ever gotten harassment from friends over your choice..

[grumpyvette]

have you ever gotten harassment from friends over your choice in rifles?
Ive taken a bunch of verbal harassment,
but I have noticed my choices ,also at times tended to result in similar rifle purchases.
now Im sure this has to be rather common simply because,
many of us are 100% convinced that the rifle type and caliber we choose to hunt with is obviously the best choice available and,
everyone else just can't see how foolish their choice in weaponry is!
For 3 plus decades my late hunting partner carried a BLR in 358 win caliber on every ELK hunt we made to several states.
and over that time frame he managed to kill almost 12 elk in about 37 years we hunted using the same load of a 250 grain speer over 44 grains of IMR 4064 and a 215 fed primer.

the fact is that there is just not ,an ideal caliber or rifle,
what makes the rifle or caliber effective, in most cases ,
is related too the skill , knowledge and experience, of the guy using it!
and Id have to point out that its been a rather rare hunt where any member of the guys I hunt with,
has ever gotten a shot at over about 250 yards.

I like trying out new things, and being a rifle crazed lunatic I have bought and traded off a good many rifles in the last 50 years.
now in that same time frame I made 40 plus out of state elk and mule deer hunts ,hunts in co. WY. even norther CA. with different rifles , at time I carried a 340 wby, 378 wby, 375 H&H ,458 win, 300wby, 300 win, 35 whelen, 45/70 308 win, 30/06 and a 358 win.
I still use my 35 whelen 7600 pump action ,and 450 marlin blr
THEY ALL WORK JUST FINE IN MY HANDS

I almost always brought two different caliber rifle and used one for mule deer and one for elk, and there were a great many times when I left camp thinking I would be hunting one or the other but found that the ELK I was armed for happened to be a MULE DEER that I had the opportunity to take or vice verse.
this led to a near-constant good Nature verbal harassment from my partner,
who thought that constantly swapping rifles was both costly and a bit insane,
he frequently asked me how I could even remember,
if I was carrying a single shot, bolt action or semi auto,
or had any hope of remembering trajectory, or how to mechanically work the action under stress etc.
plus the constant verbal jibs about ,
why did I need a "CANNON" or bother to carry an extra 2 lbs-3 lbs of rifle that was 6"-10" longer than necessary?

I can assure you that being a member of a group of about 16 -18 guys who remained rather serious members in our elk hunt club
,that I took similar good nature verbal abuse from some other members ,
but over the years I noticed that tended to drop off considerably due to the fact Id proved successful with most of the rifles I carried,
and a couple were so effective that other members took notice and bought similar rifles.
the 35 whelen 7600 I bought,my 340wby, my 375 SAKO and my friend 358 BLR all performed well enough,
that others in the club purchased similar rifles or carbines,
theres now at least 6 other 35 whelen 7600 rifles, 5 guys who now own 45/70 marlins and 4 other 340 wbys owned among the club members.

I remember standing on the edge of a logging road one day near dark,
waiting to be picked up by one of the guys who went to get the truck so we would not need to drag our packs loaded with 60-70 lbs of boned out elk,
when a guy pulled up in a car to B.S. a bit and seeing we had obviously been successful he asked what rifle I was using ,
before I could respond he pulled a 25/06 cartridge out of his top pocket and said he was hoping his choice would be effective.
I assured him if his shot was well placed he would do fine!
he asked me what I,d used to drop that elk, SAL ,
my partner on that hunt just started giggling and pulled a cartridge out of my rifles stock cartridge sleeve and handed it to the guy to examine...it was a 378 wby loaded with 300 grain boat tail bullets,
the guys eyes really opened up....that started a rather interesting road side discussion.
BTW a 378 wby is in my experience no more effective than my 340 WBY so I don,t think the extra recoil and impact energy gains you much more than some grins from friends that might think your a bit masochistic to use it on an elk hunt!
using a 378 wby for elk, is an idea that looked better on paper than it turned out to be in practice
viewtopic.php?f=92&t=2403&p=10070#p10070

Sometimes the less knowledgeable guys don,t know good natured kidding from actual fact!
Howard ,One of the guys in our elk camp found a nearly UN-used pre 1964 Winchester mod 70 in 257 Roberts,
one year, that had a very trim and very pretty laminated walnut hand checkered custom stock, and Williams receiver sights.
It was simply a very well done, tastefully made, custom rifle really too nice to be hunting with, but he decided he had to at least find a mule deer to shoot with it before retiring it to his safe as a collectors item that it really was.
Jack and I both loved the looks of the rifle and we knew he got a really great deal, because Howard bought it fairly cheaply at an estate sale,
for $500 which even at the time was a fraction of its value.
Jack looked it over and told Howard with a strait face that he was basically wasting his time with that rifle,
as "EVERYONE KNEW" a 257 Roberts was marginal for big mule deer past 200 yards...
.If I had not started laughing... I think Howard might have "BOUGHT THAT CRAP"
Howard eventually killed a fairly nice 4 point elk with the rifle at about 160 yards on that trip so he told Jack when he got back into camp, that he thought it performed well with a serious tone in his voice and Jack and I both burst out laughing thinking he might have even taken Jack seriously, for even an instant!.

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/newsletters/May_2009.html

http://www.chuckhawks.com/recoil_table.htm

 

[grumpyvette]

Jack stopped by for a cup of coffee this morning and we got into reminiscing about many of the elk hunts we had been on previously and we got into discussing some of the trips more memorably moments , on one trip Jack and I had already tagged ELK but we still had mule deer tags, , we were walking back to camp along a old long abandoned logging road with Ron , at near dusk, when a real dandy of a large 4 point per side mule deer stepped out of the aspen cover about 80 yards up on the edge of the road ahead, I instantly spotted the movement and, stopped dead in my tracks, and showed Jack, we were both very temped, to shoot, but Ron having yet to fill any tag, and Ron being with us, we felt rather obligated to give him the shot, I pointed the deer out too Ron, that obligingly stood stating at us, Ron could not see it, it was in plain sight! I dropped to one knee placed the cross hairs of my 375 H&H sako manlitcher carbine on the deers chest and urged Ron to hurry up , look where I was pointing as I whispered directions and jack tried to help him aim his rifle, as the deer was obviously getting nervous.
after what seemed like 5 full minutes , but what was probably less than 1 minute the deer slowly turned and walked back into the timber, it was one of the largest mule deer Ive ever seen and I really regretted not squeezing the trigger, that day, trying hard to " be a nice guy " made me feel like a damn fool.
Ron never did see the deer and Jack also nearly had a conniption waiting for Ron to fire!
one factor that made this a bit funny was that my manlitcher carbine had a 2.5 power scope, jack had a 4x scope on his 308 winchester , neither rifle was what you might think of as long range western rifles, but Rod had a 358 win with a 4x12x scope, now if anything his rifle had the least potential range but by far the largest optics and he should have easily been able to see a whole mule deer standing out in the open at 80 yards, but try as he did , he never saw the deer.
BTW over the years all three rifles proved to be successful at collecting elk, from what Ive seen,its not the rifle , you use,its how familiar the rifles owner is with using it that seems to be critical to success.

and yes we harassed that semi blind S.O.B. ...RON...for the rest of the TRIP!

 

[grumpyvette]

grumpy I noticed you post occasionally about hunting, and I have a chance to pick up a used 30/30 Winchester for about $200, is that a good deer rifle?

let me point out that the 30/30 cartridge has been chambered in lever action rifles for well over 100 plus years and has killed train loads of deer , $200 for a lever action 30/30 in todays market is a very good price if the rifles in top condition, showing minimal wear!
and it will certainly continue to kill deer in even semi skilled hands, but that being said, I think theres better choices and obviously your budget and how seriously you want to hunt should have an effect on your selection.
youll probably not be able to find a deer rifle in good condition for $200 any place else so if your just getting into hunting its not a bad way to start out!
I really like lever actions, and I'm not fixated on power <I have a 257 Roberts BLR, which has noticeably less recoil than a 30/30 and shoots flatter out to longer ranges. I frequently grab a marlin 44 mag that Ive used for decades on deer and hogs, its dirt cheap to load for and in my opinion has the 30/30 matched for close range deer hunting , but I like it better for several reasons, both work really well on deer. Ive only used the 30/30 on a few deer and while it got the job done it was not impressive,I had the 3 deer I used it on before I gave it to my older son all run a short distance with good lung/heart area hits. the 30/30 will get the job done even on larger game like ELK if you get into under 200 yards and can place your shots well, but its not my favorite caliber.
If I was limited to a single lever action I think Id suggest a BROWNING BLR in caliber 30/06 as it can be loaded with a wide variety of ammo making it almost ideal for most hunting in north America, but its expensive at near $1000 new so theres other options.
I found the I got more consistent results , here in florida on deer and hogs (normally shot at well under 100 yards where a 30/30 works rather well) and a bit more obvious reaction on bullet impact with my 44 marlin loaded with a 310 grain lee bullet over 21 grains of H110.
and if you shop carefully these 44 mag marlin carbines come up for sale on the used market fairly regularly at under $300.
If you decide you want something significantly more powerful,Ive used a 45/70 on ELK and my hunting partner had killed at least 5 now with his marlin 45/70, and we have zero complaints, and you can keep ammo cost low by reloading cast bullets making ammo reasonable for a rifle that really kicks butt!
(but be aware it has significantly more recoil than the little 30/30 also)

http://www.neihandtools.com/catalog/index.html
I found this bullet to be especially accurate in my marlin 45/70 over 45 grains oF IMR 4198, Im not sure what velocity youll get in your rifle but cast from 95% wheel weights and 5% tin,well lubed its accurate,and it shoots thru deer,hogs and elk real well with expected results..very dead game
I don,t think you can say a 30/30 is less deadly,than a 45/70 if you place the shot well, but a 45/70 seems too get the games full undivided,attention on bullet impact a good deal better and more often.
the difference was impressive enough that when I sold my 45/70 and went looking for a replacement heavy timber elk rifle in a lever action,I bought a 450 marlin BLR and have found it to be exceptionally accurate


READ THESE LINKS ALSO
viewtopic.php?f=92&t=6505

viewtopic.php?f=92&t=1275

viewtopic.php?f=92&t=4607

 

[grumpyvette]

I went to the local range a few weekends back and just brought my 375H&H sako carbine, as usual I sited it in with the same ammo and the same way I have for decades.
(3.5" high at 100 yards) going to the range and sighting in my rifles is a rather enjoyable past time as long as you don,t get rushed and remember to bring all the accessories like targets,cleaning rods patches, brushes, padded rifle rest, spotting, scope, solvent and if the range is not crowded, so you can take your time.

I got asked by one of the guys at the range why I was using a 375H&H and I just replied its worked for over 40 years why would I change?

while this is NOT my 375 H&H sako carbine, in the picture posted above, My SAKO CARBINE is almost an exact clone except, that my stocks about 5 shades darker, so its about as dark as walnut gets.
I found this picture posted on the internet, it could be a clone of the sako carbine Ive used for decades, if the stock color was about 6 shades darker walnut ,
mines about the color of a semi sweet dark chocolate

elk country generally requires you cover and glass a great deal of area, to locate your target, and unlike white tail deer, your chances of sitting in a tree stand in the correct time frame, at the correct place is far less likely.
simply because most elk range over many miles of range not hundreds of yards and they may take weeks, or months to travel back through one specific drainage or stand of timber.
use topo maps to locate potential natural choke points, logging road access and camp sites.
being in good physical condition is almost mandatory, most of us think we are but if your not familiar with hunting at 5000-10000 ft altitude you might be rather surprised at the difference, it makes.
bring a good set of binoculars and good comfortable boots with good grip tread soles.
have a decent pack, temps can change from below freezing to 70F in a days time, having a GPS helps
drink plenty of liquids and have a few aspirin, or aleve and excedrin etc. , youll need them
bringing a side arm is generally not mandatory, but you might prefer to pack out elk meat, once you have dropped one elk, , with a side arm vs a rifle as a 60-80 lb pack is plenty to manage while packing out of steep canyons

after dozens of elk hunts in Colorado and Wyoming, I learned you can,t assume you can wonder around a particular area that may look good or one conveniently located close to where your camped,
Successfully looking to find elk, requires, you to cover a good deal of topography and have a decent understanding of what the elk need and are looking to avoid.
it also helps if you have a good understanding of the natural terrain choke points, preferred browse/feed, cover, escape,routes,, bedding areas, water access.etc.
generally most guys won,t get more than a mile off logging road access simply because its too hard to retrieve a downed elk and pack it out where no motor vehicle access is allowed.
you can also find real honey spots if you hunt areas that require you wade creeks or climb or descend into canyons,
I can,t begin to tell you how many times I hunted canyons and had new guys after 1- or- 2 days sit out the rest of the trip hunting near camp rather than climb in and out of canyon country,
as a consequence, I generally learn to pack fairly light, Im prepaired to spend the night if its required and I rarely see other hunters after opening day, in the rather remote canyon country.

IT been my back-up carbine used, during several years, in the thick timber to my 340 wby rifle for decades.
I love the way it carries and handles, its had both a 2.5X and a 4X Leopold scope.
It accounted for three small but legal (4x4 and 4x5)bull elk and one cow elk in that time.
the carbine likes 75 grains of WW760 under a 270 hornady spire point, 215 federal primer.
http://www.hornady.com/store/375-Cal-.375-270-gr-SP-RP/
Ive also used the speer 235 grain over 77 grains of WW760 , 215 federal primer for mule deer.
http://www.speer-bullets.com/ballistics ... spx?id=121
now my personal experience has shown my my 340 wby and 375 H&H are about IDEAL for my personal elk rifles but its mostly due to both having a flawless record, and my confidence using those rifles, not because that power levels mandatory. a 35 whelen , even a 30/06 with the correct ammo,have also been well proven to work well.
the first bull was at about 120 yards,shot in the mid 1980s, a high heart lung shot he crumpled on bullet impact the bullet passed thru.
the second was standing looking at me from 50 yards, a shot to the center lower neck dropped him instantly, bullet was in the gut.
third was quartering away and walking briskly, a shot hit about mid ribs and exited lower chest,opposite side, he ran about 40-50 feet and dropped.
the cow was out at about 190 yards, she got hit in the chest a bit far back, bullet passed thru, she just stood in shock for 30 seconds then turned to walk away and fell over.
the one mule deer buck was a spindly 24" 4x4 , I surprised (I'm sure that was mutual, as when he jumped to his feet I sure was surprized) in thick cover at less than 30 yards, he dropped within 50 feet and was shot as he ran away a rear raking angle, the speer 235 grain entered the area near the last rib on the left side and the bullet fragmented on the right lower leg, as it exited, I think he skidded on his nose most of the distance after being hit.

http://handloads.com/loaddata/default.a ... er&Source=

 

[Grumpy]

Jack stopped by last evening, and he asked me if I still owned "THUMPER" (his nick name for my sako 375 H&H carbine)

while this is NOT my 375 H&H sako carbine, in the picture posted above, My SAKO CARBINE is almost an exact clone except, that my stocks about 5 shades darker, so its about as dark as walnut gets. the SAKO carbine likes 75 grains of WW760 under a 270 hornady spire point, 215 federal primer.
he started talking about the first time he saw me use it on a hunt and it brought back some pleasant memories
We were hunting in Colorado, for elk that year (early 1980s) and had parked the truck on a rare fairly small level meadow, that was just off a logging road that looked like it had not been used in decades , we parked near where the forest service had deliberately felled a large tree blocking the road and nailed a few signs stating vehicle access past that point was forbidden.
We had selected the area after studying topo maps and noticing that two long canyons upper ends of both canyon drainage's were at about the same location and that only one rather old un-used logging road seemed to allow access to the area, that was marked as 4x4 drive only, plus it showed, that road access was blocked off near the crest and the surrounding slopes , on the map ,showed it was recently logged and fairly steep.
When topo lines on the map are fairly close together that indicates steep, terrain, when really close together,its almost vertical , this almost always results in low hunter numbers as few guys want to hunt steep slopes or recently logged areas, (keep in mind the maps are rarely current so an area marked as recently logged could be 10-20 years out of date and frequently are.)

opening day it had snowed fairly heavy up at about 10,000 ft elevation and the next morning we had walked in, tracks in the snow along the blocked logging road showed there had obviously had some guys dropped off, at the fallen tree blocking the logging road and a truck left well before day light, those guys who walked in ahead of us ,left the tracks in the snow. so the area was not exclusively ours that day, but it was obviously lightly hunted , we walked in about 1/2 a mile, up that old access road, in the dark that was only slowly getting lighter as dawn approached and the ground cover was that crunchy,squeaky snow, you get when its crusted over due to low night temps, refreezing partly melted snow,when we started but it was slowly starting to melt a bit as the temps started to slowly warm, and by about the time we could see fairly well in the semi dark it became obvious that the area was mixed old growth conifer and clear cut checker boards, on the slopes, that had been cut perhaps 12-15 years prior as the cut areas were starting to grow back with several of the cut areas already having 10-15 ft trees in replanted areas along with lots of grass that was not yet being shaded out, that made ideal elk habitat.
the area was intermittently a mix of steep meadow and aspen, and thicker conifer, mostly along areas that showed indication of minor rock slides and run-off that provided water for the aspen, on the north and east facing slopes the south and west facing slopes showed less growth. Id guess due to more sun light and less moisture.
well, as it started to get where we could see each other, without aid of a flash light (due to heavy clouds and darn little if any star light) we decided to walk up hill along the rock slide and aspen in one area, following the edge of the clear cut conifer, that crossed the logging road so we could crest a shallow saddle into an adjacent canyon, it took about 45 minutes to rich the crest as it was easily 800-900 yards and up hill at about a 20-25 degree grade, the green and black plaid wool felt shirt under the M65 woodland camo field jacket felt hot as we climbed, but once we stopped the exertion,and once we reached the saddle Jack and I noticed the cold. we decided to walk along just below the ridges crest to keep from silhouetting yourself and looked for a good vantage point to hopefully catch elk exiting one or both of the drainage's if they were pushed by hunter pressure further down the canyon, which had frequently proven to be a successful strategy in the past as the lower canyon had several camping areas a few miles away and a couple thousand feet lower in elevation.
as it became lighter we found an old brush pile that looked as if a dozen years earlier some big logging tractor /or bulldozer hauling logs had just pushed unwanted broken stumps in a pile.
this seemed like a rather ideal area as it provided at least some wind break, and the temp was near freezing and the wind intermittently blowing and it had started to sleet,and you really don,t want to get wet in that set of conditions.
we quickly found s large log we could place our backs against and tied a couple camo ponchos , to act as cover from the sleet to stay semi dry.

we settled in to wait and watch the area, while remaining fairly comfortable and rather visually well hidden from anyone or any game traveling up slope towards us, or crossing the saddle between the two canyons .
we could see for about 800-900 yards down slope to the logging road we left in one direction and about twice that distance along a narrower clear cut, into the adjacent canyon as that slope looked to have been clear cut over a few years back and as a result the regrowth was younger and what little dry brown grass there was looked to be more plentiful even if it was mostly patches of snow covered and not likely to be a big draw for elk.
After about four hours or by about 10 am we had seen several groups of mule deer, cross, mostly out of what I considered effective range, of my 375 H&H carbine which I tend to restrict my shots to about 350 yard shots (personal choice it obviously reaches further)

but shooting at a down slope angle and with a cross wind makes accurate shot placement past that a bit less sure.
Jack had his ruger #1 single shot in 458 win mag loaded with 405 grain cast bullet ammo making his effective range a bit less.
Jack likes that single shot falling block ruger and I have got to admit its been very successfully used over the years with both his and my hand loads.

about that time, that morning, we heard a few distant shots, well down the canyon, and we started to pay a bit more attention to what was happening down slope and less attention to our personal issue of freezing to death in the damp wind.
about 30 minutes passed and I guess we were not being fully observant because a group of several elk trotted out well into the clear-cut before either of us noticed, they were about 180 yards out, and Jack was the first to notice them, by a few seconds.
there was nothing that looked to be legal to shoot so we let them pass un-molested and settled back into watching, we started to whisper to our-self's, joking about how we were likely to give out location away due to shivering when I noticed movement at the edge of the aspens, at about 200 yards down slope, I brought the Sako up, rested its for-stock on my day pack which was previously placed on a couple large branches I'd previously placed to support it for that purpose and got the cross hairs on the shoulder of the first legal 4x4 elk Id seen yet this season, Jack also had him in his scope, we debated if we wanted to take him, then Jack said he would rather pass and wait for something larger!
I remembered the previous year where I'd done the same thing early in the hunt and never saw another legal elk that year, and said to myself....screw it , hes legal, and steadied the cross hairs,

placed the cross hairs a bit low behind the front leg as he stepped forward and as he shifted his weight I squeezed off the shot!
instantly while the carbine was still in recoil . I SLAPPED THE BOLT UP AND BACK THEN FORWARD AND DOWN AND BROUGHT THE CROSS HAIRS BACK , INTO FOCUS WHILE CHAMBERING A SECOND CARTRIDGE, in time too see ,MY ELK SLIDE DOWN SLOPE A BIT WITH A FINAL KICK,
Jack said the bullet impact spun him 90 degrees , so he was facing more up-slope, he made one lunge and went nose first into the dirt then slid about 15-20 feet up against a logged stump, kicked once and was down for the count!
the 270 grain hornady punched clear thru the arteries over the heart and the front of the lungs were shredded.
Jack slapped me on the back, said good shot! let me know when you get him to the truck! i'll take a NAP in the meantime ..then started laughing.....we both are very well aware that the fun stops once you need to pack out and butcher an elk and it took both of us the rest of the day and three trips to get the meat packed in gallon zip loc bags in the packs, as we butchered the ELK meat was placed in zip lock bags then the bags set in the snow to cool before transport to the truck in the back packs, and we walked back packing that meat, in several 70-80 lb loads for each of us back too the truck and cooler. (remember the pack and equipment also weight something so all that weights not meat.)

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...nt-perspective-on-ideal-hunting-rifles.11928/

 

[87vette81big]

Nice Grumpy.
Keep The Hunting Stories Coming.
I enjoy Reading Them.

 

[Grumpy]

hunting firearm functional failures in the field
I don,t know how many of you gentlemen have made dozens of out of state hunting trips, but I learned decades ago that if your going to be several thousand miles from home it makes a great deal of sense to bring a secondary hunting rifle.
(the last thing you want too do is wait all year for a hunt and pay thousands of dollars and once in the field find your prize rifle, or ammo, won,t function)
for several decades I took a couple weeks a year and went mule deer and elk hunting , I tried many years back in the late 1960s-1990's, and occasionally even into the early 2000s too find two states with similar consecutive but not over-lapping dates, generally Id select two from Colorado/Wyoming/Idaho and ideally Id want at least one of the two with over the counter licences (this got more difficult as the regulations changed obviously.
I point this out only to explain Id drive out and spend up to 3 weeks every year in the process(driving and hunting)
I belonged to a hunting club, and Id generally drive out from Florida to Colorado or Wyoming,with one or two other guys sharing the gas,cost, where Id pick up one or more other guys that would fly into local airports, who would also pay part of the gas cost to have the truck transport the gear, and pick them up on the hunting trip.
the result was over several decades I got to hunt a good deal and I also saw that it was very common for guys to have problems, with the rifles the brought.
I may be wrong, but I've always assumed that most ethical and experienced, hunters will use and exercise,
reasonable judgement, before making a shot and only shoot under conditions they feel confident in making the shot well,
and have a respect for game, and have a solid grasp on their personal limitations.
I have also noticed that a good many people seem to think the rifles recoil level can be objectionable and that it effects their accuracy.
obviously thats a factor each of us has to deal with and tolerance differs wildly.
obviously no one can control others judgment, but felt recoil can be significantly reduced
use of a PAST recoil shoulder pad , a rifle stock recoil pad, and proper use of a sling and bi-pod goes a long way toward reducing the potential problem.

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/i ... 0094310010

• 

HB25CS 25C Model S -13.5-27" Swivel Bipod
no thats not my rifle but its damn near its clone
how many of you gentlemen have and use a bi-pod on your rifle?
Ive used the 13.5" /27" swivel bi-pod for decades on my 340 wby synthetic bolt action, rifle.
the bi-pod allows you to have a steady rifle rest shot from both a prone or seated position,
now I'm sure I'm in the minority and many guys will object to the added weight , but I've learned to hunt by glassing and covering a great deal of ground slowly,
the key here is in carefully selecting the areas hunted and not randomly wandering aimlessly.
you want to study topographical maps carefully, and have experience, you can look over the options, get into productive areas well before other hunters and set up, before first light, allowing you to benefit from the influx p o hunter pressure as they move through the are disrupting game movement, and increase your odds of success by hunting ,
natural travel routes and terrain choke points, and not wasting time glassing the areas with lots off easy road access.
elk and deer learn very quickly that travel, during daylight, near logging roads with vehicle travel access , is not safe.
if you set up to glass for game on a natural game travel choke point , like a narrow side canyon, that has a creek and cover youll up your odds significantly.
having a bi-pod on your rifle and a good familiarity with your rifles trajectory sure helps.

fogged scopes, loose scope mounts, were more common than you might imagine, lost ammo, or defective re-loads (hang fires at below zero temps) were not unheard of, but stuff like loose screws that could be prevented with proper cleaning,and a drop of loc-tite on bolt/screw threads, or firing pins locking up in below freezing temps due to improper maintenance and cleaning procedures were also not rare.
more than a few hunts were saved because I generally brought a back-up rifle, a converted 1917 enfield sporter 30/06, and a remington pump 30/06 , on early hunts and a marlin 45/70 and a ruger bolt action 35 whelen that made the trip dozens of times, got a lot more actual hunting time than you might think that a secondary back-up emergency rifle would ever see.
(most of the back-up rifles had peep/receiver sights)
IT was rare for a whole hunt that would last at least 7 -10 days to not have, at least one guy of the 3-6 guys have a scope or rifle damaged when some guy dropped it or slipped and fell, carrying one, or not have a loose screw, broken scope mount,trigger get out of adjustment, or mis-placed ammo.
If you've had a good deal of hunting experience and hunted with lots of other guys you've un-doubt-ably seen similar issue's

OK what have you gentlemen had fail in the field?

 

[Grumpy]

I don,t know about the rest of you gentlemen but having a small high quality gunsmith tool kit and cleaning kit has frequently been helpful
high quality scopes, (Leopold, Nikon, Zeiss, Steiner ) proper install procedures and the better quality scope mounts goes a long way toward reducing problems
you don,t need to buy the most expensive mounts or rings but a decent quality mount is critical.
IVE never yet had a properly installed weaver style base and rings fail, loc-tite on clean de-greased, and properly tightened, screw threads helps

a 150/400 watt gun makes soldering much easier

BTW red loc-tite is a thermally sensitive bonding agent,
if you need to remove scope mount screws, or any screw locked in place with this thread binding agent, that were locked in place with red loc-tite simply hold a high wattage soldering iron firmly against the screw head for at least 2 minutes before you try to remove it, this allows heat to travel through the screw and melt the bonding plastic based locking agent

https://shop.brownells.com/optics/r...MI-fyIgLi12QIVmbXACh3gcQOeEAQYASABEgJTs_D_BwE

https://shop.brownells.com/optics-m...MI-fyIgLi12QIVmbXACh3gcQOeEAQYASABEgJTs_D_BwE
https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-...head-scope-ring-base-screw-kit-prod41830.aspx
torx head screws tend to be better strength and quality,

Ive seen lots of cheap mounts fail

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/ever-had-a-rifle-fail-to-function.8222/

 

[Grumpy]

btw these speer 285 grain, 375 caliber bullets
https://www.speer.com/bullets/rifle_bullets/grand_slam_rifle_bullet/19-2473.html

have proven to be an excellent and accurate match
the 375 H&H has proven to be a very effective rifle cartridge,
but many guys don,t like the recoil levels
but keep in mind your only likely to need one or two shots on any elk hunt,
and you'll be wearing a heavily padded jacket on, in most cases due to the temps.
several of my and my friends have/own and use, 375 H&H rifles.
using federal 215 primers and a powder charge of 75-76 grains of WW-760 powder
some rifles handle up to 78 grains of ww-760 just fine for a bit more velocity
work up your loads carefully as this powder charge is safe in every gun we tested,
use at least 3 reload data sources and cross check.
btw if you can,t locate data for a 285 grain,
375 H&H use your manuals 300-grain bullet load data
https://reloading-data.speer-ammo.c...fle/375_caliber_375_dia/375_HH_Magnum_285.pdf


I was recently asked to make up some ammo for a friend SAKO model 85,
375 H&H rifle,
I've never seen any difference in effectiveness between the 375 H&H,
and my hand loads with a 250 grain bullet in my 340 wby,
but theres a slight advantage in the 340 wby at longer ranges in flatter trajectory,
but to be honest, most elk are shot ,
well inside 250 yards making the difference insignificant.

and once one of my other friends heard about that, he brought over a rifle very similar to this picture ,(below)
a weatherby mark V 375 H&H, to show me , that he had recently acquired

btw many guys have tried the serria 300 grain boat tail
these are accurate and work ok on deer and lung shot elk,
but from the limited number of elk Id helped dress out,
they don,t seem to penetrate as well / deeply,
after impact as the speer bullet does
https://www.sierrabullets.com/product/375-caliber-300-gr-sbt/

https://www.sierrabullets.com/products/other-products/manual/

 

[rlphvac]

The story of the Mule Deer and Ron not seeing it reminded me of something I had kept to myself until just in the last couple of years telling stories at camp but I was always embarrassed to admit that I had deer actually disappear from me and also deer that would appear out of nowhere now I find out that I'm not the only one that this has happened to

 

[Grumpy]

we all must have similar hunting buddies,
the guys I hunt with swear

" the local game warden spends most nights using pogo stick with a deer hoof print on the bottom,
https://www.stampedconcretesupplies...04/deer-hoof-TOOL-and-PRINT-together-600w.jpg

The 10-foot Pogo Stick: Super-charged pogo stick jumps 10 feet in the air

A super-charged pogo stick that jumps 10 feet in the air.

www.vat19.com

https://www.vat19.com/item/v4-pro-10-foot-pogo-stick?adid=gshopping&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&adpos=&scid=scplppro-pogo-stick&sc_intid=pro-pogo-stick&gclid=Cj0KCQiArt6PBhCoARIsAMF5wag69VI5xx_TR9aaLX5pouXy5PXK7G9j7O_bZG3BNJCn9Gb02TcUq78aAntEEALw_wcB

leaving numerous deep obvious tracks in the areas they swear have not held a live deer in decades!"