Facing our biases

[doc holiday13]

Requirement of 26-42 mm objectives for my hunting scopes. I might benefit with a 50 mm. But cant get past my bias for smaller objectives. I even bought a scope back in 2008 with a 50. Traded it for a 40 two years later without ever hunting with it.

Not really a bias there. its a fact. Sub 44mm objective are horrendous when the sun is setting but its still legal shooting light

 

[longrangelead]

Coues deer are the superior southwestern deer species and mulies are carp

Blacktails are actually the pinnacle of the deer family!

 

[RockAndSage]

Bias for "alpha" glass on my rifles - before coming here and seeing the drop testing, I had mistakenly assumed "optical quality" to at least roughly equate to "quality of optics". And it clearly doesn't. But the bias toward the high-end stuff just doesn't want to leave. No matter how much my brain understands this, the idea of swapping out a Swarovski for a SWFA still...just...

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Blacktails are actually the pinnacle of the deer family!

 

[ODB]

Every now and then I remind myself that for the most part, the hunters I have admired over history used equipment of a quality worse than you can find in the average wal mart today.

 

[Esteban]

Blacktails are actually the pinnacle of the deer family!

I've seen those deer in OR/WA and they seem to be very ghost like critters for sure... I bet they'd get pretty sweaty down here, haha

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

I've seen those deer in OR/WA and they seem to be very ghost like critters for sure... I bet they'd get pretty sweaty down here, haha

They can be ghost like or bold as hell, just depends on the area and situation.

Culling them on the beach in Northern California is a fun memory. They would walk right up to folks holding apples and such. Shutting down the park to kill them, luckily, wasn’t public knowledge as many of the hippies had names for the deer.

They also bed down in, and eat poison oak in that habitat, so that’s fun when you shoot a group of deer who were prone to that food/bedding source.

 

[NWBLKTAIL]

Blacktails are actually the pinnacle of the deer family!

Facts of life

 

[BeastOfTheTrees]

Using AR’s for hunting.

Why not though, if your state law allows it.

One could argue it’s more ethical.

 

[BeastOfTheTrees]

True story for me too. Most of my kills are off a bipod, with my pack next to me that would work just as well, if not better.

Even tho less stable, I do find value in the taller ones when antelope hunting - when sitting, I used my pack as the rear brace. Yes, I know other methods probably work better, but it's what I use a lot of the time when the grass is tall and the terrain is flat.

Bipods are a comfort crutch for me that is hard to be willing to leave.

Pretty cool shooting position and picture

 

[IdahoBeav]

They can be ghost like or bold as hell, just depends on the area and situation.

Culling them on the beach in Northern California is a fun memory. They would walk right up to folks holding apples and such. Shutting down the park to kill them, luckily, wasn’t public knowledge as many of the hippies had names for the deer.

They also bed down in, and eat poison oak in that habitat, so that’s fun when you shoot a group of deer who were prone to that food/bedding source.

The City of Ashland, OR had a similar situation with BT deer. I'm not sure they ever killed them, but they needed to. I imagine the problem persists today.

In my opinion, BT are the easiest deer to hunt. I know of no other big game animal with such a high success rate for road hunters.

 

[jtg88]

Bias for "alpha" glass on my rifles - before coming here and seeing the drop testing, I had mistakenly assumed "optical quality" to at least roughly equate to "quality of optics". And it clearly doesn't. But the bias toward the high-end stuff just doesn't want to leave. No matter how much my brain understands this, the idea of swapping out a Swarovski for a SWFA still...just...

This. I'm relatively new to the drop test data and have a gun safe full of German and European glass that I considered top shelf but now see that they are regarded as paper weights per Form. I'm having a hard time giving up the optical quality. Can't someone just make a scope with Nightforce reliability, Swaro clarity and light gathering, with a FFP hunting reticle that is visible from 3-25x and is Rokslide approved??? Is that too much to ask?

 

[hereinaz]

Hey @MuleyFever I fight the same thing, but I am breaking the habit. You gotta try my shorty 22 creeds, lol. The extra speed makes me feel better about shorter barrels.

I keep one long barrel rifle, telling myself it’s there if I need it… even though the short barrels are enough for hunting.

 

[rileybassman]

Pretty cool shooting position and picture

Thanks! It was a special morning… had my oldest son and my wife with me. I had just dropped my largest antelope buck at a little over 730 yards.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Oakman]

Also rattlesnakes don't really taste like chicken

good to know, thanks

 

[Weldor]

Can't get over steel rings vs aluminum. Bases too. And of course total rifle weight.

 

[Oakman]

I need to get over my bias for more velocity than I need. All my rifles should be 18" or even 16" but I can't get myself to go below 20". I don't need to shoot 800+ yards at animals.

Whats a bias you have that you can't get over?

The more expensive the better quality they are, I try convincing myself that I’ll be fine with what I need and not to chase all bells and whistles.
It’s a work in progress

 

[ctafoya]

That more expensive gear is always better.

 

[idelkslayer]

My bias was for wood stocks. Wood on a rifle just looks better. I finally caved and bought a composite stock and the improved and consistent accuracy makes me feel dumb for waiting so long. I has gotten me to reevaluate a few other gear preferences.

 

[FlyGuy]

For me, that killing an elk by calling them in is really the only way that counts.

(Stalking is also fine.)

This year I will be using a climbing stand and sitting over a wallow, and I’m having a tough time with it. It’s by far the smartest play. 0 pt unit with lots of pressure. Found this over looked pocket last year that had zero hunters and lots of bulls, but it’s crazy thick and blowdown. I was in easy bow range of 8 bulls but never had an opening to get an arrow thru. Late in the hunt I found a great wallow, and it’s the only one in the area. So, I’m going back to my whitetail methods. But it feels lame. It’s just not how I want to tell the story of how I killed my first elk. I know that’s probably stupid but I have a real hang up with it. (But, less of a hang up than coming home empty handed again.)