MEP
FNG
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2023
- Messages
- 14
Sliders,
I have been lurking for a bit here and enjoy the great amount of expertise. I am looking to buy my son a graduation present, he is finally graduating from college. I say finally because it has been a long hard journey for the lad. I apologize for the long post below but want to put this into perspective and how important this is to my wife and I.
He has been hunting with me since 10. He was athletic, he was heavily involved in karate and has won 4 national titles and one world title in his competitions in his age group and level. He was never an archery guy (I love it) and really focused on firearms. About the age of 13, things went south for him in a serious way. He developed chronic migraines. He was in constant pain for almost 9 years because of it. He had a total of less than 60 days in that 9 years with no pain (we religiously tracked it). The greatest span was 45 days after his initial botox injections about the age of 15. We thought he was over the hump then but he suddenly nose dived again. His pain levels, 10 being the worst, looked like this. 10-8 - about 9 days a month, 6&7 - 16 days a month, 3 to 5 about 5 days a month. We enjoyed the 3-5 days as we had our son back for those brief windows. The rest of the time he would lay in his bed, pillow over his head, no lights, no sound, no eating and forced to drink water for days at a time.
Obviously this impacted his hunting. His last deer hunt was excruciating for him. A couple days it was all we could do to get him out of camp. Hikes to classing points were extremally limited and on two evening trips, limited to very easy hikes of less than a half mile. Last day of the hunt he just couldn't do it. We drove out to a place to try and within about 10 minutes of driving, he just couldn't do it and told me to turn around. Packed up camp and on the way out spotted a nice buck, 4x6, that he was able to take with a well placed shot from his 243. We found a cure for migraines that day but by evening he severely crashed again. Happy, but not in good shape. Also hated the fact that it was seen from the road but, even my brother chastised him for thinking that. As hard as he had hunted that year, and previous years, he had earned his stripes.
He never finished high school, we took him out of school his sophomore year in March. By that time he had missed 117 days of school. His teachers were very disappointed as they all commented on how good a kid he was, well liked by just about everyone, worked hard and was very smart but just could not keep up. To show you how bad it was, he did not even want to get his learner's permit for driving; when was the last time you heard a young man say that?
Shortly there after he got his GED and started attending community college. We had him take a class a semester and slowly built upon that. Did not want him trying to make it in the world with just a GED and his condition, it was a grind but finally, at the age of 22, he had a breakthrough. Suddenly the migraines abated. They were not totally gone but dropped to a few days a month (still always in pain though) until the last year or so. He is now 25 and has only three migraines in the last year and the pain is no longer ever present, so he is having 20 to 25 days a month without a headache!
He graduates from NAU with a degree in electrical engineering this spring. He has had it tough and missed a lot of what a growing young man should experience. Everyone who has worked with him or been around him for any time comments on what a good kid he is. Now, we want to reward him for his hard work.
So, the boy is a 7mm Rem Mag fan. There is NO moving him from that caliber. He currently has one in Savage. His current 243 Savage is a shooter! I will never allow him to sell that rifle. 3 shot 100YD groups easily at 0.2" all day long and with factory ammo. He also loves his Mini 14 for varmints so the lower end of the spectrum is out. I want to replace the Savage with a high quality rifle with VG optics. We are looking at about $3k to 4k for the rifle and think I have settled on the Vortex Diamondback 3-15 HD LTE scope for him.
I was seriously considering a Fierce Rage. Problem: They never return calls or emails. I have reached out multiple times over the last month and a half and nothing. I don't care how "good" a rifle it is at this point, If they won't help you when you want to buy something, why would they bother dealing with a warranty issue?
I recently purchased a Christensen Traverse in 280AI finally going out to shoot it the first time next week. He did not like the look of the rifle or its heft. (I am a bit recoil shy in my tender old age but wanted something with some umph). Specifically he was not enamored with the black stock on it, I think it is more the coloration and the fore end than anything else.
He is definitely in the very traditional rifle camp. He does not like the burnt colors on actions. Stainless or black only. A muzzle brake that does not deflect gasses downward is a big deal, don't want him chocking on dust and rocks when shooting prone but do want a brake on it.. I think we are set on the Vortex Razor HD LHT 3-15 for him. So, we are around the $3k area for just the rifle, give or take.
So not that you are tired of reading this very verbose post, what do you folks think? I am not opposed to waiting for a rifle to be delivered but want it to be something he will never want to let go of.
I have been lurking for a bit here and enjoy the great amount of expertise. I am looking to buy my son a graduation present, he is finally graduating from college. I say finally because it has been a long hard journey for the lad. I apologize for the long post below but want to put this into perspective and how important this is to my wife and I.
He has been hunting with me since 10. He was athletic, he was heavily involved in karate and has won 4 national titles and one world title in his competitions in his age group and level. He was never an archery guy (I love it) and really focused on firearms. About the age of 13, things went south for him in a serious way. He developed chronic migraines. He was in constant pain for almost 9 years because of it. He had a total of less than 60 days in that 9 years with no pain (we religiously tracked it). The greatest span was 45 days after his initial botox injections about the age of 15. We thought he was over the hump then but he suddenly nose dived again. His pain levels, 10 being the worst, looked like this. 10-8 - about 9 days a month, 6&7 - 16 days a month, 3 to 5 about 5 days a month. We enjoyed the 3-5 days as we had our son back for those brief windows. The rest of the time he would lay in his bed, pillow over his head, no lights, no sound, no eating and forced to drink water for days at a time.
Obviously this impacted his hunting. His last deer hunt was excruciating for him. A couple days it was all we could do to get him out of camp. Hikes to classing points were extremally limited and on two evening trips, limited to very easy hikes of less than a half mile. Last day of the hunt he just couldn't do it. We drove out to a place to try and within about 10 minutes of driving, he just couldn't do it and told me to turn around. Packed up camp and on the way out spotted a nice buck, 4x6, that he was able to take with a well placed shot from his 243. We found a cure for migraines that day but by evening he severely crashed again. Happy, but not in good shape. Also hated the fact that it was seen from the road but, even my brother chastised him for thinking that. As hard as he had hunted that year, and previous years, he had earned his stripes.
He never finished high school, we took him out of school his sophomore year in March. By that time he had missed 117 days of school. His teachers were very disappointed as they all commented on how good a kid he was, well liked by just about everyone, worked hard and was very smart but just could not keep up. To show you how bad it was, he did not even want to get his learner's permit for driving; when was the last time you heard a young man say that?
Shortly there after he got his GED and started attending community college. We had him take a class a semester and slowly built upon that. Did not want him trying to make it in the world with just a GED and his condition, it was a grind but finally, at the age of 22, he had a breakthrough. Suddenly the migraines abated. They were not totally gone but dropped to a few days a month (still always in pain though) until the last year or so. He is now 25 and has only three migraines in the last year and the pain is no longer ever present, so he is having 20 to 25 days a month without a headache!
He graduates from NAU with a degree in electrical engineering this spring. He has had it tough and missed a lot of what a growing young man should experience. Everyone who has worked with him or been around him for any time comments on what a good kid he is. Now, we want to reward him for his hard work.
So, the boy is a 7mm Rem Mag fan. There is NO moving him from that caliber. He currently has one in Savage. His current 243 Savage is a shooter! I will never allow him to sell that rifle. 3 shot 100YD groups easily at 0.2" all day long and with factory ammo. He also loves his Mini 14 for varmints so the lower end of the spectrum is out. I want to replace the Savage with a high quality rifle with VG optics. We are looking at about $3k to 4k for the rifle and think I have settled on the Vortex Diamondback 3-15 HD LTE scope for him.
I was seriously considering a Fierce Rage. Problem: They never return calls or emails. I have reached out multiple times over the last month and a half and nothing. I don't care how "good" a rifle it is at this point, If they won't help you when you want to buy something, why would they bother dealing with a warranty issue?
I recently purchased a Christensen Traverse in 280AI finally going out to shoot it the first time next week. He did not like the look of the rifle or its heft. (I am a bit recoil shy in my tender old age but wanted something with some umph). Specifically he was not enamored with the black stock on it, I think it is more the coloration and the fore end than anything else.
He is definitely in the very traditional rifle camp. He does not like the burnt colors on actions. Stainless or black only. A muzzle brake that does not deflect gasses downward is a big deal, don't want him chocking on dust and rocks when shooting prone but do want a brake on it.. I think we are set on the Vortex Razor HD LHT 3-15 for him. So, we are around the $3k area for just the rifle, give or take.
So not that you are tired of reading this very verbose post, what do you folks think? I am not opposed to waiting for a rifle to be delivered but want it to be something he will never want to let go of.
