Successful weekend of hunting with Nosler 280AI and Zeiss Victory FL 4-16x50

They say faith in one’s equipment is everything..

Well, after a weekend of testing with a Nosler 280 AI and Zeiss FL 4-16×50 with AVS elevation turret, I would say I have it.

Sunday morning..

Deer weren’t moving where I was at on Sunday morning, and I had passed on several nice bucks Friday and Sat waiting for a shooter..
So I climbed up a big hill with a view of a field that’s about 3/4 of a mile square with scattered trees

I spotted a nice buck about 1/2 mile out headed for a tree line, no doubt, it was a shooter..

Climbed down the hill, walked about a ¼ of a mile through the trees to the edge of the treeline started glassing the field..
I couldn’t see the area of trees he was headed to and s0 I belly crawled about 300 yards to the top of small hill to a lone tree to get a view of the tree area he was headed..

Started glassing and spotted him about 300 yards to my right, just as I was about to pull the trigger he starts off on a trot, at a 45 degree angle, headed straight towards me!

He paused about 100 yards out and a high shoulder shot and down it went, DRT, never even wiggled J
The culmination of a fantastic weekend of hunting.

Friday evening.

Popped a doe in the neck at 346 yards Friday evening in very low light.

Just dialed in with the AVS turret on the Ziess to 350 yards and squeeze the trigger and watch it drop in the scope.

Saturday morning.

at daybreak there were a group of hogs working out about 200 yards, I wanted a smaller one as they are easy to deal with and taste good, then I got greedy and decided I wanted two hogs.

Dialed in the yardage and I waited until I could get two of them lined up perfectly and then put one right behind the ear of the first one, it exited and hit the 2nd one in the same spot!
Two down!

Hit the first one right behind the ear, exited it’s ear and hit the same one in the same spot, right behind the ear and I recovered the bullet just under the hide at the back of the far side back of the rib cage.

I definitely have faith in this setup.

Nosler Trophy Grade in 280AI

Flat shooting, hard hitting, one hole groups at 100 yards and 2″ at 500 yards, what’s not to like?

Zeiss Victory FL 4-16×40 with AVS elevation turret

Outstanding glass, the FL glass REALLY is all Zeiss claims it to be, the resolution and clarity are amazing, the AVS turret is precise and predictable.

Being on a “trophy” lease, we can’t just shoot the first nice buck we see, there are a LOT of nice deer and being able to really judge a deer at 350 yards at 30 minutes past sundown nestled up in the trees is where the FL glass really proves it’s as good as they say it is.

Being able to dial in the exact yardage is my preferred way to do it. With the flat shooting 280AI and running a 250 yard zero I am good out to 350 by just holding dead on for a kill shot on a heart/lung shot on a deer. But being able to dial in the exact yardage if time permits is really nice when you want to do an ultra precise shot placement.