I shot my first deer with my first centerfire rifle, a model 1894 Winchester in 30 WCF. That was in 1992. I took it with me as backup in 2001 and shot a coyote that was running by at about 50 yards. Put a small scope on it a couple of years later and took it w/ me for regular deer hunt in '05 but didn't see any deer until I came home and had my muzzle loader with me (in Michigan you can't hunt w/ centerfire rifle north of a certain line, and I live south of it).
This year I took a young man from my church to deer camp with me. He'd shot my 30-30 quite a lot, I now have a wonderful little Weaver 2.5x on it. He didn't shoot a deer but likes the rifle... what isn't to like??
This Thursday I'm going out to the range and will bring that little carbine along. I love it to death. To this day it is the only rifle I "need" but I'm such a rifle crank that I WANT more. Nice thing is that I have settled on one load for this rifle its no muss no fuss... 36 gr RL-15 under 150 gr Win PP in Win brass. I'm never without a hundred or so when I'm at the range. With that litte scope I can hit the ram at 150 yards 100% of the time over sticks. Great activity for when other rifles are cooling between groups.
