Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics AO on deer hunting scope?

quote=alpinecrick]One way to spot a Yuppie Hunter is he be loaded down with dials, buttons, LED lighted shooting equipment, lots of spare batteries, $3000 worth of optics that weigh a ton........
Casey [/quote]




Were you sweating a lot?--that's usually a sign of a overloaded yuppie.....

Used to be, we carried everything in our coat pocket, along with a knife and a cartridge box on our belt. Today, we carry "daypacks" big enough for a couple overnights.







I'm not dissing your skill nor your product, but most guys who are into the "long range" thing go looking for that long range shot.

There are some places in elk country where longish ranges are likely, but most of elk country is not. For every elk standing out in the open and posing long enough to heft the 10x50 bino's, set up the 80mm spotter, untangle the bipod, warm up the rangefinder, range, consult the trignometry book taped to the stock, twirl, lick our finger and test the wind, there are 10--maybe a 100--more elk hanging out in the timber.

I've hunted and killed elk in most of the Rocky Mountain states, BC, and Mongolia, but one of these days I'm gonna have to go hunt elk east of the Montana Front Range, those elk must be slow on the uptake........



Casey

But if I do get a hankering for a long range rig ( I mean, besides my 270W Beanfield Rifle), a 264WM would at the top of the list. If or when I do, I'll come talk to you.




Casey

And for every nimrod who goes through your procedure above, there are probably two or three guys who could throw their pack down, get behind it, range and twist the knob and be ready to shoot in just about the time it took to type this..........

edited to add: And for every guy who can successfully stalk elk in black timber, there are 10 who bumble along, make too much noise, get winded, and blow the elk out of their bedding areas and into the next basin......

alpinecrick,



Upon what do you base this assumption?

There is something you are missig here. Most folks are NOT going to see game that is much over 100 yards away. Most of the hunters I have been with think fifty yards is 100 yards and 250 yards is 600 yards.

Most guys don't use binoculars and woud not see the pronghorns displayed in the fun video a few posts above. They don't even know that world exists. Those who do use bins thrown them up look around the area in about ten seconds and declare, "Ain't nothin' here," and move on.

Maybe you are one of them so you lash out. Maybe you are someone who can "heft the 10x50 bino's, set up the 80mm spotter, untangle the bipod, warm up the rangefinder, range, consult the trignometry book taped to the stock, twirl, lick our finger and test the wind" and get a shot off at some distant target and hit it.

The probelm with "there are 10--maybe a 100--more elk hanging out in the timber" is most of them are not spotted by the majority of hunters. I have pointed out game standing almost in the open and in the open and the "hunter" never saw a thing but woods or brush.

One guy I remember in particular told me, "That's a horse," when I pointed out a cow elk. Another guy I took deer hunting threw up his rifle and started to shoot at a herd of elk which we jumped in the timber. Fortunately I was close enough to stop him.

You post that you are not "dissing" and then go on to make fun of someone. Why bad mouth fellow outdoorsmen for what they enjoy?

Smokepole, I am an old fart who had secretaries to type/word process for the last 25-30 years of my career. I can get my rifle set up and do the Kentucky windage/elevation much faster than I type. Now then, the dials and knobs might slow that process to where the game would be long gone, Hunting is getting close. Shooting is the long range sniping. All in what one wants to do. My longest game kill was a bit beyond 500 yards on a day with absolutely no wind.(no dials or dots/bars on the reticle) I am not comfortable with the certainty of a properly placed bullet at that distance under usual wind conditions, so I choose not to do it again. Have fun, jack

Well, if the game is gone by the time you get set up, it's very easy to not take the shot......

Personally, I'd rather take the few seconds it takes to get the range with an LRF and adjust my crosshair so I can hold right on.

I don't consider dialing elevation/windage and ranging being uneccassarily time consuming on long shots.

IMO, they are crucial parts of the shot.

If the animal moves before you can range, dial and fire, then thats just the way it goes sometimes.

Better to lose an opportunity than rush a difficult shot.

If the animal moves before you can get a shot of at short range that's just the way it goes sometimes.

I hunt mostly deep woods, sometimes open fields for the Mule Deer. On a centerfire I have never seen the need for an AO. Maybe extreme long range, but I seldom take that shot. The normal deer has an 14" to 18" kill zone, can't see that an AO would help that much. My shots ae usually very fast and quick, no time to fiddle around. On my 22LR match rifles, AO is needed. at 50 yards no AO means no good score. Talking 1/4" or less here. Deer hunting I have a lot more latitude for a kill shot.

18"?? Where are you hunting, those are some big damn deer. So an AO is necessary for punching paper at 50, but not animals at 600?

Once again, I'll say that it's not necessary for most deer hunting. But some of the logic here is baffling.

When one with an A.O. hunts the woods he sets it and forgets it. No need to fiddle around with it for a very fast and quick shot.

OK, what does one set the AO at? Most scopes are set at 100 yards for parallex. In the woods where I hunt most shots are between 25 and 75 yards most often at a moving deer. With the large kill zone can't see the differance.

Where I hunt the range varies from 10 yards to 200 yards. I set the A.O. for about 150 and forget it. There is a place I can make a shot about 450 yards. Even there I don't change it unless I acutually see game and get into position.

Also I don't change the magnification setting from its lowest setting unless the game is very far away.

OK from what I see with my 22LR match rifles setting the AO at 150 yards would mean about 1/2" at 25 yards. Still well withing the kill zone. Unless at extreme long range I still don't see how an AO will help with a deer rifle at normal ranges IE up to 100 yards. My largest scope is a 3X9, set at 3 unless I go to the corn fields. Then I have plently of time to adjust. Still most shots are within 100 yards and to me no need for AO.

Some here, including me, have places where 100 yards is like right next door. Some of the action is in the next block or two streets over.

A longer shot usually takes a little more time to set up for poindexter....

And you can make 'em without an AO. I know, because I've done It.

So quit suggesting you need to have an AO to make longish shots on big game.

It's a well established fact that you don't.

Are poindexters good to eat? What's the kill zone on a poindexter??

They are quite easily hunted, due to the fact they haven't a clue.

Can be easily located due to their incessant babbling about adjustable objectives.

The ultimate thrill is to stack them up like cord wood at distance with a non-AO scope.

No good to eat, as they fall into the varmint category.

I live, hunt, and guide in elk country, you dummy. I see it every year, and it can be entertaining to watch, and to listen to them.

Besides it makes it easy and fun to, you know, make fun of them.........

But go ahead and carry on and keep packing that heavy gear--leaves more elk for me.


Casey

Well, it's good to see that you're finally treating this subject with the gravity it deserves. For a minute there, I was worried that you were gonna post some smart-ass comment like "the kill zone is exceedingly small, as every shot seems to be an ass shot."