If youwhere going on a mountain goat hunt in '08 and possibly a Dall sheep hunt in '10 and you where able to build any caliber rifle you wanted for this hunt what would you build?
Well it dang sure wouldn't be an ultra mag, H&H mag or anything remotely close.
Mountain goat / Dall sheep hunting requires a completely different rifle than Grizzly bear / moose hunting. I wouldn't even be considering building one rifle to serve both purposes.
Considering the game you will be hunting and the terrain that they live in I would opt for a short action cartridge anddrop it into an ultra lite stock from HS or McMillan.
Since youalready load for the 6.5-284I would consider the .284 Winchesterlaunching something like a 140 grain TSX at 3000+ fps. I know it would essentially duplicate what the .280 would do but it would be in a short receiver and a shorterbarreland every ounce counts when you are hunting 12,000+ feet in elevation.