I am in that category.
I hunt elk, mulies, whitetail, and pronghorn.
I flyfish.
Volunteer for several entities.
Just doesn't feel the same as when I had "purpose" every day.
Mine has changed over the years.
The past few years were when I was in my recliner reading while my beautiful pup layed tightly alongside my thigh.
No matter how bad things looked in the world, watching her sleep with not a worry in the world made everything seem alright.
She passed three weeks...
Our fathers and grandfathers killed plenty of game with $50 binoculars.
We seem to get it in our heads that we need $5000 rifles, $2500 scopes, $2000 binos and $1500 clothes.
That being said, I am as guilty as the next guy as I have purchased all the above... 🥴 I don't kill any more game than...
Yeah, it's a trade off. AT's or mudders, but you can't have the performance of both.
AT's will get you by in 90% of cases.
Mud tires will get you killed on ice, wear quicker, ride rougher and get darned noisy!
When you compare the velocities, fps of the 7 prc to the 280ai or 7mm Rem... or the 7 SAUM one comes to realize you are burning a LOT more powder (esp. compared to the 280ai and SAUM) for little to no gains in performance with handloads.
My best 280ai handloads exceed some actual 7prc (factory...
Alaska coastal black bear and fishing.
Canada bear/whitetail/muley
Audad
$10k could get you on a Africa plains game if you are okay with just horns and pics.
Hawaii mouflan/axis
Shoot, if you shop around you could possibly do a Spain or Argentina hunt.
I have several X-bolts... all 1/2" shooters consistently.
Some have been beaten, dragged through dust, mud and rain, covered with snow with little maintenance during season and none show any rust. Blued versions at that.
Must be an anomoly.