lancetkenyon

I can't believe I forgot to mention in my first post, but Taylor used my father-in-law's rifle that he gave to me this January when he passed away. It is the first elk the rifle has ever taken, even in all of the years we hunted together, but hopefully the first of many to come in the future. I know he was looking down on us during the hunt, and is still smiling ear to ear that his granddaughter took her second elk with his rifle.

Thanks. I love my Kuiu stuff, and getting money off is a nice savings. Just ordered a couple new items, since Taylor found out she really likes my Kuiu jackets. I have: Guide DCS jacket in Major Brown Guide DCS jacket in Verde Guide DCS jacket in Vias (just ordered) Guide DCS vest in Vias (just ordered) Teton soft shell jacket in Verde Teton insulated jacket in Verde Yukon Rain Pants in Major Brown

I can vouch for the optical clarity of the Meopt a 15x56. I have had mine for a couple years, and have a ton of hours behind mine. Never had eye fatigue or a headache with them, even after 10 hours a day for a 10 day hunt.

That is a 4" & 6" drift. Does this happen every time? A lot of time, vertical is load, horizontal is shooter. But NOT always. Could be seating depth. Could be a light charge. Could be shooter: Parallax Cheek weld Trigger torque Sympathetic torque Stock hand torque Barrel steel stress changing with heating Barrel contact with stock channel Action screw torque

Just because you found no blood does not mean he is not wounded. Just saying. Unless you can see torn up ground from running hoofs and know exactly the path he took for at least 50 yards, you might easily miss blood. The 350 yard shot, no sweat. I would think he would stick around. The pushing him and then 40 yard shot as he was running, scared the crap out of him. I have seen them stay within a mile, but I have seen deer run off into the sunset as well.

Cabela's used to carry them. It has been about a year since I handled one there. I just now got the stink and stain off my hands.....

No, the Hybrid is technically a "target" bullet, and "not intended for hunting purposes" per Berger. It has an ogive that is a "hybrid" or combination of a tangent ogive shape (traditional ogive shape) and a secant ogive shape (as found in the VLDs). The thicker jacket does not allow the bullet to shed 40-90% of it's weight after 2-3" of penetration like the hunting line of VLDs and Classic Hunter or Extreme Outer Limits Hunter do. But personally, they open great once inside, and retain more weight to give a bit better penetration, and usually give an exit would that bleeds. I have never recovered one, so I cannot say how much weight they retain, or what they look like. But a 2.5-3" exit wound leads me to believe it is working just fine. And having game go anywhere from 0 to 75 yards at most from the animals I have shot with them in various calibers, means I will continue to use them personally. Shot placement is still key. The hunting lines state that the shedding of 40-90% add shrapnel and massive hydrostatic shock, leading to quick kills, even in shots that are not perfect. The VLD (Very Low Drag) comes in 2 types. The "Hunting" VLD (HVLD), and the "Target" VLD. Same principal as discussed prior. The hunting VLD has a slightly thinner jacket than the target version. The target version is "not intended for hunting purposes", per Berger. The VLD lines have been known to be just a bit finicky on seating depth due to their ogive shape. You will be getting decent groups, but then when you do seating depth testing, you will definitely find a sweet spot somewhere in a .0400" range where the bullet performs the best by far. Some rifles like them jammed into the lands (my .25-06 AI pushing the 115 HVLD likes them jammed), some like a jump of about .0500"-.0600" (usually the norm, and where my 6.5 SLR & .260 Rem using a 140 HVLD, and my 7RM w. 168 HVLD likes them), and some like a big jump, like .120" (my .300RUM w. 210 HVLD). The Hybrid has shown to be more forgiving with seating depth tastes, making it easier to tune. I have a few different loads using hybrids for hunting purposes. 6.5 SLR w. 140 Hybrid, 7RM w. 180 Hybrid (as seen in this thread), and my .300RUM w. 215 Hybrid. All shoot lights out. All of these loads have taken game as well, with phenomenal results. You can read up on Berger bullets, both different types, and different shapes, here. http://www.bergerbullets.com/information/line-and-designs/

Berger Hybrids are supposed to have a thicker jacket. Entry hit no rib, exit took out a rib. The HVLD is designed to penetrate 2-3", then violently expand, shedding 40-90% of it weight in the next 12" creating massive hydrostatic shock and tissue damage. Higher velocities shed more weight. I have shot quite a few animals with both the HVLD and Hybrids (& SMKs), large and small. The only time I have not seen an exit is on quartering shots on bull elk, where more than 18" of penetration would have been needed to exit. I have (knock on wood) never lost an animal with a Berger HVLD, Hybrid, or SMK. In .224", .257", .264", .284", .308".

Lost Offroad Fabrication could whip up a bad butt rack with clamps that bolts directly to your cage and is removable if you want.

Have a weldor fabricate a rear rack to bolt to the cage and add some hard cases.

Shot was uphill. POI was just below center of body, tucked right at the elbow. Exit was above center, just behind shoulder. Double lung. The 180 Berger Hybrid worked very well. Entrance was pencil size, exit was about 2.5-3". There were pieces of lung along the generous blood trail. What more could you ask. I would think the distance she covered took less than 5 seconds from where she was hit to where she fell.

Can you imaging the revenue each state would lose if they took away Jr. hunting? Astronomical. They would fight it tooth and nail. Besides, I thought state laws superceded Federal? In some cases, it may...or may not. There are two basic levels in the U.S legal system: federal law and state law. A federal law applies to the nation as a whole and to all 50 states whereas state laws are only in effect within that particular state. If a state law gives people more rights than a federal law, the state law is legally supposed to prevail. This means state law will always supersede federal law when the person in question stands to gain more from the state law. The law that applies to situations where state and federal laws disagree is called the supremacy clause, which is part of article VI of the Constitution. The supremacy clause contains what’s known as the doctrine of pre-emption, which says that the federal government wins in the case of conflicting legislation. Basically, if a federal and state law contradict, then when you’re in the state you can follow the state law, but the feds can decide to stop you. When there is a conflict between a state law and federal law, it is the federal law that prevails. So the state could still allow minors to hunt, but a Federal agent could come in and stop you if that ever did happen. Like BLM, USFS, USFW, DOI, ATF, etc.

Sight height is center of objective lens from center of bore. I highly doubt you are 1" sight height. More like 1.7" to 2" if you are using a Picatinny rail and rings with a scope that has a t0mm objective. As for elevation, that is not always the end all for pressure. 500' elevation change will easily make 1/2 MOA difference. But weather conditions will change altitude station pressure as much as 1/2 MOA as well. Low or high pressure weather systems moving through can do that.

So if you already have rings, what size are they? 1" or 30mm?

True your velocity in Shooter and retry. I keep trueing my data to refine my loads a couple times. After that, it has always been dead nuts. Then I just change conditions, and have always been spot on during a hunt. The more you use it, the more comfortable you will get with it. I then go on www.jbmballistics.com and plug in the info to print a cheat sheet to tape on my scope. JBM and Shooter are never exact, so I tweak JBM inputs to match Shooter and print up the drop chart.

22" for me. It will be used by my daughters to hunt with as well, and they are both fairly petite. A medium range build. Out to 600-700 or so. Light guns are not nearly as easy to shoot well.

Lots of reviews on the Cronus on www.snipershide.com. I would love to do a side by side with it.

I bought a set of Nomad fleece lined wind pants for Taylor this year. Very sI milar to Killik. She wore them for 2 days on her elk hunt this weekend. Hardly a long tested stellar review, but they seem fine. Just realized she looks thrilled in this photo...

Not really the point was it?I've encountered the same thing up north while checking out some trailheads. I kind of think that is exactly the point. While not my cup of tea, public land is open to the public. If you don't like how someone is acting camping next to you, move. Or just start way back in the sticks to start with. While it is rude, so are half of the other things that a lot of people do in the woods. Beer cans, huge smokeyes bonfires, quads, driving by camp fast and dusting campers out, smoking, noise, generators, target shooting, music, RVs, communal campsites that look like a regiment is camping together, horses, backpackers, etc. Someone is always going to disapprove of something if they have neighbors.

You didn't ding the crown did you?

Similar build I am working on. I like the idea of a Proof barrel, but you could save $300 and get a fluted #3 Bartlein @ 22". McMillan Edge or Manner Elite Hunter series stock. There are a few other high quality lightweight stock makers out there too. Timney trigger (I have 5, 2 of the CE @ 8 Oz, 3 of the 210 @ 1.3-1.8#) The fluted bolt will look cool, and save an Oz or 2. Scope choice is solid for lightweight. Not positive on glass quality yet, as I haven't looked through one yet. That laminate stock has to be fairly heavy. Alloy base and rings. If you go with a light taper barrel, look at the APA Micro Bastard brake. I have one on my 7RM w. #3 fluted Bartlein, and it is turned down to barrel contour, and work amazingly well. My 14 year old just used it to take a cow elk on Saturday morning. Pushes a 180 Berger Hybrid @ 3000fps and kicks like my .25-06AI in a 10# rifle. I will probably be chambering in 7RSAUM too, for the 168 HVLD. Not sure of the box mag length of the Model 7, but in a R700 SA, they should fit fine.

Why not camp a little further away from someone else's camp?

If u out want to look through the Steiner T5Xi 5-25, let me know. For the price (and they can be had for ($1500-1700), they are a good scope. The early production scopes had some issues, which have been corrected. I can't see any optical difference between them and the Nightforce ATACR F1 personally. And the features are crazy good. Available I also have a few others you can look through in or near your price range. Vortex Razor Gen I 5-20x50 SWFA SS 5-20x50 HD Kahles Gen III K624i 6-24x56 S&B PMII 3-20X50 I would also stay away from IOR Valdada. Lots of problems with them. I would still be searching for a Kahles Gen II K624i. Maybe a Vortex Razor Gen II even though they weigh 3#/48 Oz. The new Vortex AMG 6-24 looks amazing. March 3-24x52 is super light for its mag range, but a bit over your price. Kahles Gen III K624i if you can save a few more dollars (my favorite scope I own) A used S&B PMII if you search hard

Does your $500 budget include the price for base and rings, level, caps? Or just scope?

No reason to build a 28 Nosler and not take advantage of it by shooting a light bullet. 175 & up for me. Even a 1:9" or 1:8.5" will be plenty to stabilize these. 180 Berger HVLD 180 Berger Hybrid 195 Berger EOL Elite Hunter 175 Sierra SGK 180 Sierra SMK 183 Sierra SMK 168 Barnes LRX