spaniel

Just that i want you to know that I am nosler biased and I also am sure that there are shooters out there that will tell you that Barnes is the best....

Right now today i would not hestitate a shoot on an elk to 200 yards - with the Remington, Omega, or the Knight provided the factors were in my favor. I am also well aware of the importance, to me at least, of elk hunting. It is expensive business (really recreation) but you still approach like a business or at least I do. We put a lot of time and effort into what we do because the seasons are so short now.

I know you have extended ranges when shooting whitetail in you neck of the woods, but for us here on the Palouse in Idaho the normal range might be 25 to 75 yards - with extended shots being 150-200 yards. I still use a Nosler for them also but it would be a the 260 grain variety... as soon as i run out of those - I will be switching to the Speer Gold Dot a"poorman's version of the Nosler"

Your draw in thearea between the Bitterroots and the Rockies (do not know which sub range you will be hunting in) of Montana is an excellent area - (PSa little history for ya... that area was originally in the Oregon Territory, then the Washington Territory and finally in the Idaho Territory and should have been in Idaho - dang it! - politics...) if you do your homework, since you are not using a guide,I have a feeling you will have a successful hunt. I am still not sure that i would forsake the 300 for 1 in a several years trip. If you had/have hunted the area for a few yearsandknew the nooks and crannies - cause that is where they are going to be - you really could judge whether the ML would do the job for you... If you are in the mountains and do nothave to shoot across canyons i would go with the ML... but if Idid not know for sure - I would betaking the 300 - same for me if I came out there to hunt your whitetail at the ranges I haveread you are shooting - i would be bringing the A-Bolt 270. I would rather be over-gunned than under-gunned...

mike