This morning, I stood in front of the gun cabinet for a good half hour trying to make sense of it. I finally had to get on with other chores.
The big question: Which rifles do I take deer hunting this year?
The problem: I've got too many good deer rifles, too few days to hunt, too many new projects that are unblooded and too many dead friends.
Good deer rifles? I've got better than 20 that could conceivably go out. Some are a bit extreme. I've got a SXS 12 GA and a 357 Mag lever that are unblooded.
Too few days to hunt: I hunt the KY Rifle Opener, and the next week, and then the last weekend. That's 10 days. I try to take a minimum of rifles to camp-- usually 3 for the first week. I make an effort to put a rifle away for the season once I've shot something. We've got 4 tags, but we're limited to only 1 buck. We usually only fill 2 tags each, just so we don't overload the freezer.
I've been busy over the past decade or so. I've had a bunch of rifles follow me home. Some have been remarkably good. My 30-06 Ruger Hawkeye is one of those rifles that could do it all. In fact, I'm seriously thinking of leaving it at home this year, just because I usually end up filling 1-2 tags a year with it. I had to retire my Rem 7600 in 35 Whelen, because it was hogging all the deer.
I've had several dear friends pass, and I've ended up with their deer rifles. Top of this list is the Ruger Model 44 Carbine I received from the estate of my gun editor friend who passed late last winter.
I'm going to throw in a few other complications. First off, it's just whitetail deer. Nothing exceptional is required. Our farm is on 200 acres of ideal whitetail environment, with less than 200 feet of altitude difference. Schlepping a Garand around is not out of the question. Out of the stands, shots are inside 80 yards. Out of the longest venues, a shot of 150 yards will take most every deer
I know I've complained to y'all before, but this year it's worse than ever. I just spent an hour working on a decision matrix in Excel that comes as close as possible to reflecting my current thoughts. It's got 5 Axis, and it tells me, that if I want to hunt with the Ruger 44, I need to take the Garand as well and leave the 8mm Mauser at home. I'm scared to add the MAS 36 into the choices.
Do any of you have good coping mechanisms for this?
