My first deer was taken with an 06 at a little over 100 yards. Then I switched to the 35 Rem for a bunch of years. Then I bought my first Savage 99 in 250 and have used it for about 20 years. This coming year I'm trying for the Savage "Slam", one deer in each of the 4 Savage cartridges. The first one I'm taking out is a 1912 model in 22 Hi-Power. One that almost got away was the first buck I ever heard grunt. He walked up a trail about 35 yards away dead broadside, but all I could see was his neck and head. I thought it was the biggest rack I'd ever seen. Took a rest and shot through the neck. He took off and ran about 50 yards and stopped on the trail I followed to my stand. Facing straight away from me, I shot him in the base of the neck, DRT. Turned out to be 98 pounds dressed. The giant rack was about the size of your hands spread with your thumbs touching, and pinkies pointing straight out, maybe 9 or 10 inch spread. The first shot poked a big hole in one side and out the other side of the neck, but missed the spine. That was my Marlin 336 in 35 Rem. That was the only neck shot I've ever made that was not a DRT, Joe.
