208muley

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

All have been responded to. Thank you for your help guys!

I have a few very specific questions about access in this unit. Would someone that knows this unit well please send me a pm, as I don't want to talk specifics in public in case it is someone's secret spot or something. Thanks, Eric.

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. Unless you guys sell me on one! Haha 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.

Any burn, any time. Does-a-plenty. Heck you could still hunt down any closed two track and kill. Its a Quiet walk, visibility is good from the Trail, and when you kill it won't be a bad pack out. winner winner backstrap dinner!!!!!! Have fun and shoot straight!!

308, thanks for the heads up I will definately do some homework. I really want to thank all of you guys for the input on this, I just want to do the right thing as I'm not going to be able to run thru a bunch of different guns till I find a good one. So i thank all of you..

A friend of mine wants to sell me a 280 ai. Kimber mountain ascent. Is this a good rifle/caliber? I am just asking as I still haven't made up my mind on what to do. Ron, I still havent forgot to call you.

Zuki, if you get fired from your job for going hunting and you are an electrician I will hire you! The hrs for my guys fluctuate greatly come hunting season! Haha

Zuki, drop me a pm anytime you want. I learned a ton of info on how to hunt "A" and am more than willing to help. If you live in the north valley we can even meet up to go over some maps. Thanks for the kind words about my buck guys, It took a lot of work to accomplish. Catfish, you shouldve "hired" me to help!!! Lol when are we going fishin???

kaff, email sent. thanks

+1! I would guys but I guess I have no idea how to post a pic. The browse button is not enabled.

You don't need a guide. I did it all by myself, scouted for 10 day and hunted for 5 before connecting on a 208 buck. Didn't have any help from anyone for either the scout or hunt and i never huntered the unit. If you know what you are doing and are mentally tough it is doable! Maps!!!!!!! Google earth. Go up there during the archery hunt. You could hang a bunch of cameras but i didnt use one. Just went old school mano y mano. Oh, bring lots of gas!!!!!

One angle people don't seem to mention is how the buck or bull fared through the winter. If winter ends and they didn't use up all their reserves and he is very healthy with even dry conditions, he should grow what would be normal. Now add wet conditions when feed is maxed they will grow more yet tend to be more brittle. Idk, just a thought cause even in bad drought years when most bulls or bucks show signs of drought there are still some that grow giant. Those critters have figured it out, it just might be how they wintered.

I would like to have a sticker made of a the horns of a deer I killed on a skull. If you had a pic of the deer could you do it? Just white about 8" x11". You can shoot me a pm if you like.

Just one guys opinion, as bow hunters we work our butts off to ge a shot at an animal. Buy the best gear we can, practice as much as we can etc. I have had failures with mechanicals in the past and if you read the 1000s of threads on the net about this very thing it seems it's close to 50/50 on guys that love them vs those that dont and had failures. Therefore why chance all that hard work being perfect to get the shot on a piece of equipment that you can absolutly control. The tuning arguement , IMO, is bunk as the technology in the new bows is far superior and tuning is easy. I, as well as all my friends, shoot fixed and practice out to a 100yds. Well tuned bow= perfect flight with fixed broad heads. If we don't get a dead animal after the shot, which is rare, it is our fault not a piece of equipment, period. Ever notice how all the most advertised broad heads out there are mechanicals? I wonder why that is?

The outdoorsmans pack is a good one. I will have one for this fall after borrowing a friend of mine a few times. What do you want? No frame, soft frame or pack frame?

Finding the animal always seem to be a bit of a problem with young kids. I take my kids out with a scoped 22 and set up colored cans at various distances, always mindful of a backstop, and practice finding a target then getting the scope on it as quick as possible.then shoot. After a while I will start a 10 sec countdown and slowly shorten the time while counting out loud, to add a little pressure. This take some time and a whole lot of patience, but it works wonders! Teach them how to breathe correctly. And work on shoot don't shoot situations with pictures of animals. I also use a triclaws and it is flat out awesome for kids and shaky people. Last year my 10 yr old shot her first deer at 200 yds with a 30mph crosswind on a hard quarter away shot. She struggled to find the deer at first so I put the deer in the scope, got away from the rifle, she got in the gun, did the fine aim adjustment and made a fantastic shot! Entered at last rib exited in front of far shoulder a third of the way up. Perfect if you ask me. Deer hit the dirt hard on the shot. She stayed in the gun loading another one like she was taught. Well, I freaked out and forgot to be a hunter/ guide. And picked her up and was hugging her as I saw the shot knew it was perfect and did what I waited 10 years to do, celebrate the first kill!!!! My bad, as while I was hugging her dancing around like a fool she saw the deer get back on its feet. She says, daddy he is standing up!!! While I was getting back in my 15s she got back in the gun, I looked at the deer an knew it was a great shot and didnt need a second shoot, but told her that if she want.... Boom... The gun went off, this time, the deer was a hard quarter too, she put the bullet perfect again! Entry was just in front of the shoulder and exited far rib. A perfect x right through the deer. The reason I tell this story, not only am I a proud dad, but to show how practice and and the right gear will go a long way to making the kids experience that much better in the field! Happy hunting to you and all kids!!

My little 10 year old daughter shoots a 7mm-08. And shoots it well! One shot deer last year at 200 yds. I got her the gun because it's big enough for elk and the recoil is mild after I put a brake on it. Use earmuffs! I also have her use a triclaws to keep the gun stable. If she can handle this gun any youth can as she is pretty tiny!

The Jim white head is better than the pistol grip is IMO! Now if you compare it to the outdoorsmans titl/pan head then the outdoorsmans is better. However, I have a Jim white head that he built and assembled and serviced, whenever I needed at no cost I might add, at his home in Williams. I consider him a friend and will be missed, so I will continue to use his design for as long as it keeps working, which i expect will be a long time!

This whole convo has been great! Thank you all very much. Please add anything else you want to add. I will still have questions I'm sure about the gun, but I think buying the gun is one thing, reloading is quite another, but the big one I am now starting to think about is learning how to shoot long range.

And I will be reloading. Don't know how but I will start another thread about that as I want to keep this one on track.