I’m old school, old fart. I n my teen years there was not a state wide deer season. Most of the herd was on the west side of the levee on the Mississippi River and you had to have connections and big bucks to join those clubs which were owned by big timber companies. Never saw a deer in the wild until I was 16 and it was on west side of the levee at Warfield Point south of Greenville. It is now a state park and power station. Started out with a Marlin 336 in 30/30 bought used for $50. Still have. Then I won a Remington 742 in 30/06 in a band raffle. I t served me well for over a decade. Amazing accurate with handloads full sized 57 grain 4350 and a Hornady 165 grain bullet, a pretty standard reload. Then I found a Win Mod 70 Carbine 1984 pushfeed (actually bought another for my son when he started hunting). Killed most of my game with 30/06. Used the baby Browning while in ARNG. I also bought a cheap ($125) REM 700 in 30/06 with bulk synthetic stock and used it one season before selling it to my son. Also have a Ruger RSI tanger in 308 that’s too pretty for foul weather hunting. Usually grab the Model 70 as my go to gun. It’s and old friend and we’re accustomed to each other after all these years.
