Before and After

[Wilkes]

Congrats on putting some meat in the freezer!
How do you like the new Kimber? Less than 5 pounds, impressive
And finally, what are your thoughts on the Sar3 vs your Cabs?

Really, really like the new Kimber. If I had my time over I probably would just stick to the Kimber Montana as I feel the performance and weight doesn't justify the increased price tag. The Montana is a great rifle for the money. Also I would use aluminium rings and a lighter scope to make the most of the weight savings. Rifles get heavy when you spend the day walking up and down hills.

SAR3 Vs CABS - There is only 50grams between the two which surprised me... The CABS is much more knife considering the weight and they are both very similar in blade thickness. I didn't need the extra inch of blade when butchering, but I would have liked to bring bring the CABS for it's length. The meat is so thick on Sambar that a smaller blade is at a slight disadvantage. I still prefer the CABS as a hunting knife. The one thing the SAR3 does have over the CABS is it's size. It's small and easy to carry with most of the functionality of a bigger blade.

 

[rcb2000]

Really, really like the new Kimber. If I had my time over I probably would just stick to the Kimber Montana as I feel the performance and weight doesn't justify the increased price tag. The Montana is a great rifle for the money. Also I would use aluminium rings and a lighter scope to make the most of the weight savings. Rifles get heavy when you spend the day walking up and down hills.

SAR3 Vs CABS - There is only 50grams between the two which surprised me... The CABS is much more knife considering the weight and they are both very similar in blade thickness. I didn't need the extra inch of blade when butchering, but I would have liked to bring bring the CABS for it's length. The meat is so thick on Sambar that a smaller blade is at a slight disadvantage. I still prefer the CABS as a hunting knife. The one thing the SAR3 does have over the CABS is it's size. It's small and easy to carry with most of the functionality of a bigger blade.

Good points, its funny, most of the guys I follow on IG, all have $1200 bows, and probably way more expensive rifles, but most use those $60 Havalon knives with disposable blades!

 

[Wilkes]

....... hopefully !!!!! packing a smaller camera than usual (because we are "packing" LOL) but it seems to take a pretty good picture.

Samar are big deer and great hunting !!! When I was away last weekend I had hunted all up a face and small ridge that is home to a small herd of Reds. Not a sign of them. Walked back to camp and was sitting out glassing where I had been (it is probably about 2km in a straight line) and there on one of the open faces I had crossed, catching some sunshine were 15 Reds.... it's why they call it hunting !! Got my .300 finally over the chrono and zeroed and put a fawn in the freezer. The storms were spectacular !!

Sounds like you have a really nice spot there! I remember hunting on the border of VIC and NSW once and stalking around a mountain. At the base of the mountain I saw a Fallow deer. 200m further up, we shot a Red deer. When we reached the peak after another 500m we shot two Sambar deer. One small mountain with three deer species

Hunted all year with no limit?? I'm moving to Australia!!!

300WM is hands down my favorite rifle caliber and that is a sweet rifle!

Congrats on your score!:thumbup:

If you come to BLADE Show this year, I'll tell you about the deer that I missed (standing broadside and perfectly still for nearly 10 minutes!) at 50 yards with a .308. . . I'll need to be drunk for this one!


Jerry

Sounds like a good story! You should definitely come down to Australia for a hunting trip in your off season. Hunting here in the winter and spring is pretty awesome.

300WM is a favourite of mine too. Sambar deer are notoriously difficult to put on the ground. I once watched my friend shoot one with 270, 5 TIMES! It just bounced around like a pinball machine and then took off. The 300 causes so much shock and releases an incredible amount of energy (not to mention penetration) that even badly placed shots are quickly fatal.

 

[Wilkes]

Good points, its funny, most of the guys I follow on IG, all have $1200 bows, and probably way more expensive rifles, but most use those $60 Havalon knives with disposable blades!

Haha yep. To be honest, 99% of my hunting would be just as effective with a $600 gun. I got the Mountain Ascent as a bit of a fancy present to myself after my last rifle was stolen, but I would have been shooting 100% the same with a Montana. I just make sure that whatever I buy, I use.

 

[SpyderPhreak]

Thanks!

It is a Sambar deer. They are the third largest deer in the world behind Elk. They are not native to Australia, but were introduced as a game animal and we now have hundreds of thousands of them that can be hunted all year with no bag limit! This is a decent sized hind. I had some trouble moving her around by myself for the photo and she is completely flattened out.

The gun is a Kimber Mountain Ascent in 300WM. I actually shot her within 20 yards and it was a low neck shot. The projectile turned her vitals to mush.

Ah, makes sense now!!! Lol, your listed location of "California" is what threw me. Thought it might have been a Moose calf too. Congrats on putting some meat in the freezer! I put a lot of days in last season big game hunting, and well, no meat for me.

Good points, its funny, most of the guys I follow on IG, all have $1200 bows, and probably way more expensive rifles, but most use those $60 Havalon knives with disposable blades!

LOL!!! Make fun of their knives, and then show them yours!!!

 

[Andy the Aussie]

Hunted all year with no limit?? I'm moving to Australia!!!

300WM is hands down my favorite rifle caliber and that is a sweet rifle!

....yep, deer are pretty much considered "feral" here and eradication is the actual goal. In NSW (my state) there are seasons but they are months long and no limits apply. In some places if we don't lower the deer population via hunting they will employ contract shooters from helicopters and 1080 baits to do so.

.300WM is a great round, no question at all (and that Kimber is a beautiful rifle !). I got mine in 1983 or so and have hunted all manner of game with it. For NZ I have loaded up a both Nosler Ballistic Tips and Accubonds (180gns) that shoot to the same POI and at the same speeds (2950fps and .5MOA with my load). All that said, I have no issue hunting with it but it is a PIG off the bench ! Shooting it over the chrono last weekend (not in my usual bench rest set up) I got smacked in the eyebrow twice. I many respects I actually prefer to shoot my .375 but horses for courses and all that.

 

[Wilkes]

Ah, makes sense now!!! Lol, your listed location of "California" is what threw me. Thought it might have been a Moose calf too. Congrats on putting some meat in the freezer! I put a lot of days in last season big game hunting, and well, no meat for me.



LOL!!! Make fun of their knives, and then show them yours!!!

Yeah I use Cali as my Aus location often scares people from doing deals with me before I explain forwarding addresses and family in the US etc. Good luck on your next season!

....yep, deer are pretty much considered "feral" here and eradication is the actual goal. In NSW (my state) there are seasons but they are months long and no limits apply. In some places if we don't lower the deer population via hunting they will employ contract shooters from helicopters and 1080 baits to do so.

.300WM is a great round, no question at all (and that Kimber is a beautiful rifle !). I got mine in 1983 or so and have hunted all manner of game with it. For NZ I have loaded up a both Nosler Ballistic Tips and Accubonds (180gns) that shoot to the same POI and at the same speeds (2950fps and .5MOA with my load). All that said, I have no issue hunting with it but it is a PIG off the bench ! Shooting it over the chrono last weekend (not in my usual bench rest set up) I got smacked in the eyebrow twice. I many respects I actually prefer to shoot my .375 but horses for courses and all that.

That is one nice thing about an abundance of deer here - You never have to worry about it being a shared resource that needs to bounce back from over hunting. Another cool thing about this new Kimber with that muzzle brake... I was told by everyone that a .300WM should NOT be built that light as it will kick harder than a mule. Well, I braced for impact on my first test fire and was shocked... Felt recoil similar or less than a 308! Extremely comfortable to shoot and no issues with excessive kick. Now.. .The sound that muzzle brakes generates is another issue

 

[Hard Knocks]

....yep, deer are pretty much considered "feral" here and eradication is the actual goal. In NSW (my state) there are seasons but they are months long and no limits apply. In some places if we don't lower the deer population via hunting they will employ contract shooters from helicopters and 1080 baits to do so.

This is such a foreign concept to me. Why do you suppose it is, the population explosions? Maybe because we have many predators here or more people per square acre taking up habitat, but we are not overpopulated with deer. Even though I'm primarily a predator hunter and do my best to bust as many of them as possible, lol.

Appreciated the comparison on the knives Wilkes, and congrats on another successful hunt bud.

 

[Andy the Aussie]

This is such a foreign concept to me. Why do you suppose it is, the population explosions? Maybe because we have many predators here or more people per square acre taking up habitat, but we are not overpopulated with deer. Even though I'm primarily a predator hunter and do my best to bust as many of them as possible, lol.

a combination of things mate, conditions are great here for deer (they thrive even in crap country), there are very very very few natural predators (Dingos, wild dogs, Yowies and Drop Bears are about the only things here in the south that will take deer) and we have 10% the population of the US and an even lower % of us hunt. So all in all Australia is a pretty good place to be a deer

 

[Hard Knocks]

a combination of things mate, conditions are great here for deer (they thrive even in crap country), there are very very very few natural predators (Dingos, wild dogs, Yowies and Drop Bears are about the only things here in the south that will take deer) and we have 10% the population of the US and an even lower % of us hunt. So all in all Australia is a pretty good place to be a deer

That makes sense. Although I imagine death by Yowie is excruciating. Good thing they have a slow metabolism

 

[Wilkes]

Death by Drop Bear is much worse...