Leo

IMHO, the 25-06 essentially splits the difference between the 270Win and the 243WIN. I would lean towards it being closer in performance to the 270 vs 243. So if you familiar with the 270Win use that as your gage in deciding what the cartridge is appropriate for.

Often nickel plated casings don't hold as much powder. They are also not the most reloader friendly casings out there. Resizing sometimes causes the plating the flake off and locks the case in your die. They are nice because they don't corrode and they are pretty consistent because of this. But the nickel casings are not all roses.

Seems like whenever someone says they are considering a Zeiss scope there is no shortage of folks who will try and talk you out of it. I can make it work for me just fine with Nikon, Leupold or Burris. But that doesn't mean the Zeiss stuff isn't better. If it's worth it to you then go for it. But if you are open to suggestion and you like Euro-style scopes, do yourself a favor and look at some Meoptas. They are made in the Czech republic just like CZ rifles and they are excellent values at a reasonable price. This photo was taken through my Meostar R1 4-16x44 Tactic. Distance was approximately 160yds. I literally held my digital camera behind the scope and snapped the photo. If this doesn't give you an inkling of how sharp and clear this scope is I don't know what else will convince you. Low light performance on this thing is fabulous. I'm wanting another real bad.

I suggest you contact Gerard Shultz directly. He flat knows his stuff. Here is his website. http://www.gsgroup.co.za/02hv.html

Any axis with main beams over 30" is darn good and for sure a trophy. 35" is a freaking monster. That's a brute of an axis. Very well done. Thanks for sharing.

Definitely, some good duck hunting to be had on the Tombigbee and Tennessee river around Alabama. I cut my duck hunting teeth hunting those areas, I know you're having fun.

Sure looks like coots to me in the bottom picture. Alabama Mudchickens! Were you hunting near B'ham I was just there two days ago? Congrats on the Blackduck. I've never killed one in Alabama. Two banded mallards too it looks like you had a heck of a day!!

They will also require the lot number off the box and where you bought it.

With such a big tear in the neck of the cartridge there is a very real risk the brass would not seal the chamber. That means powder gas can come out both ends of the barrel. Not good. It really could have hurt you.

Thinsulate only really works when you're moving some. In a deer stand that isn't an option. 600-800gram thinsulate = cold feet in sub-zero weather. That's the truth. Seriously, take a look at these boots if you are stand hunting extremely cold weather. http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0009082830255a&type=product&cmCat=Search_Results_NYR&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&QueryText=sorel&N=4887&Ntk=Products&Ntx=mode+matchall&Nty=1&Ntt=sorel&noImage=0 You may wonder how a guy who lives in South Carolina knows anything about warm clothing. I lived in Canada for 13yrs. I promise, Sorel, makes the best cold weather boots I know of. You won't be disappointed.

The 30-06 is probably the better choice though I really like the 308Win and have been quite successful with it. Guns tend to be a little lighter in 308 flavor vs 30-06 flavor, short action vs long action, this translates to virtually identical recoil in both rounds. Surprisingly, the super lite 308s will actually kick MORE than a standard weight long action 30-06. The 308 really only falls very slightly behind the 30-06 in performance and in my experience it's not enough to notice on game performance. The managed recoil rounds for 308 and 30-06 have identical performance. This means the heavier gun kicks less every single time. Super light guns are a joy in the field to carry and miserable at the bench. They also take quite a bit of practice to get consistent with.

Ditto on that sentiment. The 300WBY is an awesome cartridge that I enjoy shooting quite a bit.

Sounds good! How tight is it grouping now at 100yds?

You really need to have no less than 1.5x the depth anchor cord on your decoys. IME, that's absolute minimum. Even then if the wind picks up you could be chasing dekes. 2x is a better average to shoot for. IE. 5ft water 10ft cord. If you're mostly chasing puddle ducks you generally won't be throwing out the dekes in more than 5ft of water. Puddle ducks can't feed in water deeper than 18inches. Shallow sets have always worked better for me on puddlers. Divers like the deeper stuff. 5ft cords on puddlers and 10ft cords on divers has long been my standard.

Honestly, why guess? If you trully may have a real shot presented at that distance find out where your weapon actually hits at that distance.

The rings may be tight and they are tight to the bases but you may still indeed have a mounting problem. If just one of the screws holding the base to the receiver has come loose or sheared it will cause exactly what you are describing. You usually cannot access to check all of those screws without taking the rings off. So if you haven't done that, don't call it quits for that scope yet.

NEF used to do it for free (usually with an extra barrel order). Be warned though if you take the gun to a gunsmith get the trigger fixed and then send the gun in for an extra barrel they will return the gun to "Factory" trigger settings. So in short if you plan on getting an extra barrel you really want to let NEF do the trigger work.

There absolutely are match grade Garands and Colt M4 semis that can shoot under 1 MOA. These rifles really stun folks who have a bad taste in their mouth about semi's accuracy. Been there, been surprised, I know better now. Brownings BARs are a seriously excellent hunting semi choice. They truly are very nice firearms. I feel for your sudden recoil sensitivity John. Been there myself. Serious injury causing recoil sensitivity is no stranger to me. IMHO, the semi route isn't necessarily the best route. Muzzle brakes, Mercury suppressors, Managed recoil loads and recoil pads when used together on the right calibers can calm a tiger to a kitten. If you have a particular gun you want to keep shooting but need to calm it down some. We'll discuss it on another thread.

I'm really fond of my H3 Parka. It's an outstanding jacket for waterfowling on those days in a pit blind when the ice is locking up the decoys.

Please understand I'm saying this not to bash the 7400 just to caution you. There really are some out there that shoot decent groups and are reliable firearms. And folks who have the good ones are really happy with them. They've got no reason to dislike the gun nor any reason to get rid of it. The problem lies with the ones that won't perform. In other words, you can't shoot better than a 2inch group out of them with any ammo, factory or reloaded. Sometimes it's worse than that. On a used one especially it's worth a trip to the range. If you're happy with that kind of accuracy fine. If not, there honestly really isn't much you can do about it. You can try sending it back to Remington to be worked on. They might do that as warranty work and they may not. Even then when it finally comes back you may have spent some money (usually at least shipping) on very little improvement. Some folks have no problems with there 7400 jamming. Guys who have them that say they have no 7400 jamming problem, I BELIEVE YOU. But there are some that are positively nightmares on this count. Often with some experimentation folks will find a loading their finicky 7400 feeds reliably. It's frequently a bullet style/weight issue more than a power issue. So when you find the bullet/weight it likes you're pretty much stuck with it. If you like that bullet fine. If you don't, it's gonna bug you bad. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee the bullets it cycles the best are the ones it shoots the most accurately. You might be able to address that with reloads you may not. Same thing with sending it back to the factory for accuracy issues. Might be warranty work, might not, they might fix it or they might not. And still you are probably are out some shipping $$$. If you decide to reload for it. Tumble the brass and keep it clean and shiny. You'll also probably have better luck with full length resizing vs just neck sizing your brass. I'd also mind the case length and trim as necessary. I'm not trying to talk you out of the trade. Just trying to give you a heads up on what the possibilities are.

Very nice! A mature deer. Maybe they don't get as big there but the mature animals are always the toughest to hunt. You did GOOD! How old is a Vancouver blacktail that size? I'm thinking your answer might surprise some folks.

The 7400s are good guns or they are awful. Rarely does someone want to trade the good ones. Shoot it first

Well Paul, as I explained in my PM to you, my personal setup will require some work to completely realize the benefits the FOBs have to offer. And honestly, I'm reluctant to make these changes while our hunting season is in full swing. However, I have shot them and believe they do have potential. Thank you for giving the my the opportunity to try them. I will certainly keep them in mind in the future.

With an SUV the Hitch Haul is the way to go. When I used to have a pickup. I would always take the tailgate off. They come off easy. Tie a rope around the front feet and neck of the deer. It bundles the front hoofs next to both side of the deers face. Once you get the hoofs and nose of the deer into the edge of the bed they slide in much easier since you don't have to grunt past that deers shoulder. If you try this without taking the tailgate off, it will try and slam shut on you while you're loading the deer every time. Then simply put the tailgate back on and off you go.

Well then as a consolation. Admitting you know you yourself was the cause then it's something you can fix. A little humility is an admirable thing.