abby, I couldn't think of a better deer gun. Rapid repeater for tight woods, ready for the 300 yd shot across a field. Light weight for a hard day's tracking.

I'm not much into deer hunting anymore, but I've stood helpless as a 12 point, winter hardened white tail that probably weighed 400 lbs or more, leaped n bound at 50 mph away from me, in about year 1999. My 30-30 was rendered useless and I was outsmarted.

There was a 150 yd x 1 mile long stretch of cedar swamp that ran parallel with a back road and a mile-wide hay field. This would've been on the Moro Road, in Dyer Brook, Maine, about 30 mins drive from the Canadian border. It was first snow aright around this time in November, and I tracked this buck from a forested apple orchard at first light, right into that Swamp. It was one of the hardest stalks I ever put on an animal. spruce and cedar thickets so dense, you couldn't make out 5 yds in front of yah. Knee deep muck, but a very slow-hooved track. As if the gargantuan buck was teasing me, as if to say: "Welcome to my territory, no need to rush". Finally, I had this buck cornered, he broke for the field, rather than crossing a road.

I busted out of this thin stretch of cedar, lined up on em in the hay field. I was helpless, as the range was greater than 200 yds. I lowered the trigger back to half cock, lowered my rifle. I watched that buck, leap n bound for a mile of hay field, and eventually into the woods. Looked as big as a Morgan horse with antlers. I was a teenager at that time. In the moment, I was half filled with sorrow at the failure, but invigorated with respect and appreciation for the experience.

Later, closer to rut, the neighbor caught that 12 point buck right from the road, standing around a herd of does, 300 yds off in a hay field. Stepped out of his mini-van with a scoped 30-06 after running the kids into school. Off to the left of this photo, is where I'd enter those woods n stock those bucks right into the cedar swamp:
[Linked Image]



Last edited by mainer_in_ak; 11/09/18.