- did you see that Nat Geo channel had a special on the enigmatic Chupacabra? You should call them and let them photo your rifle for future releases

I have the same tag- I will be hunting a private ranch but there are a ton of good spots. Good luck to you.

I have never had any luck at all with Frank Hayes- I know he thinks Robinson Mesa is his personal playground and it he had it his way, that gate would NEVER open! That road is only supposed to be closed until July 1. If any of the Manuz bunch drew elk tags you can bet that gate will be opened come Novemeber!!!

I'm not sure what you are doing, but there is NO reason your die shouldn't contact the top of your shell holder. If it's not, screw the die in further. If you are screwing the die in far enough to touch without a case in the shell holder and then you can see day light when sizing a case, you have a junky press! It is deflecting too much. Is it an aluminum Lee? If you are bumping the shell holder and see that little band at the bottom that isn't sized, that's normal. Do the cases chamber easily after reszing? If so, you're good to go, if not, adjust the die until they do!!!

I know- just teasing- just that the road that I moved this one off of looks like the same area in your photos! Probably same time of the year! I have found more Gila Monsters in 23 that the whole rest of the state!

Here he is before you ran over him

I have participated in some of the erradications- the biggest of which was the Calf Pen/ Fossil Creek grow a few years ago. The gardners killed a bull elk in that grow. It was amazing to see the amount of work that went into that. They had to have MILES of 1/2" poly irrigation tubing. EVERY plant had it's own drip line. Most people who stumble into them don't realize what it is until it is too late- not that bad stuff always happens, but it could. With the border tightening down, we are seeing more domestic weed that we used to.

Yeh, I'm with T on this one- let's see the big one- we don't know what tank, and besides, my tag is in 10!

I was picked raspberries this week at 7400' and found some fresh scat in the brambles. I would expect to see more sign with the berry crop so good but didn't. Most of my bear spots have been removed from the prickly pear hunts! Grrrrr.

You know you jinxed it giving it all this publicity and stuff. Don't get carried away and shoot a spike with it!!!

I drew the same tag. 31 late Nov. I have a unit 10 archery bull tag and a NM mule deer tag. A decent fall! My son drew 20A junior hunt.

It's certainly not as convenient as some other states, but I'm all for it. The draw process is a LOTTERY- you can't buy lottery tickets at Circle K with a credit card, why should we be able to buy THESE lottery tickets with a CC? Buffalo has certainly got a whole lot easier to draw and probably sheep! I suspect it hasn't hurt the deer hunting apps too much. I would be in favor of trophy hunts with trophy prices-like several other states, but this commission has an agenda that etched in granite and it isn't happening any time soon! I hope they never go back to the online system personally!

Well, what did you get?

Dang, Casey, how do you keep track of the distances of that many bucks? Heck, I can only remember a couple. I can guess on some but there's way to many to be remembering the yardage Longest one that was actually LASER ranged was 365. I shot one in the Cayantano that was easily 500-550. I didn't own a rangefinder back then and it was a risky shot- at a trotting deer no less. Only being able to see my bullet strikes let me walk the third one it- It was the first year that Barnes came out with the X-bullet!

My boy and I got Archery bull tags in unit 10- NO POINTS- I had a tag last year!!!

I hear all these stories and believe most of them- there is still a human element involved. I have two quick examples: A friend was drawn for a muzzleloader deer hunt a few years ago- he doesn't own a smoke pole and ONLY applies for Dec WT tags as he is a school teacher and can only hunt during the Christmas break. He went down to G&F to complain that he didn't apply for this hunt. They pulled his app (the original) and someone had written in additional choices in PENCIL in an obvious different handwriting! Either someone at the Post Office has a sick sense of humor or someone in the draw dept was trying to sell more permits. The second one is that a friend of mine got drawn for an elk tag this year that he didn't even put in for!!! He didn't want to raise a stink for fear that when they found the mistake, they would take his tag away! It doesn't take much for a computer operator to , after being bribed, put you in for 100 bonus points- almost guarantying that you will draw. I have seen too many important, influential people draw multiple <5% odds tags in the same year and succeeding years to believe it's coincidental. Nope, there are still problems down there.

I passed on 25 bucks yesterday alone. I tried for one that I think will go high 80s just before dark, but an errant doe busted me who was about 300 yds from him and I didn't get a shot. Haven't seen a bull worth shooting yet either! Another week to go!!

Manzanita is pretty pricey. There really isn't any place to look at optics and such is there. I don't think Prescott is big enough to support a SW. Might be the first one to fold!!! I will, however, welcome it as I like shopping there. Dennis