About 25 yrs. ago, before the timber companies ever leased their land in Central Louisiana, I hunted a "stand" I called the Gas Well. Beautiful place where 4 hardwood ridges converged and the deer would come across the little branch bottom to go to a thicket on the next ridge. Killed several deer there, but the main attraction to me was the beauty of it. I usually carried my climber in to the stand, as one year I hunted out of a ladder stand there and a guy I finished school with found the place (didn't know whose stand it was) and killed a buck there.
Anyway, found some large scrapes going up the ridge where the thicket was where they laid up at. I just slipped in there that morning, fixed a makeshift blind against a large beech tree about 25 yds. from the scrapes farthest I could get and still see what I needed to see. As it was breaking day, I heard him coming up the side of the thicket. I rested my Ruger Ultra Light 270 on my knees and picked out the opening where I was going to lay him to rest.
I no longer heard his steps as he just appeared in my opening. I saw the large rack (for our area on public land) and I rested the crosshairs behind his shoulder and gently squeezed the trigger. All that was heard was a sickening "click" I began to gently slide back the bolt to see if I had even put a round in the chamber. I had. While I was trying, as quietly as I could, to chamber another round the big buck disappeared just as he had emerged...quietly.
I had always shot Rem. Core-lokts without incident. I went and shot the rest of the box of cartridges and 5 or 6 of the rounds didn't fire. I went to call Remington and when I looked at the box, I saw that they were then made in Arkansas instead of Connecticut. I called them and they admitted they had some trouble with some of their cartridges and they sent me a check for $35 which did not cover the cost of the deer!
Story didn't end there (in case anyone is still reading the story!). I came down with the flu before I could get back in there to hunt. As I was beginning to feel better, my brother called me and wanted to know if I was up to getting out of the house for a ride in the woods. Yes! We stopped at a convenience store in town to get a coke and the guy who had found my honey hole a few years prior came up to the truck window. I rolled it down and he said "You remember that place by that gas well I killed that buck a few years ago?" Before he could say anything else, I said, "Let me guess. You killed a big buck there." "How did you know?" I said, trying not to let my feelings show, "If my cartridge had of gone off instead of snapping on me, you would have never seen him. I usually don't miss at 25 yds. broadside."
He told me the deer was a 7 pt. with a 17 inch inside spread. Around home when there was open land, that was a nice deer. I saw the pictures later and good, long tines. It was years before I trusted Remington cartridges again. Have never had another problem and have always blamed Walmart as I suspected they would sign a contract with them that if they moved that part of their operations to Arkansas. Would love to know if that is what happened.
Last edited by Ruger77Shooter; 03/02/17.
