How to Magnify your Hunt in 2021

(Rifle Hunting in 2020)
Welcome back! I wanted to squeak one more blog in before the end of this year...and what a year it was. On my final blog for 2020, I will focus on my riflescopes. This may or may not interest you, but I feel it is necessary to help others who send me quite a few DM's regarding optics during hunting season. It also is perfect timing for those thinking about upgrading their equipment in 2021. 

First off, there are many different optics out there. I am not going to boast about which brand is better than others and start an argument, I simply want to explain my setup and why I love it. So to begin I have switched all my optics to Bushnell products. Why? 

1.  I find that they are making tremendous leaps of improvement with each new launch. 

2. Their customer service is excellent. 

3. Great value for your dollar.

While I take great pride in finding an awesome deal, and I love a company which provides excellent customer service, I wanted to focus on the first bullet point. 

There are a number of Bushnell scopes on the market for a variety of shooting disciplines. I want to disclose that the only competitive shooting I do is trap, and not rifle. I use the Forge Series and the scope I have on my 6.5 Creedmoor is the 4.5-27 x 50 MOA FFP. 

I know what you are thinking, so Sallie that number sounds great, but what does it actually mean? So breaking it down and starting in the middle, the 27 identifies the magnification power, in this case 27x the magnification of what you traditionally see with your eye. The 4.5 in front of the 27 means that this is a variable magnification, so you can actually magnify from 4.5-27x power. Finally, the 50 represents the diameter (in mm because who cares about the Imperial system?) of the objective lens.  

As far as MOA that means "Minute of Angle" and stands as a unit of measurement. I will not get into this since I think that MOA vs. MIL's deserves its own blog. The FFP stands for "First Focal Plane" and has the reticle positioned toward the turrets of the riflescope, after the magnification system. If you would like to learn more about the difference between First Focal Plan and Second Focal Plane it might warrant another blog, or you can find videos on YouTube to explain this in detail. 

(Rifle Hunting in 2019)
In the Forge series this scope has with the highest level of magnification. I enjoy this since we live where few trees exist and shots under 200 yards are an anomaly. Getting a focused and clear shot is key to long range hunting. Some other awesome features are:

1. An easy to move throw hammer for zooming in and out.  

2. Side focus Parallax for quickly focusing on objects as you make adjustments in magnification. 

3. IPX7 waterproof construction for all those snowy/foggy/rainy days. 

4. Comes with a magnetic closing box and sunshade and scope caps so you do not need to purchase these separately. 

5. Barrier protection/lens coating using EXO technology.

6. Price of $849.99 makes it more affordable than comparable scopes on the market. 

This list in not all inclusive. If you would like to check out additional features I will include the link here. 

As I start to think about the 2021 hunting season in the next few months I want to update/upgrade my equipment. Bushnell released new scopes in the Forge line during 2020 seen here. I have never used a German reticle No. 4, but that is something I would be interested in experiencing and sharing with all of you.  

Until next year, have a Happy New Year and I hope that 2021 is a great one! 

(My 2019 East River Rifle Deer)

(My 2020 East River Rifle Deer)


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Everything Venison Chili

Image
It has been a few weeks since I thought about another blog. I love to do recipes that are easy, efficient and do not take half your afternoon to make. Actually, I made this in about 15 minutes before I went to bed last night.  Everything Venison Chili  Tools: You will need a large crockpot, frying pan, cutting board, knife, and a spatula  Ingredients: 1. 1 pound of venison, thawed 2. 1 Tbsp. of olive oil 3. 1 Tbsp. minced garlic 4. 1 whole onion diced 5. Green/Red sweet peppers and spicy peppers of your choice 6. 2 cans of chili beans 7. 1 can of kidney beans 8. 1 can of corn or whatever other odd ball cans you have that you want to use up   9. 1 Tbsp. of chili powder  Directions: 1. In a frying pan, brown venison burger. Once cooked, place in crock pot on lowest setting.  2. In a frying pan on low, add the olive oil, garlic and onions.  3. Add peppers and cook all ingredients until tender. Place pepper/onion mixture into the crockpot.   4. Add the canned items (do not drain) into the
Read more

RIACT Like Never Before

Image
Since my early competitive trap shooting days I shot with regular sunglasses. I put money into my gun and other equipment but didn't think I needed to do anything special for my eyes. I was wrong, and through word of mouth and reviews online I discovered RE Ranger.  My first order was for 6 separate lenses and the Falcon Pro frames. I ended up with the size small since I have a small framed face. My first round of trap was a 23. I liked the way the frames felt, and how I could change out the lenses easily.  This year RE Ranger developed a new series of lenses after years of testing and expertise. The RIACT A.I. uses the latest technology to give the shooter an experience unlike any other. Some of the new features include: 1. Trudepth-Enhanced depth perception separates the target from the background.  2. Color Boost-Precious metals boost target colors to enhance focus in shooter's field of view.  3. In Balance- A more balanced and natural field of vision from less color saturat
Read more

Weekend Antelope Roast

Image
Weekend Antelope Roast I am not going into great detail about what roasts mean to me, how I harvested the meat and gathered the vegetables because, let's face it, get to the recipe already food bloggers. I call it a weekend roast because I usually start it on a Friday night and then we eat it for supper on Saturday.  This roast is from the antelope that I shot on October 3, 2020 in Haakon County, SD. He was shot with my Savage Arms110 Ultralite 6.5 PRC.  Ingredients: Salt and Pepper One 3 to 5 pound antelope roast  1 whole onion, peeled and halved  8 whole carrots, peeled and cubed 5-10 small potatoes cubed 3 cups of beef broth  2 sprigs of fresh rosemary   1. Turn your crockpot to the "low" setting depending on the crockpot. Even our lowest setting makes the broth boiling lava hot... 2. Place the onions, carrots and potatoes into the crockpot. The carrots from the garden are the rainbow variety. In the photo of the finished product you can see how dark the juice is. This
Read more