Hunting High Up

[FirstBubba]

Ain't scared of chit in my woods. Very slight possibility I'd run into a big pig, black bear, or alligator. If so, I'll kill the chit out of them. Got bit by a poisonous snake in May and in the last 18 months have probably had COVID three times. But I am scared of an angry PigHuntress ... that woman is dangerous, just saying.

[rock rat]

Fitch, safety elk doesn't count. That's little more than road hunting.

Normally I hike 3 or 4 or more miles just to get to where I'm going to hunt, and often enough I stop to brew up a cup of coffee once I get there. Yup, I bring that tiny gas stove and a coffee pot, not sure how that all adds up to the pounds carried.

I used to carry the bipod everywhere but after it being too low to see over the sage a couple times I stopped carrying it. I cop a rest off a tree or steady up off taking a knee and shoot within a couple hundred yards.

It's easy to put on miles out west. I know people who hike 5 miles in the dark just to be at the right place when the sun comes up. Elk aren't like deer, they aren't evenly spaced out across the landscape. They are at specific places at one time of the day or another, and sometimes they are at one N facing stand of doug fir above water, and other times they are at another favorite laying up chewing their cud place, going from one spot to another wears out the soles of the boots.

Elk themselves move too. Fast. When they are just walking. You see a herd grazing in one direction, like eating and moving at the same time and it can be work to get in front of them. There's a reason success rates on elk are so much lower than mule deer. You have to know where the critters probably ought to be, and go there.

[fitch270]

Hence the question. Seemed contradictory was all.

[DakotaMan]

I offered to take that poor shooting Mark V lightweight of Dakotaman’s hands when he first whined about its lack of accuracy. 😂😂😂

WAM, It was a retirement gift from one of my favorite bosses and a surprise I will always cherish. The rifle is the worst shooting rifle I own by a large margin (my second worst rifle shoots 0.25 MOA); and has failed to fire (FTF) on multiple occasions. Please remember that this is a 5.5 pound rifle with a tiny featherweight barrel that bends in a breeze.

I have fixed those FTF problems and am wary of others on that rifle. I have precisely bedded the barrel out near the fore end to achieve 0.7 MOA 5-shot precision so it is usable for short range hunting (say, out to 250 yards or so).

As I said back when WAM made that offer, I came very close to throwing it in a lake when it failed to fire on two consecutive lengthy antelope stalks. I will still own it when I die though because of the sentimental value. WAM, as I recall, you only offered to take it, not to buy it for market value. To me, your offer was a lot like throwing it in a lake but a little better because you are a F&S compadre and I know you like Weatherbys.

[WA Mtnhunter]

WAM, It was a retirement gift from one of my favorite bosses and a surprise I will always cherish. The rifle is the worst shooting rifle I own by a large margin (my second worst rifle shoots 0.25 MOA); and has failed to fire (FTF) on multiple occasions. Please remember that this is a 5.5 pound rifle with a tiny featherweight barrel that bends in a breeze.

I have fixed those FTF problems and am wary of others on that rifle. I have precisely bedded the barrel out near the fore end to achieve 0.7 MOA 5-shot precision so it is usable for short range hunting (say, out to 250 yards or so).

As I said back when WAM made that offer, I came very close to throwing it in a lake when it failed to fire on two consecutive lengthy antelope stalks. I will still own it when I die though because of the sentimental value. WAM, as I recall, you only offered to take it, not to buy it for market value. To me, your offer was a lot like throwing it in a lake but a little better because you are a F&S compadre and I know you like Weatherbys.

😂😂😂 I did offer to take it off your hands, but would have never dreamed of taking it without fair compensation ! Same thing about my Weatherby lightweight 6-lug .30-06. Deadly accurate with the right ammo until you heat up the wispy barrel. Never had FTF or extract issues. It was a 30th Anniversary gift from my wife, so it’s a keeper.

[jhjimbo]

I don't shoot mine more that 3 rounds without cooling it in a rack with the action open - convection. Only takes a few minutes while I shoot another rifle.