clivej wrote: »

Can someone please explain to me how the shooting of Red Stags in Kerry is allowed.
Or has this lad got a special dispensation??

It cannot happen. It's illegal. They are, beyond, protected in Kerry all year round.

I've also heard of this "loophole" that if you shoot them on private land you don't need a license, etc. It's crap. Any form of deer stalking.hunting /culling requires a license and/or permission/authorisation from the NPWS.

international shooter wrote: »

What.?? Just read it. I'm going to shoot on ground in Kerry that has Irish red stags and the ground in which they are located is private.

As i said above it's illegal, but i also seen that you have changed the location. However that aside the fact that you thought it was okay to shoot Reds in Kerry without knowing the law behind it is worrying.

That is not an attack, but you seem somewhat "out of touch"" with regards to the law here. If you intend to shoot in Kerry or anywhere for that matter i'd suggest you get acquainted with the minimum amount of legal stuff you'll need.

The reason I mentioned this is because people don't need to get all butt hurt about what im shooting at and at what distance (as seen earlier on in the thread) the land is private and the game is a part of it so it won't affect them.

Frankly its a worrying thought. Shooting at, and i say it that way for a reason, any animal at that distance is reckless unless you know you rifle inside and out and know your own limits. Even then the sport is stalking, not sniping. The sport is in the animal having as much a chance to escape as you do to get it. The distance makes it such that an increase in wind strength, a drop in it, the bullet traversing a valley, by trees, etc, etc. can all have a serious impact on it's performance and drift.

This is something i have NEVER seen a ballistic scope being able to accurately account for, and most certainly not at the distances you speak of. I have never had a constant, and i mean not so much as a 0.1mph variance, wind in my life. Over short distances the scopes you are discussing would work because the margin of error is so small that if they are out by half an inch it's still a clean kill. As you go out further and further that variance becomes so large that it's the difference between a hit and miss. Or in an animals case kill and wound.

At 700 yards a 150gr, .308, hunting round, doing say 2,800fps can be blown off course by up to 5 feet. That is with a 90 degree and constant 10 mph wind. Problem is a ballistic calculator, much like the ones in the scopes above, only allow for constants. Not varying conditions. So say the wind gusts to 15mph as you pull the trigger, then you are looking at upwards of 2 feet of extra drift meaning your allowed for margin of 5 feet is no longer valid, and the animal gets hit in the ass, or you miss altogether.

As was said above in some countries this type of shooting is common place and at times a necessity due to the lay of the land, etc. However in Ireland no such shooting is necessary, and you'll find in most cases where this shooting does occur (abroad) tat the person is well and truly adapt at his sport. IOW has spent years learning to read the wind, his drops, his own ability, etc.

So when people seem displeased with this type of shooting its not so much you they are displeased with, but the concept of it, the lack of need of it here, and the fact it should not be attempted by someone with little to no experience with this kind of shooting. Most definitely not by trying to "skip" the learning process with technology.

Any way we are all going way off topic. I asked for help on choosing between two scopes. If you can't help don't post. If I see a thread and can help I'll post something if not, even if I don't agree with what I'm reading, I'll just move on and forget about it. Can't understand why people don't do the same.

Because it's a discussion forum. You ask a question and you'll get your answer which generally leads to more question (not always by the Original Poster) and as with most threads they tend to go off topic to some extent over the course of the thread.

People are free to comment as they wish, as you are too, and back seat modding (the highlighted part above) is not tolerated. As was said above if you give all the details you can like location, intent, and accurate information (like you intending to shoot protected Kerry reds then later retracting it), it'll make for a much smoother thread.


Lastly on the topic off the scopes, and as i touched on above. I have owned one and tried a few and while some were decent and others downright gimmicks i never found one that could do what a person with a good setup, knowledge of their setup, knowledge of their own ability and a range finder could not do as easily and at a much lesser cost.

Was looking at one of those boosters a few years ago thinking the same. 2 to 3 times mag would be excellent. When i emailed them they told me the actual magnification would be in the 20 - 30% extra i hesitated. It meant my 32 power scope would give 40 power at best. My 42 power scope would deliver 55 power at best. IOW nothing i could not get by simply changing scope. So i did. From nightforce to Sightron or 32 power to 50 power and actually saved money in the change.

The other issue was they only done the screw in version for the nightforce Benchrest and the Leupold LR models. Every other scope booster came with a lens that fitted over the optical lens of the scope exactly like a flip cap would. This concerned my from the point of view of how well would the booster perform. All the lens in a scope are perfectly aligned to give the best clarity possible. So would the booster that is pushed on affect this clarity, give a distorted image, etc.

As said this was some years ago and i never went for the booster. Perhaps they have changed the mounting format since then, but honestly while it's a decent accessory and useful in some circumstances i think it is limited. Just my own opinion.