Thank you. I always try to close the distance on animals I'm after, but I do understand how spastic and nervous they can be so longer shots are sometimes the norm
Absolutely, and if they have been hunted much they can be pretty spooky. My niece shot a goat that was just shy of 80" this last season, we glassed it at around 1000-1200, and closed ground to a good shooting position over the open field he was in. Initially ranged it at 550ish, but he was running his does, she almost took shots at 520, 610, 715, 765, and finally took him at 640. Winds were about 10ish mph L to R, having the 6.5 156 Berger going 2940 sure helped with wind dope, didn't have to make many adjustments in all that, and when the shot presented itself in the fading evening light she was able to just hold off a touch from her last adjustment and make a perfect shot.
Meat hunts vs something special for the wall. Now or never, vs come back tomorrow when conditions are more favorable.
Yup. For our doe hunts, we have a long season, like 2 months, and where we hunt is within 30 minutes or less. We don't go out on overly hot days, and try to avoid really windy days as well, it is more like goat shopping with the does, they are always in the alfalfa fields we hunt, and we can go out pretty much any time we want. Bucks on the other hand....we usually glass 100-300 goats easy before we find a shooter, and if you get a good shot within your capabilities, you better take it. So it is best to have all the advantages on your side.
Sadly I'll only have 3 days... Buck only
I would definitely take your rifle with the best ballistics then, even if it is totally overkill, that isn't really a big issue. If you can't get any closer than 700 yards to the buck you want, and the wind is goin pretty good, you don't want to be hindered simply because of a poor bc. Just run the numbers, at 3850 the .257 wby may do pretty decent, but if it is outran by some of the others you may want to take that into consideration.
