thinhorn_AK
"DADDY"
Also, you might check out the “great rams”
Series of books, there’s 3 of them. Lots of bighorn stories and pics to get you fired up.
Series of books, there’s 3 of them. Lots of bighorn stories and pics to get you fired up.
Shrek, thank you for the great suggestion, that is not an idea I had considered. The only drawback, if it is one, is that I may decide to keep the scope. I did decide to go ahead on a new tripod, and bought the Vortex Pro GT.
I promised pictures, so here is my Cooper. I have to say, that much as I am a self-admitted gun snob with a strong bias against stainless and plastic, this Cooper is a super nice rifle that feels great in my hands and looks good to my eye. I won't be getting rid of my wood-stocked and blued guns, but from now on I will be more open minded about the alternatives.
I have also worked out my sock system with some trial hikes with my now one-month old Lowe Tibet GTX boots. I am using REI silk liner socks and Darn Tough Marino wool outer socks.
As to progress, I have my sleep system worked out. My trusty North Face Snowfield sleeping bag and Thermarest Trail Pro pad which I have used for a lot of nights. They are a bit heavier than I would like at 4 pounds 13 ounces, but having used them on a couple of occasions for two weeks straight, I know they are comfortable and a comfortable night's sleep is worth the weight. I will be using a Tarptent StratoSpire 1 tent, which is a one-person (or two close friends) shelter that can be used with just the fly or with the tube and liner. It uses trekking poles for poles and weighs just over two pounds complete. I plan to give it several overnight trial runs before the hunt to decide whether to use just the fly, or the complete system. If I go with just the fly, I will make a simple groundcloth from tyvex building cloth. Future posts will provide feedback on the tent.
For a rangefinder, I have purchased the Nikon BlackRangeX 4k. I prefer simple, and it provides what I need; horizontal distance or slope distance, and angle. I have been playing with it off of my deck and it consistently ranges the cattle in the neighbor's pasture at well over 800 yards in all the conditions I have tried it in.
I am inventorying the hunting and camping gear I already have and am using this as an opportunity to upgrade, add, and also purge. A bunch of stuff will be heading to e-bay. I am organizing stuff by category, so as I get stuff together, I will keep reporting.
(Sorry for the small photos, if you click on the attachment below you can see larger versions.)
As I have said before, please keep your comments and suggestions coming.
thinhorn_AK, you are correct. I own a Cooper Backcountry and a Tikka T3; both in 300WM. My Tikka is a .5 MOA rifle, wholly reliable and functional. Long and ongoing story short, my Cooper is not. I encourage RnnHntr to keep and use a rifle that he knows, and enjoy that hunt.I’ve never been that “buy a tikka” guy but in this case, if you got a tikka rather than the cooper backcountry you’d save ~ 1800.00 and not give up anything in the weight/accuracy/reliability department and you’d have that much extra cash for a tent or whatever else you wanted to buy....maybe that new spotting scope you’re drooling over.
Just saying.