ben338

i'm in a similar situation with 10yr old, he's a bit immature but showing some interest, he's not bad on the air rifle. for me i just don't think you can beat the .308, reduced loads with 2206h (60% rule) and a soft 150-168gr bullet, increase velocity as they grow. a super lite might be just that bit too light with recoil? the new howa is only 2kg, but you might still want to shorten the stock a touch. i thinking standard sporter weight howa, 20" barrel would be nice rather than the standard 22". hogue do a compact stock if you can find one with a 12.5" length of pull. other options for me are tikka t3x lite with a compact stock (most expensive option). or ruger american compact, 18" barrel, 12.5" LOP stock.

well done RT

are you planning on setting up a rifle for him too?

🤣 studying the map beforehand is the best preparation i find.

fair enough. some guys like them as they can see where each other are within about a 5km range. i think you have to talk or press the talk button every so often to keep updating your location? i can see why multiple hunters in an area might like them but i found them a bit of a distraction, plus when you get too far apart you lose contact anyway.

what do you have against rhino's?

i have a garmin gpsmap62s i think it is, must be 10 years old by now. its pretty good, i did have to load some maps, for memory i bought them cheaply on a card off ebay, the maps are very good but im sure they're "garmin authenticity" is questionable. compass works ok in it, sight n go feature is good. i hardly use it now though as the phone maps on avenza are just too good, 4 times bigger screen and good free maps. the garmin will be more durable if you have a misshap (fall in a river) unless you have your phone in something like a snap lock bag (yep, that's saved me before) there is the garmin inreach mini if you want satellite messenger capability.

8x42's bushnell trophy or low end vortex. they're not bad bino's so will be able to use them for years. and a harness.

nice work RT

nice knives, would make a great gift.

Most things have almost doubled over the last few years, 5k wouldn’t surprise me. my first ever deer hunt in 2008 (I knew nothing about anything) I ran into some ada guys down from nsw, they were telling me about their swaro range finder bino’s, $1500 worth. I was astounded. Sounds like a bargain now.

nice pix

almost looks too good to use.

some blokes love em. they can be good when hunting with others. no way i'd drop 800 on one though.

sometimes you can even leave stuff out over night to re-freeze 🤣