shortpants

There's no such thing as a quality long range scope under $400 (new). If your serious about shooting long range you need a serious scope.

I don't think you can come up with a accurate buck to doe ratio in a day of glassing. You could go back to that same spot a month from now and possibly come up with totally different results. I have had days where I couldn't hardly find a doe but the bucks where everywhere. I would hope that when Game and Fish decides whether or not to raise or lower tags in an area they do more research than to send one warden out for a day of glassing. I'm not picking on you guys I'm just sayin I don't think a day of glassing should be considered scientific research. Just my .2cents.

Casey, That's what I said. ( 3.75'')

Very well put Lark, I agree 100%! I'll even do you one better. I like to put the rifle in a gun vise and shoot it off a bench when I'm trying to sight in and get to know a new rifle. I'm talking about after you've already done all this. You never hear of to many hunters practicing sillouett shooting. Plinking rocks is fun but I'm talking about shooting at a sillouett target the size of a coues deer. No dot to aim at, and no bench just like you would in a real hunting situation. Most guys who do practice do what you said Lark. The problem is they stop there instead of taking what they've learned and applying to real life scenarios. Then they wonder how they missed the buck. My whole point is you can shoot under MOA groups out to 1000 yds. all day long off a bench but that doesn't mean your capable of shooting a deer at 300 yds. Practice real life scenarios and you'll be a better hunter. P.S. I know I miss spelled sillouetts.

You bring up a great point Casey. I'm not accusing you of doing this, your post just reminded me of it. I think people spend way to much time shooting from a bench and trying to shoot th tightest group they can shoot. If your a competitive shooter then this is obviously very important. In the world of hunting however, it don't mean squat. Just like Casey said he shot a .375'' group at 432 yds. THAT'S AWESOME!!! Not many people can shoot like that. But he also said his group was a foot low and 18'' left. Better than MOA shootng but a missed 124'' double drop tine coues! Don't get me wrong I see nothing wrong with going out with friends and having a friendly little competition. I just never hear anybody talk about practicing real life hunting scenerios. I would love to hear more talk of how peoples one shot hit the target. Casey, don't take this the wrong way cause you'd probly smoke me at any shooting competition.

I was waiting for you to say that so I could say LOOK AGAIN!!! I was right!! HA HA HA

You've seen these before but I did some more editing to them so you could see them better.

Wow, you've dived deeper into this stuff than I ever had the patience to. That's very interesting to know about the factory BC. That explains why I could never get as accurate with the ballistic charts as I needed to. Like you said my way is a lot easier and I'm all about easy. I have to keep everything basic and once I find something that works I never change it. Thanks for the lesson Mark, I just might be asking you some questions in the future.

Hey Mark, I would say most of the time you are correct. If you know how fast your bullet is going you should be able to get a pretty good idea of its ballistics out of a loading manual or a ballistic program. That being said I have personally experienced inconsistant results while applying these methods. I am very picky when it comes to long range shooting. I like knowing for certain that if my bullet is not hitting where I'm aiming at then I am the weak link. just my .02 cents

If you want reliable info you need to shoot the rifle at the ranges you are inquiring about. I agree 1000% that hold over is not the way to go. Your rifle is plenty capable of shooting out to 500 yds. but your scope needs to be upgraded. Shooting a 130 gr. bullet you will stay above 1000 ft. lbs. of energy out to 650 yds. Once you have the scope sighted in properly out to 100 yds. you are ready to find your drop info. This is what I do... Take a 4x8 sheet of plywood out to where you can safely shoot 500 yds. Make some legs out of 2x4 to prop it up. Make sure it is not a windy day or you are wasting your time. Put a dot towards the top of the plywood. Aim at the dot while shooting at 200, 300, 400, 450, and 500 with the scope still set at 100 yds. Shoot 5 shot groups at each distance checking the target in between each range. Take a marker and a tape measure with you. Figure out where the middle of each 5 shot group is and measure down from the dot ( your aiming point ) to where the middle of the group is. This is your real drop at those yardages. DO NOT RELY ON BALLISTIC CHARTS OR COMPUTER PROGRAMS! Keep in mind your groups will spread out the farther you shoot. Perfect shooting would be 4'' @ 400 yds. and 5'' @ 500 yds. That's what they call MOA or Minute Of Angle shooting. Most likely you won't be shooting this good. After measuring each 5 shot group mark out the holes with your marker so you don't confuse them with others. What ever yardage you can consistantly put all your lead into an 8'' shoot n see target should be your maximum range for hunting purposes but keep practicing those long range shots.

Hey Doug, I'm not sure if it's a computer glitch or what but I don't see my name on the list of winners?

Your killin me Amanda! I wish I could get out there. Great pics, thanks for sharing.

Oh by the way, I wasn't trying to make you feel old Bill. Just remember, your not old just respected.

That's what the fancy muzzle brake is for.

Bill, You are so lucky to grow up in an era of true heros. I have such an admiration for the heros of the past but in an age of computers and cellphones it's hard to relate to these great men and women. I wonder how my kids are going relate to a time that seems more like a fairytale to their generation? I've had the privlege of knowing and talking with men from your generation like my grandfather. To hear from you and others about your heros and your life experiences is a privlege. Who will be able to influence future generations the way my grandparents and people like yourself have influenced myself is a mystery to me.

Makes sense. Very interesting stuff, thanks for your .2 cents it was well spent! I'm sure you do good work because it sounds like you do your homework.

I notice the nose is eatin off that thing. That makes me wonder if yotes or a cat did kill him but who knows. Nice find Amanda.

Are you sure you aint the daddy to that squirl? You two look a lot alike in that pocket picture.

I can tell you first hand he's got a new attitude towards snakes Pops. Last year on our deer hunt he would make me hike in front through all that tall grass. He kept sayin ''I can't get bit again cause I can't get the anti-venom.'' I'm just glad that snake you let me step on (the ''biggest snake'' you've ever seen) wasn't poisenous.

That last sentence is an important one to remember. Thanks for posting that Doug.

Thanks. We won't mention the bet shortpants made with me right before I shot.....something to the effect of I'll bet you'll miss with the first shot. If I remember right it was my rifle that was only fired ONCE. Oh yea, well I'll never forget the look on your face when you realized you blew your bucks horn clear out of his head. :lol:

Wow, quite the collection of trophies there Scotty. That stag is amazing! Where did you shoot the goats?

Great finds! Welcome to the site and to the world of Coues Hunting.

:lol:

The one I'm scoring there went 101''. Dustin's... well, I let you explain.