308Nut

Notice how my rifle is in a pelican case. This country EATS 'gunboots' alive. In 05, I watched a buddy snap his rifle in half while it was riding in a gun boot. It is a constant battle to keep sticks out of radiators and tires. Below is a picture of burnt brush. There is a field full of them. I call it stegosarus field. Eventually, one punctured my tire and she had to be plugged and aired up. The next picture shows a BIG stick that I saw at the last second and dynamited the brakes. A few inches over to the left and it would have been my radiator.

Mark, If she shoots as good as she looks, you should be pretty happy. I am glad George got her back to you in a fairly timely fashion. PLEASE let us know how she shoots.

I dont even know what to say. Cant figure out where to even start. All I know is that it was the looongest, toughest hunt I think I have ever been on. I ended up blowing a stalk on a B&C bull and other stalks on 50-60" bulls. After a while I decided to harvest any meat bull be it a spike or a world record. Well I didnt get a world record or a spike but somewhere in the middle. He sure eats goooood!!! All that long range preparation only to shoot this thing in the head at 20 yards. Rex and I will have to figure out how to approach and condense the story. It would take hours to go over the whole thing as it is.

Rex and I are back in Anchorage. All I can say is that we are exhasted. We were running behind due to many difficulties and Rex missed his flight but was able to reschedule. We will post pix and stories soon. M PS, we both got bulls but Rex got a nicer bull. (I am very glad! Now he wont bother me about moose any more!)

Who cares what he scores!! He is a shooter for sure. Less time about the score and more time about how to get a projectile into him!

While I dont agree with everything he writes, the spirit of the article is great. Practice with something you are comfortable with and hunt with the same weapon. Forget about trajectory (flat trajectory does not mean less wind drift) and focus on practicality and use the right tool for the right job. Do all of that, and you WILL be dangerous.

Never worked with or owned a remmy that would not shoot lights out right out of the box. You can get a lemon in any brand. Their quality and workmanship has suffered a bit over the last few years but the rifles continue to shoot darn well. For factory rifles, I am a remington man through and through. Sako is not bad and they would be great if there was a better scope mounting platform. However, for a small nominal fee, a good smith can make a rail and modify the action for attachment.

It is going to depend on how much bullet jump you have currently and how far you move the bullets in or out. In a factory remington there is a ton of freebore. If you increase the coal by .020" you wouldnt even see it on the crony regardless of your freebore. Now if you had .100" of bullet jump and you seated some on the lands, you will definatley see it in the crony and probably your brass. However, the difference between .010 off the lands and .010 into the lands isnt decernable. In short, if you go from alot of jump to no jump you can get into trouble. Moving bullets in or out a little bit, regardless of how much jump you started out with is no big deal even if you are close to or on the lands.

Just before the start of the season I was up looking for a ram I had seen last year. I dint ever find him but before I went after another one 5 miles further, I stumbled on this mountain goat. This would be the billy of a lifetime for most goat hunters. ENJOY!

Dont hold your breath. This is one of the darkest, coldest wettest summers in a long time. Count on clouds, rain and cold. Did I mention rain? Oh yeah, rain.

25 yards.

Anywhere between 4000 and 6000 feet. Some rams live higher like 6000 to 7500' but after 5500-6000 feet around these parts you need to be a technical mountaineer. I have killed most of my rams between 5000-5500 feet.

No where near Tunagain. 5300' in the middle of the Talkeetna mountains of all places. I never even heard of goats living in that mountain range. He truly is a nomad

This is what I like to use. (I like the fact that you preach getting out there and actually testing and practicing this) Thanks for the info.

Well, I set out on a 3 day scouting trip/grizzley hunt and didnt have any luck finding mr right nor a fat grizzley to hammer but I did get some cool photos of a huge caribou bull. Enjoy! A cool glacier (no pun intended) Sun burn! And a bit of Arizona Elk Society advertisment!

Drew unit 45 (KOFA) desert bighorn sheep. JUST KIDDING! But I did draw a unit 45 mulie tag.

Seen deer scrap on occasion. A few years ago I watched 2 cow moose go ape s!!? on eachother. A few minutes later, I watched two VERY large mature bulls go at it like crazey. Thanks for the pics! M

308 win, 208 AMAX, 2610 FPS, -0.8 MIL, 4.5-9.0" of wind. Dial up 8 clicks, hold 9" to the right. 1 dead buck. For most serious coues hunters, this would be a well practiced shot and subsequently, a slam dunk. As I see it, a good coues buck at 400 yards with a 5-10 MPH wind is a blessing.

Proffesional archer Nathan Brooks (B2) Bowstrings makes awesome strings. He is very skilled in his craft. He will also talk about anything you want about archery from good form to keeping cool under pressure. It is nice to be able to talk to and get advice on strings and other technical aspects of archery with a real proffesional.

There in lies the problem with a lot of areas. It's hard to find spots that are 5 miles from a road and if you do, it's because there is little to no water in the area. Where there is water, there are usually roads. I agree with you for the most part. However, there are many a spring in the middle of several wilderness areas more than 10 miles deep.

Sometimes a backback hunt is more than just about good quality and or quantities of game. It is the solitude, quiet, scenery, testing yourself both physically and mentally. Being able to survive in harsh elements. Good game is just a bonus. In Arizona country, 10 miles is not too much but 5 miles gets you in far enough so long as you are not hiking towards other roads.

Young buck hit the nail on the head. High BC bullets are the way to go. For the purpose of this senario, high BC meening above .700. For the most part, this is 338 or 375 territory with the 30 cal 240 grain SMK being over .700 and possibly one or two 7mm bullets. That said, if I were carrying my 308 I would PASS on the shot for sure due to the 36" of drift. If I were carrying my 338 Edge, I would take the shot as even with a 10 MPH error, the bullet would still strike the kill zone. Better yet, set up for the 1.1 Mil of wind and hold 8" from the very rear most part of the lungs. If I were spot on, it would be a forward lung hit. If the wind slowed down to 15 MPH during the shot, it would be a rear lung shot. If it hit 35 MPH during the shot, it would be a shoulder shot. This is a very forgiving margin for error. The 300 grain SMK will drift just under 18" at 450 yards in 25 MPH wind at 6000' ASL. This is pretty managable. This will be 7" in either direction for a 10 MPH mis-judgment. I can live with that. With the forgiving nature of a bullet approaching .800 and the energy unleashed by it's impact, this is a managable shot. I would dial up 18" (11 clicks) and use the very left edge of the 1st lefthand Mil and aim 8" in from the rear of the lungs. In short, I would dial the elevation and use a Mil hold off for the wind. 5.5-22x50 NXS, custom 338 Edge, 300 SMK's over 89.5 of H1000 at 2725 FPS. 18" of drop, 18" of drift, 1 dead ram. He is big enough for me.

Scout the cows in July and August and you will find the bulls in September.

If you would have asked me a year ago if I would ever believe I would know anybody that would be killed in a hunting accident in my lifetime I would have said doubtfull. Now I have had two friends killed in hunting accidents in less than one year. Bret was an EXTREEMLEY experienced and savy guide, hunter and outdoorsman. If it can happen to him, it could happen to anybody. PLEASE be carefull out there. http://www.adn.com/2010/05/31/1302113/wasi...uring-bear.html M

As far as the 'flyer' it could have easily been the fact that it was 85 FPS faster than the other two. 85 FPS in and of itself wouldnt make for 2+" of difference at 100 yards but if the load isnt in the right harmonic node with your barrel then whatever made the bullet run 85 FPS faster manifested a vibration that your barrel did not like. Once you find your 'node' velocity discrepencies wont affect your groups. At least not out to 600 yards. Once you get past that, the simple fact is that you will start to see higher and lower impacts due to higher or lower velocities. It really shows up at 1K. As far as what caused the 85 FPS difference, it could have easily been your brass. Different wall thicknesses will have an impact on your burn area and subsequently the pressure, in turn affects your velocity. Inconsistent neck tensions can also affect extreeme spreads as well as cheap primers, seating depth consistency, and many other factors. IMHO, the brass manufacturer AND lot# needs to be the same and the necks need to be anealed after a few firings to soften them a wee bit to get them consistent again. Firing and resizing will work harden the brass. The molecular structure of the brass (in the necks) needs to be changed back to normal to get them right. Hope that helps! M