I subscribe to Western Sportsman Magazine and thoroughly enjoy the magazine,especially the articles on mountain sheep hunting. I have been planning for a sheep hunt for a couple of years and have a few questions in regarding to choosing optics for the trip. I have purchased a new Browning A-Bolt.270 WSM Mountain Ti model weighing in at 5-1/2 pounds and want a lightweight scope to match the gun. I tend to be a little biased when it comes to scopes and usually stick to Leupold. What else is available on the market and what would you recommend for a scope? Secondly, what is preferred when glassing, binoculars or spotting scope? I have seen numerous shows and read articles and the split seems to be 50/50 when using the above-mentioned equipment. Any information or thoughts would be greatly appreciated and I would like to thank you, in advance, for your time in responding to my questions. -CT

 

 

You have chosen a fine sheep rifle. I wrote an article on the Browning
Mountain Ti in a .270 WSM a couple of years back and found that it shot just
great for a light rifle. The .270 WSM caliber will also provide plenty of
down range capability for sheep when at times you need to make a longer
shot. Many 3 shot,100 yard groups with my handloads were well under 1 inch
with this rifle. I also like your idea of using a Leupold scope. While
there are plenty of other great scopes out there, I mounted a 2.5-8x-36mm
VX-III on this rifle and found it to be a perfect match. It was lightweight,
compact and provided plenty of clarity and reliability. I would also
recommend that you chose either a Duplex or a Boone & Crocket reticle, as
they can offer aim points for various ranges.

Regarding your question of binoculars vs a spotting scope, I would not go
sheep hunting without both. I have spent hundreds of hours glassing for
sheep but when a group of rams was spotted my spotting scope often saved me
many hours of hiking by ascertaining if there were any legal rams in the
group and also allowed me to carefully study each ram to determine trophy
quality. But because weight can be a concern, especially when on a
self-guided carry your own gear type trip, I opted for both high quality
compact binoculars and spotting scope. If you plan on doing a lot of sheep
hunting in the future, I would highly recommend this approach. -Eds

< Prev