solamente73

I’m watching the game for the first time… on your point about not being a pussy today, on his pass to Gunnar to go up 14… doesn’t he step up in the pocket and take a hit? I was like, whoa, right on. The coverage I have is inconclusive. ETA: great phrase: “Quinn had a fantastic game that wasn’t perfect.”

I’m glad that worked out for you! I bought that same unit but have had a problem with the rifle platform, so I haven’t posted yet. The thermal exceeded my expectations, though, and Outdoor Legacy is solid IMO. Please feel free to post what you are using it for here - I’d love to see it!

Tried a new butcher shop that recently opened up nearby. Quality meats at local grocery prices. Pre-made sides were spot-on. Fillets for the wife and kids, and they were excellent. The prime strip was very good but seemed to equate to what I can get at my favorite grocery butcher counter - but that’s OK. Looking forward to supporting this place.

Family fillets. My 8 and 10 year old boys have NO IDEA how good they have it. As usual, with a hint of mesquite.

Good luck, man! So happy for (jealous of) you. If you can, chronicle as you go. Can’t wait for pics!

Y’all know I cook over fire. But up here, near my farm in NE Texas, my neighbor had me over for dinner last night, and thus made me appreciate cooking steak on a griddle: Hard to tell in that pic, but the steak was medium rare and seasoned to perfection. It was… incredible… So from a pure fire guy to y’all who griddle or sous vide or whatever… perfect your method and appreciate the results. There are many ways to get a great steak, and perhaps that is part of the greatness that is ‘STEAK.”

@USCATX check out https://www.youtube.com/c/TheLateNightVisionShow and literally call Outdoor Legacy and Jason and/or Hans will hook you up. I haven’t posted about this yet, but I was looking for a thermal for a 6.5 Grendel pistol and I researched for months. Part of the research was watching that show. I called the shop, and Jason called me back in 5 minutes. We spent an hour OTP working through use cases I never thought about. He gave me solid options and actually saved me $ by me not choosing something that was overkill for my needs. I bought and I’m putting together the platform - hope to post soon. Regardless, at a minimum you get an opinion from those guys - zero sales pressure when you call. Good luck, and post results!

Anyone know what's up with @deadshank? He's a quality poster on a lot of threads, but he hasn't logged in since June 6. Hunting season is upon us and we need to hear about his adventures at deer camp.

The fam wanted to celebrate the end of the first week of school with some more meat butter finger food. A couple of CM prime strips over mesquite.

^That post is a tad borked. Edit time ran out. Apologies. To make amends:

Masochist. ^This right here. All 12 trophies will be euro mounts (that's my style) and the hides will either be fur or leather product; I'm still working out what I'm going to have made (rifle cases, ammo carriers, wallets, etc.) vs. what will be "rugs." There are two additional "cull" animals that I'll use for leather product and for barware. Karoo Taxidermy out of Graaf-Reinet is doing the work. I toured their facility and it was an incredibly impressive operation. They seem to successfully scale volume, quality, and specialization. I had met the owner back in January and had communicated with staff prior to flying over, so I had pretty much made up my mind before the safari. Even then, I encountered no better option before, during, or after the trip. ___________________________ If y'all want to see what a South African taxidermy outfit looks like, here you go. I probably focused more on the skulls than the shoulder/full mounts because of my interest. Reminder - this is NOT my taxidermy, just my taxidermist. Spoilered for the pics: The spoilered above looks like chaos but every single item, no matter how large or small, is labled/tagged and tracked from receiving to shipping. The half-day was worth it to learn how it all worked.

Sorry for the delay in updates, but life has been busy since getting back a month ago. Day 3 was a day of both success and disappointment. Spoilered for longcat. TL;DR: While continuing to search for the elusive bushbuck, I was fortunate to come across this gorgeous impala. 162 yards, DRT with a spinal shot. Capped off the day with a couple of “policeman’s coffees” around the camp fire. More to come…

Treefiddy? For this mission, it could be 20-200 yards depending on where I walk up on them. Hence trying 6.5G on thermal - seems the right balance for what I encounter.

The need for a thermo monocular should be stressed more often. I bought an ATN OTS-XLT 2-8x about 3 years ago, and it has served me very well as a supplement to my NV rig and just out and about at night on the farm. I have not considered an upgrade, possibly because I don't know any better? I'll check out the Nosler, though at first internet research glance, energy at distance might not work as well for pigs.

How does that Grendel upper shoot, and using what ammo? I'm hoping to get ~1.5MOA using the Hornady 123gr SST for hunting. Will PM if I decide on a Pulsar.

Re: lower and upper, you are going to be so disappointed in me. PSA for both, with the upper being 12” 6.5 Grendel. This is a playful experiment. I have a farm with a hog problem. Long story short, I’m looking for a lightweight, maneuverable thermal rig (suppressed) I can use when I spot and stalk… and otherwise keep near me when out and about at night. I already have a 308 digital NV rig for hunting feeders, and I need something more mobile and capable of CQB. Engagement is usually 20-200 yards when just milling about the property. Re: Thermals. @cabowabo will have a POV here. Max $4k. Short list: Pulsar Talions AGM Adders AGM Rattler TS35-640 2x-16 Infiray Bolt TL35 V2 Pulsar Thermion 2 XQ35 Pro The thermal I’m willing to invest good money in to last a long time (5yr). The rifle platform is an experiment. If I like the concept, I can do a quality build later if the PSA doesn’t hold up to moderate hunting. ETA: lightweight and maneuverable is key for this mission

Strips have been missing for a while, so I grabbed a couple for finger food. I like these over mesquite. Beef butter.

The lower just shipped. Upper ordered. Mags shipped today. Ammo identified. Thermal… I’m considering… options.

Can't argue there, either.

I'll bite. Far be it from me to talk anyone out of buying a gun. That said, given the request, it's a $2200 rifle for hunting deer and yotes with a glorified, more expensive, and harder to find .243 cartridge? Or if precision distance shooting, it only has a 20" barrel and does not have a fully adjustable buttstock? I'm reaching here. Don't get me wrong, I love the Waypoint platform (and the Redline platform, too), and handling the long action variants at DSC earlier this year had me looking at them in 300WM. You could go Seekins Havak for $350 less but no carbon. What's the purpose of the rifle? I'm curious, because earlier this year, you suggested that I give the 6.5 PRC a hard look as a general purpose hunting rifle.

An update to help with the summer doldrums… Day 2 of hunting the Eastern Cape of South Africa: Bushbuck and Kudu Bushbuck and kudu are two of the four spiral horn antelope sought after in South Africa. Together with nyala and eland, they complete the Spiral Horn Slam. I wasn’t going for the slam, per se, but I like spiral horns, and they are a tough hunt. If you ask a hunter about African plains game, they are most likely to mention kudu as the top prize. They are large (about elk-size), have magnificent horns and gorgeous hides, and are a very tough quarry as they have exceptional eyesight, hearing, and smell aligned against you. They are known as the “Grey Ghost of Africa” for their ability to remain elusive by silently disappearing into the African bush (insert joke here). As it turned out, Day 2 would be about kudu. If interested, here is how the hunt went down. Spoilered for longcat, and longcat because I think it’s a pretty cool story. TL;DR: The day brought a long hike with spectacular results: a monster Eastern Cape Kudu bull. 152 yards off sticks in heavy cover, one shot DRT. 48” horns. Kudu is on the bucket list for many hunters, and this one made mine. What a truly awesome experience, and the mount will have a place of honor in my home.

I am, indeed, in Africa. Between ridiculous travel issues, Africa’s version of Montezuma’s revenge, major health drama with family back home (and not being able to get a flight home because of previously mentioned ridiculous travel issues), spotty internet access, and generally being exhausted by the pace and physical exertion of hunting 10 species in 10 days across the Eastern Cape and the Karoo, I haven’t been able give the running updates I had planned. I’ll post a lot here in the coming days/weeks, and I’m going to put something comprehensive together on AfricaHunting.com (and will link to it here) for those interested. In the mean time, to whet y’all’s appetites: At Olivewoods/Karoo2Coast about 1.5 hours from Port Elizabeth: Blesbok was my first African animal. He was silhouetted on the mountaintop with the sun behind him, and he wouldn’t stop moving. 162 yards off sticks. Next, we were sizing up 5-6 warthog when this one popped into view. My PH turned into a giddy little school boy at the sight of him. 140 yards off bipod supported by the Cruiser’s hood. DRT. About 250lbs. I’ll do my best to entertain throughout the “doldrums.” LOTS more to come…

That’s right, I had forgotten about the TBBC. You are spot on with what the TA supposed to do. I think it will be perfect for a wide range of game from springbok to eland. If we ever get to SA (4 hour delay in DFW, mad dash to make connection in Newark which was delayed 3 hours and now we have been sitting on the tarmac for 1.5 hours in a further weather delay that is supposed to last another hour, but I digress…), we will be hunting the Eastern Cape, half the time in the Karoo and the other half closer to the coast. On my list are kudu, gemsbok, impala, blue wildebeest, red hartebeest, bushbuck, blesbok, springbok, trophy warthog. But anything can happen. Roger that on shot placement. I have a pocket copy of Robertson’s Perfect Shot that I’ve been studying. I’ll post more in the hunting thread. Don’t want to derail here.

If y'all recall, earlier this year I went searching for a new bolt action rifle that would primarily serve as the weapon of choice for African plains game and, secondarily, as a "go-to" rifle for North American game from deer to Moose and everything in between. Thanks to all of you who chimed in on that discussion. After evaluating an metric shit-ton of rifles and a whole host of calibers, I went with the new Bergara B-14 Wilderness Sierra chambered in 300WM (I posted about it here). Thanks again to @Handcruser for the hookup with Arnzen Arms. I've spent the last few months getting to know the rifle, and the rifle has met or exceeded my expectations, especially at its $1100 retail price-point. This is the set-up I'm taking to Africa: The system: Bergara B-14 Wilderness Sierra in 300WM Swaro Z5 3.5-18x44 BT Plex with a fancy Swaro screw-in objective lens cover and magnetic catch Warne Mountain Tech 1 inch low matte rings Zero MOA Remington LA Mountain Tech tactical rail Vortex Lo Pro Bubblevel Dead Air Sandman-S suppressor with Keymo QD brake MDT Oryx swivel-mount bipod Slogan long magnum sling Federal Terminal Ascent 200gr at 2743ft/s out of a 22" barrel I tested several proven types of plains game ammunition, including Norma Oryx, Nosler Accubonds and Partitions, and Barnes TTSX (all in 180gr), but I went with the Terminal Ascent 200gr as the gun just liked it better, plus it delivers more energy out past 100 yards and the bullet seems to be an updated, modern version of the Partition. It consistently shoots sub-MOA off the bench. Example: And off of shooting sticks, I can consistently ring steel at 300 yards with "groups" around 1-2MOA: That should be good enough for plains game. BTW, the Swaro ballistics calculator works very well, and I should be good out to 600 yards (only to 400 tested). I plan to keep shots in the 300-400 range max, though. After a cleaning, the gun definitely likes a fouling shot or two, after which groups settle in until opening up again around 30 rounds. It's been a repeatable process. @Anastasis a while ago you asked about shooting bolts suppressed. It's been a dream compared to my unsuppressed/unbraked 300 Weatherby Mag. Recoil is more of a "push," very manageable, and the sound suppression really makes a difference in hunting scenarios. The brake seems to lessen recoil a tad more, but I prefer the overall effect / experience shooting suppressed. The 22" barrel really helps maneuverability. I'm off to Africa today. We'll see how this thing performs in the field. I'll hop over to the hunting thread to update when access to internet permits.

I was working on the new 300WM at my farm (more on that later) last weekend. I ejected a casing and it landed as below, neck embedded in the front porch wood decking. There's a one-in-a-million chance that would ever happen, so I took a picture of it. I thought the result was pretty cool, so sharing it here. I guess you could say, it really stuck the landing.