Some of us Hunt to acquire gear. Others acquire gear to go Hunt. The order matters.
As a self-confessed and recovering former Gear Slut, I have to constantly remind myself that nothing replaces time in the mountains. Buying gear may scratch that itch temporarily, but it's self-defeating in the end. Buying toys =/= hunting.
The running joke about the Rokslide Special (Tikka + SWFA + Sportsmatch), while quite hilarious and very meme-able, also has a depressing truth to it for people like me: That specific combination of gear is affordable, rugged, accurate, and repeatable. It doesn't matter who you are or where you live right now, if you buy that combination, you will have a tool that will cover 100% of the hunting you will ever do in your lifetime. And you will never have to tinker with it ever. It just works. It may as well be the Toyota Hilux of backcountry rifles.
I know I'm off on a tangent here, but I think it's important to post my own personal screw-ups in hopes that people won't make the same mistakes I made in my 20's and early 30's. I wasted so much time and money chasing perfect gear combinations, instead of actually getting out to the mountains. And I can't ever get that time back.
Buying gear that works gives you time back. (No time spent dicking around "Re-zeroing" a rifle, for example.) Tikka + SWFA + Sportsmatch means you never have to worry about reading comparatives, or gear reviews, or hunting rags, or watching youtube videos. You will have a capable and competent tool for the job of hunting, that has been vetted by some of the most hardcore mountain hunters out there. Go spend that time hunting, instead of analyzing gear.
Anyway, I'll get off my soap box. (And
@KenLee this is not a criticism of you/your post at all. I went off on a tangent all on my own.)