Lets talk sheep scopes.

[Elkangle]

I've broken a handful of Leopolds, have had to readjust a pile of others....I'm not a sheep hunter but I'd go with an nx8

 

[Lvthntitall]

I use Nightforce with zero issues

 

[Outdoorsman12b]

For sure I get it. Still plenty of sheep that have fallen to the gold ring and other similar 1 inch thin tube scopes. One of my buddies is an electrician and even if something is kind of old or not up to latest code if it’s proven and has worked over the years then it’s proven. Don’t know what your shooting regime is like but you have indicated good experience. Before inducing a change to your setup maybe test it to give yourself some confidence. Form has a scope eval test with live fire tracking (steps 1-10) here https://www.rokslide.com/forums/threads/scope-field-eval-explanation-and-standards.246775/ that may help you get some confidence.

Applied ballistics also has instructions on tall target testing as well for tracking. With a self imposed limit of 400 the dialing is going to pretty small and any tracking error should be minimal aside from a total failure.

@DoubleBroomedMountainRifles builds his setups with Leupolds as well and might be a good source of info for you.

 

[Grassymike]

I shot my first (and only) two Dall sheep with a Bushnell Sportview 4x on my BSA 30.06 . First sheep I was 15 years young my second I was 19. It was all I had at the time .

 

[KINGSNAKE]

Sorry to get the crabby old dudes fired up with my title. Only reason I called it a sheep scope is because I'm gearing up for a sheep hunt and wanted to talk with experienced sheep hunters. And weight is a factor. Truth is I'm gonna take this rig mule deer hunting this fall( as long a we draw a tag) and after the sheep hunt it will then be an elk scope and hopefully a moose scope. I swear, some guys would complain if you hung them with a new rope.

 

[KINGSNAKE]

I just sold a spotter I didn't need so I'm upgrading gear for this trip. All my glass is pretty solid stuff except for the rifle scope. I'm gonna go with a nightforce when cameraland gets them back in stock. As to the leupold I have killed multiple animals and have owned it for about 5 years. Has it ever failed no. But I have read enough oh crap my leuppld cds pooped out on me when I needed it stories. If I can make an easy move to lessen the risk I'm gonna go that rout. Thanks for the imput guys. Even the crabby old Ladies with sandy V's. LoL. Who knows after shooting school i may be ringing 500 and 600 all day. Maybe not. But we're gonna dial a lot at school. So the turrets will get a workout.

 

[tuffcity]

My kimber has tipped over 3 dalls and it wears a leupold vx3 2-10 with the cds. The scope and rifle all bear the scars you'd expect from mountain hunting. It's preformed flawlessly. I suspect you"ll end up shooting a ram at a closer distance than you're imagining.

 

[Tremain4414]

I’ve never been on a sheep hunt but I can say that I personally bought a NF for an upcoming once in a lifetime hunt based pretty much solely on information I gathered from the forum here. For me the proven reliability the NF and piece of mind that scope brings is well worth the added expense associated when it’s time to dial. I also have a mark 5HD which I took my first elk with last season and that thing has been rock solid and an awesome scope, well worth the extra ounces knowing my scope will do what I need it to, in my opinion. I guess to me the extra weigh of a scope is easily worth it when I know it’s going to do what I need it to do when it counts. Im definitely not an expert though and have just recently gotten back into hunting over the last few years. There are guys on here that have exponentially more experience than I have.

 

[slvrslngr]

You’ve answered your own question. Get the NF and rock on.

 

[gearguywb]

Why dial and run the risk? Get a good scope (NF, Swaro) with a reticle that lets you hold and go for it.

 

[Steve O]

I’ve held off replying a few times here but I’ll add my two cents even at risk of being another crusty old naysayer.

Most sheep outfits aren’t thrilled with clients who want to shoot “long range”. I’d check with your outfit. You could save yourself an exercise. You are not really as in charge of your hunt as you might think you are as a client.

I’m not sure I will ever fully trust dialing and I’d rather not add the extra weight to get a proven Niteforce type scope to gain that trust on my sheep rifle. I typically will have a Leupold with B&C reticle on whatever rifle I’m sheep hunting with and I will have checked the hash marks in the field.

You really don’t need more than what you have and odds are incredibly good you won’t need to dial.

 

[Jonesry09]

Interesting thread. Love reading what everyone runs and their experiences. Personally, I love dialing. Keep in mind, I have yet to miss an animal or have a problem with my cds (which could change my mind if it happened). That being said, are people either in the category of dialing, or not? Or is that a matter of not trusting the CDS system itself? If the latter, is there a dialing turret that people trust more?

For the OP, I respect that you are covering your basis and treating your sheep hunt seriously. IF you have doubts with your system, I would say you have to change it. Nothing worse than looking through your scope and wondering if it's "on" or not. Lots of good information from others here, look forward to following along.

 

[SDHNTR]

Dials or not, no way I’m trusting a sheep hunt to a recent Leupold! The travel alone will subject your scope to abuse. The NF would be on my rifle so I could check one more worry off my list. There’s enough to worry about on any adventure hunt already!

 

[Viper*6]

I'm not a long-range hunter and normally stalk within 300 years of the sheep. I've used the Leupold VX-II 2-7 and VX-III 2.5-8 scopes without any issues.

 

[Mykolaivka887]

I always cringe when a client shows up with a rifle scope that's adorned with turrets and dials. To be honest, there's nothing better than a rifle that can be aimed "dead-on" at any distance from the muzzle out to 300 yards, without having to "dial in". Nothing like good old point-and-shoot to get it done, without having to range the distance and then fisget with scope dials.

 

[SDHNTR]

I always cringe when a client shows up with a rifle scope that's adorned with turrets and dials. To be honest, there's nothing better than a rifle that can be aimed "dead-on" at any distance from the muzzle out to 300 yards, without having to "dial in". Nothing like good old point-and-shoot to get it done, without having to range the distance and then fisget with scope dials.

I hear ya, but a scope with dials can do all that just as well as one without dials, plus…

 

[the hack]

I'm an absolute amateur marksman having all of one sheep hunt under my belt and the last person to give advice. In fact, I didn't own a modern rifle one year before my Dall hunt last August (long story)! What worked for me last year was a basic 270 with a NX8 2.5-20. I practiced a couple times a week from April until August. After looking at various ballistic calculators and using napkin math for steep angles I trained from various field positions in middle America to be lights out inside 300 yards. I could dial to 500 but had virtually no experience beyond 300 yards. I told my guide all of this on day one. Murphy and his law will be in effect. Spotted target Ram at 400. Given conversation with guide and my lack of experience we belly-crawled to get an EHR of 315 yards. My first shot was okay, my second shot passed through the scapula, left lung and peeled the top of the aorta off. Agree with other posts: don't chance this hunt to any scope. But also feel that preparation and knowing your limits and absolute confidence at YOUR "reasonable" range is key. That said there are a million things that can go wrong. Control what you can, the rest goes to the Guy in the sky. You've got this. Here's a short video of the shot:

 

[zpooch]

My lightweight mountain rifle wears a Swaro Z3 3-10 with the BRH holdover reticle. Very light and has done the job so far with no issues.

 

[tdot]

My vote is the NF. I have two 2.5-10 NXS and two 3-10 SHV on my hunting rifles. I prefer the NXS on my mountain rifles. Never had a single issue with windage moving during a hunt, which was 1/2 the reason I bought the SHV's.

I have a Leupold 2.5-8 CDS that I put on my mountain rifle shortly before this years sheep hunt. I quickly threw it on, in new rings, unsure if I'd keep it on the rifle. Within a couple weeks It couldn't hold zero and dialing was inconsistent. I took it off, only to realize a couple of the ring screws had loosened. But my confidence in the scope was shot. They were torqued with a torque wrench, but I hadn't done my normal scope prep and install as I was so unsure of the scope. It was a good reminder to clean all screws and screw holes of oil, clean all mating surfaces and properly torque everything. Some people even use thread locker on the screws, but I prefer VibraTite. I prefer proper prep over taking tools with me. I'll try the scope again in the summer to see if I can warm up to it.

What I've settled on for my scopes is that I zero them at 100yards. Set my zero stop at 100 yards. When I'm lower on the mountains, they stay on the Zero stop. Once I'm up on the mountains I dial it up a couple MOA, so that it is on my MPBR (actual number depends on the ballistics of the cartridge/bullet combo that I'm shooting). This way, when I'm in the woods or anywhere a tight shot would be normal, I'm zeroed at 100yards and not going to be inches high on a close up shot. When I'm up higher in the mountains, I'm ready for a shot 250-300 yard shot without dialing and in 3 extra seconds can be back to my zero stop and dialing up from there.

I also have my Ballistics taped to my stock, 200 - 600yards, at an average pressure gradient for the elevation/ forecasted pressure, wind 0mph-20mph, left and right and some cheats for calculating allowances for angles and partial wind values. If I have time I can run something through a Ballistics app, if I don't I can get an answer with a fairly high level of accuracy from my notes and will dial correctly even for a 200 yard shot, if I have time.

I shot my sheep at 140 yards this year, 30+ degree incline, wind at my back. It was a rushed shot and I still had time to pull a number from my notes and dial correctly. If I'd left it set at my MPBR I would have sent it over his back. Instead he dropped in his tracks and rolled right down to me.

Shooting long range is better then no practice, but I'd suggest getting out shooting in steep terrain and off improvised rests. Shooting 400 yards at 45 degrees, off a pack is more difficult then 750 yards on a bench off a fully supported front and rear rest. Plus I enjoy shooting in the mountains more then at the range. Even a .22lr in a ravine on the prairies somewhere, is good practice.

 

[kscowboy01]

If you have exposed turrets, it goes without saying, get a neoprene scope cover so they don't spin on you. Even if you don't have exposed turrets, a little extra padding is a great thing to protect from the elements and little falls that will happen during the hunt.

Got my Dall back in 2013 with the VXIII 3.5-10 40mm with CDS turrets and practiced out to 600 yards with it on my .308. I ended up needing to shoot what I had practiced on the distance side but wouldn't have hesitated recommending this setup at the time. This was back in 2013 and a lot has changed since then. I'm running Vortex Viper PST Gen IIs on my rigs now and think these are a solid option.