I gather that was 'tongue in cheek' ? In the business of hunting men who can shoot back no one here seeks to give them a 'sporting chance.' We're interested in as decidedly a unfair advantage as we can achieve.

I've hunted elk up in the Collegiate Peaks area above Buena Vista and Leadville. It's tough terrain and the flatlanders are huffing and puffing.

OP: 30-06 will 'get er done' just fine although the caliber is dated and others have pointed you towards some newer cartridges that offer superior ballistics. A often overlooked rifle on the cheapish side that is really a bargain is Savage's 110 series rifle. It's strong, light, cheap and surprisingly accurate right out of the box. You're probably not gonna shoot MOA with one but it will be easy on the pocket book, save you some $$ for good glass, and be easier to carry at altitude relative to some of its more spendy cousins
/r

i try not to lay my trip on anyone else. i have my own sensibilities and while i'm always interested in how others think, i don't think my way is the way. just, when i read about the scope, and about how far you can be from the beast and still kill him, and while my sense of the rightness of it all is mine alone, it seems less than sporting to me.
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At that time I lived in Reno. These runs took place between Reno and Truckee, in the hills above the truckee river drainage.

Are you trying to be sporting? Or are you trying to get yourself some meat?

I fish. Sure, it would be a hell of a lot more sporting if I got in the water and grabbed them with my bare hands. But I, sure as shit, ain't doing that.

If it’s just about meat, Costco! If you want to catch a fish easy, trout farm.

Some people like to shoot their own meat. Why does it have to be more difficult? They have to carry the damned meat out of the woods, lets give them a break on how close they are to the meat when they shoot it.

i'm not here to lay my trip on anyone. that's just how i see it. not how i think it need to be for others. fishing is also easier if you throw a grenade in the lake, if it's all about making it less difficult.

If it’s just about meat, Costco! If you want to catch a fish easy, trout farm.

I've done a lot of spearfishing in the Bahamas (always for fish for eating). What I love about the sport is that in the Bahamas it's illegal to use scuba gear or a speargun. You have to breath-hold and use a Hawaiian sling (arm power only and no line attached to the spear). Getting a big grouper at 40-50 feet deep is a significant challenge! I once speared a good size yellowfin tuna that happened to swim by. It swam away with my spear... I once had a shark rip a fish right off the spear too as I was swimming back to the surface. That's a sport!

i try not to lay my trip on anyone else. i have my own sensibilities and while i'm always interested in how others think, i don't think my way is the way. just, when i read about the scope, and about how far you can be from the beast and still kill him, and while my sense of the rightness of it all is mine alone, it seems less than sporting to me.

years ago i lived in the sierra nevadas and there was a particular place where i knew i was likely to see mule deer. so, i'd see one, and the thing about mule deer, they aren't like old west bank robbers, where they decide to split up if getting chased. they do the opposite. they run to the herd. so, 1 became 6, became 20, but it might take me running over 3 mountains and 45 minutes to get to a herd of 60 or 70. i could get to within, say, 30 or 40 feet of them. and then they'd take off, and where they ended up in 30 seconds would take me 15 minutes to get to.

and at that point i'd turn around and head back and that was my long run. but, getting that close, i earned it, and it was cool, a sense of accomplishment, and getting that close to those magnificent animals in the wild. earning it in that way resonates with me. so, were i king of the world, i'd probably makes you all hunt with bullets that self destructed after a hundred yards. but i'm not the king of the world and thank god for the world that i'm not.

If it’s just about meat, Costco! If you want to catch a fish easy, trout farm.

perfect.

in my youth i spent a month camping with college buddies on a beach in belize. this was in the 70s. same thing. fished with a pole spear, free diving, for our food every day.

except you couldn't even legally use a pole spear for lobsters. you had to either grab them by hand, or use what the locals called a hook stick, which was (according to memory) like a 3-aught fish hook wrapped to a small steel rod about 3 feet long. the locals slid it under the lobster's belly and then turned it hook up and hooked it in the belly. i couldn't get the hang of it.

Curious as to the time of year that you were harassing and assaulting these innocent animals with your sick game of hunt and stalk?


J/k :) But seriously, what time of year?

About all we have here in Idaho are Mule deer (very few whitetail in the northern part of the state) and I have not seen these sort of behaviors during a rifle hunting season. Now during the rut, yes, things change. The Bucks are semen filled idiots, herding mentality is in force, etc. But you aren't allowed to rifle hunt deer during that season. The rut is reserved for bow hunters, who yes, have to get within 30-40 yards to have a decent shot.

By the time general rifle season rolls around there is no herd mentality. The Bucks have scattered their seed and headed for the high country and they don't give a flying F about anyone but themselves. The bastards will send the few women following them around out first, but at the first sign of the coast not being clear they are out and not taking any friends with them. Those of us not lucky enough to draw one of the few doe tags have to hunt our asses off or hope for a young, dumb buck who is still following the women around. There certainly isn't any opportunity to scope out a herd of 20 deer from 500 yards, pick the best buck and kill him.

Similar situation with elk, big groups during the rut with bulls competing for females. Then the bow hunters get to come in and kill all the good bulls. The bulls that are left take their groupies and separate from the herd during rifle season. Then once it gets cold and snowy enough they herd back up, but that is long past any general rifle season.