Geez Don, do you always have to be Mr. Negative, Mr. Half-Full, Mr. Rain On The Parade? I know that hunting deer in VT is the very definition of frustration and can turn a person bitter, but do you have to drag all of your negative baggage with you to the campfire? If you never actually shoot an animal, the rifle/cartridge combination is pretty meaningless, regardless of bore size, don't you think?
Jeff
PS - If your Savage 99 is an "F", it appears to have a mis-matched "DL/M" stock on it.
