When I was younger and had less discretionary income, I bought, sold, traded, bartered to get the newest, latest, greatest thing that I just had to have. Looking back, I made some foolish and regrettable moves. Up until I had that terrible boating accident, I had a lot of really great weapons...
Welcome. I've hunted Idaho for many years and you can find so many different types of hunting/terrain in the potato state. E-scouting will help but boots on the ground are the real answer especially if you have never been hunting in the west. The "low octane air" will definitely give your lungs...
I am a .30 caliber fanboy all the way. I have e "few" .300 WMs and a couple .300 WSMs and even a .300 RUM. Most of them are under 8 pounds or right at it. (the RUM is 7 1/2 pounds but it has a brake) One of the WSMs is a Kimber Montana and it weighs a little bit less than 7 1/2 pounds. The WM...
I've been through a lot of different brands over the years and am using a Maven RF1 and very pleased with it. Was able to range crazy distances in Idaho last year.
I have the ELs and the SLCs and some days I like one and the next I like the other but overall, the SLCs fit my hands better and IF I could only have one, I'd probably go back to the SLCs. You can't go wrong with any of them.
I don't shoot as much as Form, but I do shoot a bunch. The Staccato is a great gun. I settled on a couple Atlas pistols. I've only got a little over 10,000 rounds through one of them and I have only lubed it. One of the guys that I shoot with has an Atlas that he has put 180,000 rounds through...