catclaw

The Danners are lasted quite narrow- I can't believe you can't wear them. If you guys are talking about cheap Chinese made Danners I have no idea, but the expensive, made in Oregon ones are a sham! I am very hard on boots and anything less than a good pair won't last me two seasons. Rockys last me two hunts! I bought a pair of Santiams ($300 range) Danners. The bob soles have all broken off the boots are overly soft, they are too narrow and leak through the Gore-tex. I can't wear them in steep country at all as they kill my feet. I bought them for a Canadian hunt and they were marginal in that country. I'm not sure what they are good for. The Lowas and Meindls (Cabelas) are FANTASTIC rough country boots. I gave a worn out pair to my guide in Canada and he threw away his Danner Canadians ($300) and said the Meindls are twice as good. I suspect the Kennetreks are just as good but they are made in Italy and the Lowas and Meindls are made in Germany. I have seen Cabela's Italian made boots and they are not as good as the Meindls- I have no idea if it's the same factory as Kennetrek or not. I wore an almost brand new pair of Russell PH boots for 3 weeks during my archery elk hunt. I got them out this weekend as they are quiet and they are shredded. Very comfortable but they don't hold up in malapai or rocky country. But they are quiet for stalking so I wore them out anyway. Boots are a very subjective thing

In this price range, the Fujinon Polaris 16x70 is by FAR the best. Fujinon still makes their marine series (FMT-SX). I used to own a set and used them a lot. I spent a week on a sheep hunt with a guy who had 15x56 SLCs. The Fujinons were right there. They are very big however. You can find them at any of the Brooklyn camera shops for $575-$750. The 15x60HDs that Fujinon made were terrible- don't even consider them. The Bruntons have a poor reputation for holding up. I have heard horror story after horror story with both the epochs (very expensive) and the Eternas. I haven't heard anything bad about the Minox. The Pentax and Minoltas that I have looked through were horrible. Right up there with the 20x Steiners and Meads. A very good point was brought up in this thread- the fact that these large ROOF prism binoculars will not accommodate the eyes of a very large number of potential users. I have many friends who cannot use my 15x56 SLCs because they are too wide at the narrowest they go. The Leicas are even worse! If you have eyes like this, you will need to find a porro prism design binocular such as the aforementioned Fujinon FMT-SX or the old Zeiss 15x60s or the old Doctor 15x60s. It's unfortunate that people are more concerned with aesthetics than performance. All other things being equal, a porro glass will be sharper, brighter and cheaper than a roof prism design. They have one less prism per side and are far easier to build. They look old fashioned so they don't sell. There hasn't been a binocular built that can hold a candle to the Nikon Superior Es. Period. I believe they are discontinued now too!

The Leica Geovids do not compare favorably to the Swarovskis, especially in the 10 and more so in the 15s (terrible). They are unduly heavy and not at all handy for one-handed operation. They also suck for tripod mounting. I would caution against spending your money on them for your OWN hunting. If you are guiding, they are much more useful. You can get a range for your hunter without losing sight of the deer. A big plus. If Leica made them in a smaller package I would own one (say 7x35 or 8x30). I much prefer my SLCs and my LRF to the Geovid for my OWN hunting. I bought a new Nikon 800 which is better for one-handed operation and like it in conjunction with the 8x30 as well. I have not seen the new Zeiss so I can't comment on it. I would prefer a spotting scope with a laser in it over the 15 power Geovids- what a waste!

The interesting thing is that as you lose hearing, you become MORE sensitive to loud noises, not less as customary wisdom would suggest. I can't stand muzzle brakes for that reason. I designed some a few year ago and we had several rifles put together with them. The problem with most muzzle brakes is that they spray gasses out the bottom of the brake and blow dirt all over everywhere. The ones we made only had holes on the sides. This kept dirt from blowing all over when shooting prone. The down side is that it requires the brake to be timed perfectly to screw on and line up at 90 degrees. I got tired of the noise and switched to scopes with more eye relief and stocks with better recoil pads.

I sent a pre-64 Mod 70 to Doug as well and had it Titanium Blue coated. Took it to Kodiak and used it as a walking stick and an oar- held up great.

If you split yourself open, twice, with a rifle like that, you need a scope with more eye relief is all. I have an 8 lb (all up) 340 WBY that I shoot with just a T-shirt- no sissy pad or anything. I haven't ever hit my eyebrow yet. The FACTORY Norma loads shoot a 250 grain Woodleigh at 3200 fps- this is right up there with a 338-378 so I am sure the recoil is the same. I have watched two guys lose their hearing from muzzle brakes while hunting and won't use them anymore. I think they are fine on a prairie dog rifle so you can see the hits, but hearing protection is the order of the day anyway. This is the main reason I don't handgun hunt- too loud without protection. I have been there and tested them with a meter. Even the "quiet" ones are way too loud. No doubt they are effective, just loud!

I can't think of anything I would rather NOT shoot than a 16" barrel with a muzzle brake- OUCH! 6.8 lbs all up. You could get a rifle with a 22-24" barrel at that weight if you tried. It better shoot bug holes!

If your gun is that heavy, why on earth would you want (need) a muzzle brake? In any event, you can't fire a rifle like that with a muzzle brake in place without hearing protection unless you want to do PERMANENT damage to your hearing after only ONE shot. I don't want to have to worry about putting ear plugs in before I shoot.

There are two schools of thought on this and Tim and I have discussed this somewhat. On an animal small enough to dominate with shock and awe (energy) the VLDs are probably as good as it's going to get; accurate, flat shooting and low wind drift along with devastating terminal performance. This is on animals under 130-150 lbs. A big mule deer is probably not going to be completely overwhelmed with a lot of the VLD bullets shot from standard "deer cartridges". I would want to keep my shots close enough that I had a lot of steam left when it hit. When you are talking elk, that's a whole different thing. They are big and tough and about as bullet-proof as it's going to get in North America. Unless you are shooting a 408 Chey-tac, you are not going to knock a big bull off his feet. Period. I prefer a tough, deep penetrating bullet for elk because when I see the elk I want and it may not be broadside, I want to be able to take the shot NO MATTER WHICH WAY HE IS FACING! If he is facing away, the 270 caliber VLD is a very poor choice. I think the elk would run off a LONG ways with this type of shot. With a Barnes X, it is going down. If you shoot a 110" whitetail in the bung with a 270 cal VLD, it's probably going to floor him. Pick your poison but be ready to turn down some shots that are good. Apparently you shouldn't compare the Sierra MKs with the Bergers. When I was hunting in Mexico, all the guide kept saying was "don't ruin the cape". We were ALL using David Miller preferred 168 grain Sierras and I guess they had destroyed a few capes with shoulder shots. I kept holding further and further back to avoid the cape damage. According to Tim, the Bergers don't exit and make small holes going it- this is a good thing! I would prefer the Accubond to the Berger for elk hunting.

Tim- that is one funky looking buck- a nice one though!!!

15 feet!!! Dude, what are you smoking??? signs only have to be every 1/4 mile and at gates and corners. Trespassing can be a revocable offense!

There are a bunch of good systems out there and it somewhat depends on what you call FAR. If 500 yds is far, then you will be well served with a Leupold B&C or varmint hunter reticle. I have both and can hit fine out to 500 with it. Beyond that, you need to start twisting turrets. I still like the B&C reticle and will dial in for a longer shot. I have shot 1000 yd BR competitively and it is not that tough to figure out exactly what your bullet is doing. Sierra's published data was good enough that I could use PEJSA software to give me a 100 yard zero that would be on at 1000 yds. In my case it was 26.4" high at 100 yds. The first round was with 12" at 1000. Darrel Holland has a nice system as well. He uses S&B scopes which are very expensive though. I have both the VXIII and the VXIII LR. I also have the new Bushnell Elite 4.5-30. I think this might be just the cat's a$$ for long range as you can crank it as high as the mirage will allow. All of my Leupie LR scopes are 4.5-14. On my elk hunt last year I hunted with Desert Diesel and he had a 6.5-20 LR. I was going to use my rifle if the range was under 500 and his if over ( in the middle of building a house and all my reloading stuff was in boxes and I had 150 grain partition loads for my 300 that I used in Kodiak the month before) DD's Accumark was using 220 grain MKs and had killed a bull the week before at +- 700 yds so I wasn't worried. When I finally found the bull I wanted through my 15s I set up for the shot (395 class bull). When I settled behind the 6.5-20 cranked up to 20 I saw that the bull had a broken antler that I didn't notice at 15x. I passed on the bull and ended my hunt. THAT is the advantage to the 20x or higher magnification. I agree with Casey that I really don't like 6.5 as my bottom power but depending on the way you hunt, this may not be that big of a deal. Look at your budget and decide accordingly. Amanda- 3500-6500 is not going to make enough difference to worry about it unless you are shooting 1000 yds. Where it makes a difference is when you sight in a rifle at Ben Avery (1200 feet) and then go hunting in Colorado at 11,000 feet and need to take a 500 yd shot.

Casey- did you see that Nat Geo channel had a special on the enigmatic Chupacabra? You should call them and let them photo your rifle for future releases

I have the same tag- I will be hunting a private ranch but there are a ton of good spots. Good luck to you.

I have never had any luck at all with Frank Hayes- I know he thinks Robinson Mesa is his personal playground and it he had it his way, that gate would NEVER open! That road is only supposed to be closed until July 1. If any of the Manuz bunch drew elk tags you can bet that gate will be opened come Novemeber!!!

I'm not sure what you are doing, but there is NO reason your die shouldn't contact the top of your shell holder. If it's not, screw the die in further. If you are screwing the die in far enough to touch without a case in the shell holder and then you can see day light when sizing a case, you have a junky press! It is deflecting too much. Is it an aluminum Lee? If you are bumping the shell holder and see that little band at the bottom that isn't sized, that's normal. Do the cases chamber easily after reszing? If so, you're good to go, if not, adjust the die until they do!!!

I know- just teasing- just that the road that I moved this one off of looks like the same area in your photos! Probably same time of the year! I have found more Gila Monsters in 23 that the whole rest of the state!

Here he is before you ran over him

I have participated in some of the erradications- the biggest of which was the Calf Pen/ Fossil Creek grow a few years ago. The gardners killed a bull elk in that grow. It was amazing to see the amount of work that went into that. They had to have MILES of 1/2" poly irrigation tubing. EVERY plant had it's own drip line. Most people who stumble into them don't realize what it is until it is too late- not that bad stuff always happens, but it could. With the border tightening down, we are seeing more domestic weed that we used to.

Yeh, I'm with T on this one- let's see the big one- we don't know what tank, and besides, my tag is in 10!

I was picked raspberries this week at 7400' and found some fresh scat in the brambles. I would expect to see more sign with the berry crop so good but didn't. Most of my bear spots have been removed from the prickly pear hunts! Grrrrr.

You know you jinxed it giving it all this publicity and stuff. Don't get carried away and shoot a spike with it!!!

I drew the same tag. 31 late Nov. I have a unit 10 archery bull tag and a NM mule deer tag. A decent fall! My son drew 20A junior hunt.

It's certainly not as convenient as some other states, but I'm all for it. The draw process is a LOTTERY- you can't buy lottery tickets at Circle K with a credit card, why should we be able to buy THESE lottery tickets with a CC? Buffalo has certainly got a whole lot easier to draw and probably sheep! I suspect it hasn't hurt the deer hunting apps too much. I would be in favor of trophy hunts with trophy prices-like several other states, but this commission has an agenda that etched in granite and it isn't happening any time soon! I hope they never go back to the online system personally!

Well, what did you get?