Poll: Hunting Rifle Optics Poll

[Nosferatu]

I've been surprised by how good moose and caribou taste. Makes sense about east vs west side deer.

When it comes to burger, Moose and Sandhill Crane are the best I've ever had. Never had the pleasure of Caribou though.

 

[orygun]

When it comes to burger, Moose and Sandhill Crane are the best I've ever had. Never had the pleasure of Caribou though.

Dad shot a moose and the burger wouldn't stay together, it was so lean. I swear it tasted like beef. Very good.
I'd love to try caribou.

 

[3MTA3]

When it comes to burger, Moose and Sandhill Crane are the best I've ever had. Never had the pleasure of Caribou though.

The caribou was in an Anchorage restaurant in my one trip to Alaska.

 

[Nosferatu]

Dad shot a moose and the burger wouldn't stay together, it was so lean. I swear it tasted like beef. Very good.
I'd love to try caribou.

The moose I had was from Canadianstan. They seem to be more fatty and self-refrigerating, which helps once they are stuffed into a grinder, from what I was told.

 

[dangerranger60]

My brush guns wear open or peep sights, My deer rifle a 6X scope, My Coyote rifle wears a 3x9 variable, but mostly stays on 3x. [ for its wider field of view]. My squirrel gun [ Ground squirrels] wears a 8x32 because To shoot small I have to be able to see small!
I also have a couple of dedicated target rifles that have really high power scopes or Olympic peep sights. I'm not a one size fits all kind of guy! DR

 

[VanceInWA]

Responded with open+optic. Given the epic downpours we can get here in the PNW during hunting season, I prefer a rifle with both iron sights and optic; iron sights for when the optic gets overwhelmed by wet. In order to do that, I've found Alaskan Arms quick detach mounts to be incredibly well made. Hold virtually perfect accuracy between detach and reattach. If considering optic only, my favorite scope by far is 1.7 to 10 power (Meopta Meostar R2).

 

[Cavedweller]

Many people don't care for deer meat

You mean venison? Not fit for human consumption if you ask me. I'd have to be starving.

Elk? My absolute favorite meat. Period.

Good stuff. A helluvalot better than venison, that's for sure. Almost as good as beef.

 

[Cavedweller]

Dad shot a moose and the burger wouldn't stay together, it was so lean. I swear it tasted like beef. Very good.

Back in the day I had a friend who would get an elk every year. He'd throw a party and make elk burgers. Couldn't tell the difference between those and beef. Maybe even better. Coulda been the beer, IDK.

 

[Koda]

technically elk is venison too...

 

[Caveman Jim]

My two big game hunting rifles, a Remington 700 30-06 wore a Leopold vxIII 3.5x10x50 (IIRC) and the Marlin 336 30-30 was topped with a Bushnell 3x9x40.
I took good care of my gear and sold both after I was injured at work and unable to get back in the woods.

 

[Cavedweller]

technically elk is venison too...

Sensu stricto vs. sensu lato. But I'll give you this one.

 

[Koda]

Sensu stricto vs. sensu lato. But I'll give you this one.

yeah... I was being picky. I agree elk is better though I dont mind deer at all even eastern oregon deer.

 

[GWS]

A 2 power Leupold Scout scope on my Steyr Scout.
It has done the job here and in Africa.

 

[3MTA3]

My two big game hunting rifles, a Remington 700 30-06 wore a Leopold vxIII 3.5x10x50 (IIRC) and the Marlin 336 30-30 was topped with a Bushnell 3x9x40.
I took good care of my gear and sold both after I was injured at work and unable to get back in the woods.

Sorry to hear that, Jim! I hope they are in good hands they treat them like you did.

 

[orygun]

You mean venison? Not fit for human consumption if you ask me. I'd have to be starving.

Good stuff. A helluvalot better than venison, that's for sure. Almost as good as beef.

technically elk is venison too...

What @Koda said, but I grew up with the understanding that venison is deer and elk is, well, elk.

By the way, the last pot of stew I made was deer meat. Some was boiled off of the bone from the 2021 deer and the rest from my wife's deer in 2018. It was awesome! I made such a large batch I froze some of the stew and then had it again when I wasn't feeling well a couple of weeks ago. I butcher and vacuum pack anything we kill. Three or 4 years in the freezer vacuumed packed well and it's never freezer burned. We eat what we kill, always.

But that's not talking optics. Sorry for the thread drift, @3MTA3

 

[3MTA3]

What @Koda said, but I grew up with the understanding that venison is deer and elk is, well, elk.

By the way, the last pot of stew I made was deer meat. Some was boiled off of the bone from the 2021 deer and the rest from my wife's deer in 2018. It was awesome! I made such a large batch I froze some of the stew and then had it again when I wasn't feeling well a couple of weeks ago. I butcher and vacuum pack anything we kill. Three or 4 years in the freezer vacuumed packed well and it's never freezer burned. We eat what we kill, always.

But that's not talking optics. Sorry for the thread drift, @3MTA3

I drift my own threads, this one included. Have at it sir! We are all friends here!

 

[Ura-Ki]

You mean venison? Not fit for human consumption if you ask me. I'd have to be starving.

Good stuff. A helluvalot better than venison, that's for sure. Almost as good as beef.

Never had a problem with ether one, Venison can be kinda gamey, but if you prep it correctly, you can loose a lot of that!
Elk is a bit too lean for my tastes, ether add Bear to it, or marinate/brine and then smoke it and put it in a stew or bake a roast with veggies and broth!
Moose is quite gamey, but SO frickin good, again, prep will take that out
Caribou is about the best, just the right amount of fat to boost the flavors, don't over cook it!
Reindeer is very gamey, but damn, its good, and good for you!

 

[orygun]

@Ura-Ki , Is there a real difference between caribou and reindeer? You're not shooting at Santa's sleigh pullers, are you?

 

[Zechariah]

yeah... I was being picky. I agree elk is better though I dont mind deer at all even eastern oregon deer.

I like deer steak much better than elk but do love elk burger in tacos and spaghetti. Elk stinks to me when it's cooking. All this talk about deer I had to pull out some back strap damn fine dinner we ate tonight.

 

[Ura-Ki]

@Ura-Ki , Is there a real difference between caribou and reindeer? You're not shooting at Santa's sleigh pullers, are you?

Taste wise, Not really, I can tell, but it's all in how it's fed and ultimately how it's cooked!
Caribou usually have more fat, and are generally larger bodied, but certain areas, the Reindeer can get up there in size/mass and have lots of fat as well!
Given my choice, Rocky Mountain Elk or Coastal Alaskan Moose would be what I want to stock up on!