firstcoueswas80

Lefty, I think Gino made it seemd like shooting at 505 when you only have a 550 marker is EXTREMLY tough. It really isnt all that hard if you have a solid place to start. Granted, shooting 400 yards with a standard duplex reticle sighted in at 100 yards (or what ever distance) is pretty tough unless you know where the bottowm of the duplex hits.. Example: My .270 (back up gun) is sightead dead on at 100 yards. The bottow of the duplex is spot on 350 yards. Come on Gino, theres gotta be atleast a LITTLE guess work mixed in there or its no fun!

Where is your brothers buck?! Congrats

This one has been used. Id call it "experienced". http://www.naturalhandyman.com/iip/infwoodburning/i/maul.jpg

Hawkeye, you for sure hit the nail on the head. The way I see it, having the ability to take game at 400+ yards is just another stone on your side of the scale to level it out. And of course, some/most people shouldnt be shooting that far because they dont have the practice, or the equipment necessary. How do you like those MRX bullets? Are they worth the arm and leg Barnes charges for them? I have contemplated weather or not to use them but they are too expensive for my blood!

Best sentence in the thread!

"Guards" as we called him ALMOST got a taste of steel/carbon today.. Stalk went like this: Larry picked up the big boy, and one of the smal 3x's 15 minutes into glassing in the morning (didnt even give me a chance to find any deer of my own!) While we were watching the big boy, I glassed up Guards and his buddy. Every Mesquite tree they would walk by we were wishing them to bed. Miracously, they bedded (all of them) in close proximity to just about the best tree they could of. Off I went to get repostioned so that we could plan a stalk. I called Larry when I was set on the spot and had the bucks relocated. There was 2 fawns that kept messing with the bucks, and we knew that was not good because we could not locate the doe! Once he got to me, we devised a plan. After a VERY big Mojave rattlesnake (still alive) changed my mind about needing to use the restroom I was off. I came over the ridge just about where I wanted to be. I got to 120 yards of all the bucks and was nailed as one of the smal 3x's was looking directly in my direction. I ended up getting to a comfortable 80 yards and decided if I was given a clean shot, I was going to take it. Well, when I got next to my 80 yard marking juniper, the doe that couldnt be seen went running down the hill. This actually worked to my advantage because all of the bucks stood up and Guards offered a perfect, standing broadside shot. I clipped into my string, started to settle my feet and pull back... About 2 inches into drawing, while I was setting my feet I rolled a 3" rock down the hill and that was too much for them... I saw nothing but horns and tail from there! So close! That sure was a lot of fun though!

Tim, it is very rare that I bring situational circumstances into play, but let me run one by you, and this is kinda how I have 0 reserves in using the "slower" turrets. Big buck, 500 yards away. Near the top of the ridge. Decision is made that he has an appointment with the taxidermist. He is almost topped over, but not quite. In the extra time that it would take me to get ready for a shot, if that second means the difference in getting a shot or not, was there really a high percentage shot there? I really dont know if that makes a sense or not but basically, if one second is the difference to having blood on your hands or not, was there really a high percentage shot ever offered for either one of us?

Amanda, if there is a down fall to the Gzone, it is the battery life. I use mine ALOT.. Texting, sending pictures, phone calls etc.. Some days it will not hold a charge for an entire work day. Other times, when I dont use it as often it goes for 2 days solid.

Dude! Thats awesome! You are on a roll!!!

My load in my .270 wsm is 63.5 grains of H4831sc, sparked my a F215gm primer, in a wichester case with the 140 accubond (bc of .493) at 3170 FPS. I used to push it at 3250 with 64.5 grains of powder, but backed it down a grain with the same (sub .2's and .3's) accuracy at 100 yards. My best groupings with this gun at longer distances was a 2.1" group at 400, and 3.1" group at 500 yards. I am undecided on my .257 wby as I am still working on the load for it.

I have a good good buddy who swears his 13x56 Minox are brighter than his Swaro's... Granted, I think hes full of cow dung, but they would be a worth a shot atleast?

Thank you Casey you just proved my point All I have to do with my Huskemaw Optics System is range find my target and adjust the turrets to that range. With your system you have to range the target, look at your range card to find the correct number of clicks, then dial the turrets. Huskemaw = two steps then pull the trigger, Zeiss = three steps then pull the trigger. You may not think that one extra step is a big deal, and your probably right... most of the time. But for me I want to eliminate as many of the extra steps as possible. As I said before I have a Zeiss Conquest scope and love it! I'm not slammin other systems at all. I just like the simplicity of the Huskemaw system better. Also your comment about the ballistic calculator coming within 1 click of your rifles POI proves my other point. If you ONLY rely on the ballistic calculator to figure your drop chart, TDS reticle, or ballistic drop turrets then you are ONLY close with your long range POI, not dead on. The only way to be dead on is to do the field work yourself. One click off at a long range target could be the difference between hitting or missing, or worse yet killing versus wounding. I don't own a TDS type system so I really can't comment on them. For me they just don't seem flexible enough for my hunting needs. So Tim, let me run my process of figuring out my scope and clicks past you, and tell me if it is different then the Huskema. (I dont think that it is). A. Develop a load that shoots well, get 10+ rounds shot over the chronograph for average velocity. B. Plug all necessary info into the ballistics calculator that you posted and come up with my clicks (the divide by 4) C. Go shoot at ranges to check the clicks, if they are not dead on, fix them. Am I missing something, or is that pretty much what is done with the Huskemaw system also? And does that one extra step (reading 2 or 3 numbers on a piece of paper mounted to the stock) REALLY mean the difference between harvesting/not harvesting a deer?

He looks alot like my first buck. He was 84" gross, and did not have as big of eye guards. I will say 86, 88 TOPS as is. If he is in a place that he frequents, and doesnt get hammered with hunters, I would try and let him grow a couple of years as he has the makings to be a real nice, wide coues!

Tim, if you do the math before hand, and make the proper drop chart, all you have to do is read the chart and then click (quickly) to the number that you havd written on the chart. For example. 600 yards is 41 clicks. Take 41, divide it by 4 (well before the shot). That gives you 10.25... So, when the moment of truth comes you dial the scope to 10.25 on the scope, and hold dead on. Its really not difficult if you do a little bit of of figuring out what is what in the off season. PS. The ballistics calculator that you listed is the exact one I use. It is very accurate. When I was testing it for my .270 wsm last year, I had to come up one more click than listed by the ballistics chart. Thats pretty good!

Well the higher you go, the less dense the air will be (thin air) so there will be less drag on the bullet (resistance) meaning that the bullet will travel farther than if it was at sea level. That's a very basic explanation, and if you want to get really crazy about it... we can toss in the Coriolis Effect. More commonly known as the Earth's Rotation. 20,000 feet?! dang, who wants to hunt that high?! With the Zeiss, if you get the target turrets, you dont have to count clicks at all. It takes a little math (divide the number for clicks by 4), then simply dial to that number on the scope.

Is that an old school 686? Sure is a pretty gun! I like those 686's!

Brian, I didnt know you could be a bad butt at 4'11" 120 lbs Congrats Scott!

About 2 years ago, I started to get into the target turret game. At that time I bought a 4.5-14x50 Zeiss Conquest with target turrets. When I built my .257 wby, there was not doubt in my mind what scope I would go with. I bought a 4.5-14x44 Zeiss conquest. This scope did not come with turrets, but for $115 I sent it to Zeiss and they installed them for me. I know of a member that has 3 or 4 scopes identical to mine and his most recent purchase was the 4.5-14x44 and having turrets added. IMO, 6, or 6.5 is too high for a scopes lowest setting. But, if the scope is only going to be used longer range hunting I guess it is OK. I had a 6.5-20 Leupold on my 30-06 and sent it back before I even shot the gun with that scope.

Casey--- I lieca pair of Swarovski's please!!!!! thank You. Jim, your Swarovskis cant find deer.... that normal people shoot anyways! Just 120" monsters! See, us mortals use Leicas to find the 80-100" bucks!

I would KILL to have that!

I think lion season is still closed, isnt it?

Mike got something right! WAIT!!! Even better, get Leica Duovids and only carry one pair of binos, yet have two different power settings.

Dont eat yellow snow. Dont spit into the wind, Dont tug on Supermans cape

That is the way the ballistic tip is designed. Thin jacket, for rapid expansion (most of the time EXPLOSION). I am not a fan of them as I like my bullet to expand to a point, and have high weigh retention for more penetration. Most of the time with NBT's, if you hit bone they simply explode ( and Vmax as they are the same basic design). I had a Vmax from a 25-06 blow up on the shoulder of a coyote. Did nothing more than blow a 3-4" path of hair off. I have had NBT's (125 grain .308) blow up on the shoulder of a coues from over 400 yards fired from a 30-06 with a 22" barrel. If you want massive damage, and a bullet that is designed to basically blow up, the NBT is the bullet for you. With a good, or half way decent shot this bullet USUALLY ends up in the animal being DRT. However, if you like pretty mushroomed bullets that pass through with one little hole, the NBT is USUALLY not the best choice.

your full again!