Lets talk sheep scopes.

[KINGSNAKE]

My sheep grizzly hunt is srt for August 2023. I'm taking my fury 300 win mag. It currently weighs 8.25 lbs with a vx3 2.5x10 cds. I have had great experience with this setup but I'm not wanting put all my sheep chips on the cds turret. So I'm considering a few polar opposite scopes.
1. Nightforce nsx 2.5x10 I do like to dial even at short range. (Downside my rig will gain a half pound and be up to 8.75 lbs)
2. Leupold vx3i 4x14 with the boone and crocket hold reticle. I have an older 2x8 with b c reticle and like it, but I prefer to dial. ( plus side the scope weight is 13 oz and the rifle set up won't change weight.)
I have a self imposed hunting range of 400 at the moment.
What do you run, like? Interested in opinions. I have plenty of time but I enjoy overthinking things.

 

[bascott1]

I run a vx5hd 3-15, And have dialed out to 650 with it and returns to zero every time. Don’t think you can go wrong with the nightforce. But I haven’t had any issues with my Leupolds tracking either. I would personally dial out to 4-500 yards with the Leupold a dozen times at the range or so and see what it does. If it returns to zero I’d keep rocking the leupold.

 

[Mykolaivka887]

For everything except moose, goats and brown/grizzly bears, I run with a Leupold 4x Mountaineer rifle scope and/or a Leupold 2-7 VariX-II

 

[akbrett]

i’d leave it the way it is. i have been using the cds system for the last 5 years haven’t had any issues. also have numerous friends that use the leupolds with cds problem free

 

[B_Reynolds_AK]

Don’t leave a $30k+ hunt to chance. Go with the NXS all the way. You not only need to be concerned with RTZ while dialing, but also durability in the field. Of course people have had luck with Leupolds for years.. but many have not as well. I’ve personally had the other scope you mention, a VX3 4.5-14x40 CDS, shift POI by 6” at 300 yards after dialing to 600 and back. Now I run 3 of the NXS 2.5-10’s.
You only need to look at some of the scope evaluations on this site to see how often even VX5’s lose zero to know that your are taking a chance by going with a Leupold for dialing and hard use.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Kotaman]

Nightforce

 

[Old and gray]

Zeiss, Swarovski or Leupold with the B and C type reticle. No dialing for this cowboy.

 

[KINGSNAKE]

I shoot out to 600 at my local range. I'm also going to ftw ranch shooting school for 4 days in September. ( it was part of the less than one package i won from sheep show) So I'm gonna get a lot of education on shooting at longer ranges
I am comfortable shooting milk jugs and plates reliable at 500 on the range. When I go to 600, that's when things begin to fall apart for me. The shooting difficulty really seems.to compound beyond 500. Anyways I have had a 400 yard limit on myself on game in the past. It could go up a little with the shooting school this fall. It may not.

 

[KINGSNAKE]

I have a zeiss 6.tx20 with the Varmint reticle. I like it on the range but mixed up the lines on a 450 yard antelope shot one time hunting in Wyoming many years back. After that I kinda had a sour taste on a drop reticle. I have enjoyed shooting a cds in recent years
Killed my elk at 340 last year. Not a lot of dialing but it is less clutter in my brain.

 

[bushpilot]

It all depends on what you are comfortable with. I am lucky to live in a place where I get to do multiple sheep trips a year, not to mention mt goats and mule deer on top of that. My mountain rifle has worn a fixed 6x leupold (m8 or fx2/3) with the LR reticle and I have never had a zero lost or shift in that time. For dialing a 6x42 SWFA is my choice, and I am going to try one in the mountains this year. I have owned 2 Nightforces (shv and NXS) and could never warm up to them, even though quality and function seems there.

 

[MallardSX2]

Sheep scopes. Lol You guys make me chuckle.

 

[jhm2023]

One year on a sheep hunt I was using a VX3 because the weight appealed to me. I tripped and fell because sheep country is rough and it happens. I missed the same 11 year old ram three days in a row. Lots of climbing and hiking to relocate and stalk that ram three times. Got home without a sheep and my rifle wasn't even hitting the target. Got me thinking that the slight weight savings not only caused me more work in the way of hiking and climbing as compared to the effort saved by reducing scope weight, but it also cost me a sheep that year.

I also had a VX5HD on a other sheep hunt thinking maybe it was an upgrade in durability. Well the windage turret cap hit a rock while climbing through a gap in some large rocks because it was a tight squeeze. Luckily I had the sense to grab my wife's rifle when I stalked a ram and was able to kill it. Double checked that VX5HD and it had shifted zero by almost 6 minutes.

It's really too bad because the VX5HD line checks all of the boxes for what I like in a backcountry hunting scope, except for durability.

Now I've wised up and will be carrying a MARK5HD or a Nightforce of some sort for this year's sheep hunt. Yea, it seems counter-productive to put a heavier scope on an ultralight rifle, always under 6lbs for me. Yet at the same time it seems far more counter-productive to hike 50+ miles and come home without a sheep because your scope failed so you could save that extra 6 or so ounces of scope weight. Learn from my mistakes and carry a dependable scope and go kill a nice ram. Plenty of other places to cut weight that make more sense than the scope. Just my opinion. Maybe I just have terrible luck.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

 

[KINGSNAKE]

Sheep scopes. Lol You guys make me chuckle.

Well weight is a real consideration. My 260 rem weighs 10 lbs. Awesome rig but I'm not packing it up a steep hill on a ten day trip.

 

[Mykolaivka887]

Sheep scopes. Lol You guys make me chuckle.

No kidding

 

[akbrett]

no matter which scope you choose, wether it’s marketed for pounding tent stakes into the ground or not. i would recommend bringing the necessary tools to tighten scope rings and bases. Also have adequate ammo for potentially having to re-zero your rifle in the field. as mentioned above sheep country is rough and falling is likely.

 

[Cahunter805]

My sheep grizzly hunt is srt for August 2023. I'm taking my fury 300 win mag. It currently weighs 8.25 lbs with a vx3 2.5x10 cds. I have had great experience with this setup but I'm not wanting put all my sheep chips on the cds turret. So I'm considering a few polar opposite scopes.
1. Nightforce nsx 2.5x10 I do like to dial even at short range. (Downside my rig will gain a half pound and be up to 8.75 lbs)
2. Leupold vx3i 4x14 with the boone and crocket hold reticle. I have an older 2x8 with b c reticle and like it, but I prefer to dial. ( plus side the scope weight is 13 oz and the rifle set up won't change weight.)
I have a self imposed hunting range of 400 at the moment.
What do you run, like? Interested in opinions. I have plenty of time but I enjoy overthinking things.

NXS 2.5-10 definitely! You can cut 1/2 pound off your gear or body easily also.
What base/rings are you using?

 

[Tremain4414]

Ok I’ve got to ask, what’s with all the negativity on the forum lately? Dudes got a question which he’s asking for input from guys who’ve been there and ran something he’s interested in. If you don’t like how he hunts or what he’s interested in running for whatever his intended purpose in, great, congratulations, you don’t have to run it. But if you don’t have anything productive to say that adds to the conversation, maybe just hit that back button and move on. Just my two cents.

 

[Outdoorsman12b]

What are you specifically worried about with the CDS?

 

[KINGSNAKE]

NXS 2.5-10 definitely! You can cut 1/2 pound off your gear or body easily also.
What base/rings are you using?

I have a fierce fury. Right now I have talley steel "vertical" rings and bases. I would have to buy new rings for 30mm tube. Talley also makes a picatinny rail witch could be necessary for a nxs 2x10

 

[KINGSNAKE]

What are you specifically worried about with the CDS?

I mostly concerned with my cds dial taking a crap on me when I go to dial on a sheep. It's a 500 dollar scope. How long can It dial accurately? Idk and I don't really want to find out. If I was antelope hunting I wouldn't think twice.