I have a Lewiston Montana Mule deer hunt planned for this November and I want to start working up a load for my Mauser M12 30-06 (1:11 twist) rifle that I will be taking.
I have a bunch of 155 Grain Scenar's and also a bunch of 165 grain Nosler Ballistic tips on hand and plenty of h4350 powder.
I don't have any mono bullets on hand, but I am certainly not opposed to buying 160 grain hammer bullets, if you guys think that would be the best choice. They impress the crap outta me.
Probably over thinking things, but this hunt has been a 10 plus year dream for me and it's finally going to happen.
which one would you go with?
thanks
Either one of those bullets will work fine, if your rifle shoots either one of them adequately. And the rifle doesn't have to put them into half inch groups to be adequate...LOL! I've shot and seen a fair number of deer shot over my decades here in MT and they all died just fine, whether the bullet was of standard construction or one of the premium ones. DON'T OVER THINK THE BULLET/LOAD COMBO. IMO, there are other things to worry about, like:
1. Get yourself in very good physical condition, especially if you plan to hunt public lands where you may need to be getting up early and hiking many miles into prime habitat.
2. Learn to shoot your rifle well & quickly from real world field positions, and practice, practice, practice, ... And I don't mean off a shooting bench with a bipod or other artificial supports. Practice shooting in windy conditions because there are many HIGH wind areas in central MT and the winds are very active the majority of the year east of the Rockies in MT.
3. Memorize the ballistic dope (drop & drift) for your carefully chronographed hunting load. You probably won't have time to pull out you smart phone and look it up. And there are plenty of locations not that far outside of Lewistown where you won't get a cellular signal at all.
4. Practice estimating distances in the field with your own eyeballs, and then use a rangefinder to validate your estimates. Big mature muley bucks are just as smart and cagey as eastern whitetails, and they aren't going to stand around posing for while a hunter fumbles around with a rangefinder and twists the elevation knob on their scope.
5. Mentally prepare yourself not to see the 30 inch 4x4 muley buck of your dreams. There aren't lots of those bucks left on public lands in MT. And the ones that are live in country where most hunters can't get to - either because it's too remote & rugged, OR because it's posted and not accessible to the non-paying hunters.
GOOD LUCK & HAVE FUN!
