Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Almost sold my .308

So I purchased this rifle new a few years back. Just liked the looks of it and bought it and had a 3-0x50 Zeiss Conquest mounted on it. I took it to the range and sighted it in, shot 4 deer with it and I put it away in the safe never to be touched again, I, like May others have several rifles and I actually prefer my 7mm-08 for deer hunting. 2 years ago when my girlfriend (now wife) wanted to kill a deer I told her that I had the perfect rifle for her and showed her the rifle and she loved it. She is somewhat uneasy around guns, never really shot much. So I thought it would be best for her not to shoot the gun UNTIL she actually squeezed the trigger on a deer. So I showed her the ins and outs of the rifle and went over gun safety a few times, she practiced aiming and dry-firing several times and she was ready to hunt. I took her hunting with me and she killed a doe and was so excited, she never felt the recoil from the rifle. Then the next trip she killed another doe. She was a deer killing machine and she loved her rifle.




The Nightmare Hunt:
So the day comes when the wind is right the time is right and I was taking her on her first hunt where she would be hopefully take her first deer sitting by herself. I had planned on her sitting with me in a shooting house but her 11 y.o. niece was staying the weekend with us so I decided to let them sit together in a shooting house and I would sit in another one about 1/2 mile away. After all, Kasey my wife, was now an experienced hunter and was insisting on killing a buck.
I take them to the stand and get them situated, go over gun safety once again, remind them of the do’s and don’t’s, wish them luck and I head off to my stand. I start getting texts from them almost immediately letting me know that they have already seen a buck chasing a doe but “it wouldn’t stand still for her to shoot it”. The entire afternoon was narrated by text messages from Emma, the 11 y.o.
So, about 10 minutes from dark-thirty, I get a text “buck in the field Kasey is about to shoot it.” So I listening and anticipating the shot…BOOM. Then my phone starts buzzing, Emma is calling I answer the phone anticipating celebratory girly sounds but instead I can hear Kasey crying and Emma saying “aunt Kasey is bleeding really bad, we need you to hurry over here!” I was shocked and said “where is she bleeding?” Emma says “her nose”.
So I hurry over to their shooting house and Kasey is still crying, Emma is scared and there’s a dead buck in the field, a small 5 point.
Anyhow, it turns out that my wife, who is right-handed is left eye dominant. In the excitement of shooting her first buck she closes her right eye and shoots with her left eye, while shooting right-handed! When the rifle recoiled, the scope hit the bridge of her nose and gave her a big goose egg and the blood began to pour. At 34 years of age she had never had a nosebleed and it scared her to death, lol. She is a photo freak, always taking photos, ALWAYS, however, she refused to let me take a photo of her with her buck, due to the nosebleed and bruised eye and nose.

Selfie she sent me right after I left her in the shooting house on her hunt.


The rifle now:
So it’s been in the safe, not being used, Kasey said “I never want to see that rifle again!” So I have since given her a sweet Model Seven 7mm-08 and all is good again. So here is a really nice .308 just sitting there not being used. A couple of days ago a friend of mine mentioned that another friend was searching for a .308 for a Christmas present and was really having trouble finding one so I said “I’ve got a nice .308 I could sell her.” I was unsure of a price, and he wasn’t sure that the wanted to spend the kind of money that my rifle was worth. Anyway, I dug it out and wiped off the dried blood, yes it still had blood on it from Kasey’s nose! So, after wiping it down, and shouldering it a few times, I took it to the range and shot it some. After the range trip I have decided that I just can’t get rid of the .308. I’m going to order some Barnes TTSX 130’s and possibly some Hammer bullets and work on a new hunting round. Just can’t part with it, especially with the memories that have been made with it.

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You put it away with blood on it?

Yes sir, two years ago. Had blood on the barrel, around the magazine and on the trigger guard. All wiped off clean and would never know it was there.

We were in a bit of a hurry due to the circumstances, I grabbed her gun and placed it in the case, got home and pulled it out of the case and right into the safe, never closely inspected it.



pichost

My, what a long scope you have! Lol! I too have a 308 W I was considering selling. Think it will just stay where it is. A good friend of mine is very right handed but left eye dominant. It's interesting to watch him shoot trap right handed using his left eye. But he smashes targets like nobody's business.

Glad to read your wife continues to hunt, nice!

Congrats on successes. This is the trouble with shooting backwards rifles. If you had started her shooting from the correct side you wouldn't have the misadventure to tell about.

But the lady a proper LH or ambi 22 for practice and call her out on shooting backwards.

308’s are fun to shoot, I have a couple, a Savage hog hunter and a 99. Both great shooters. I always looked down on the 308. I was stupid, kills as well as my cannons, way less recoil.

Sorry she was bit but it is good she's still hunting. An evening with a rimfire killing cans shooting from her dominant eye side might be a good thing to try.

I have one son who's right handed and left eye dominate. Another who's left handed and right eye dominant. I started them shooting to match their dominant eye and they've had no trouble with it.

Buy that woman a lefty rifle.
Teach her to shoot it.

It's not that hard to do, she doesn't have that much to relearn.

If you don't, and she ever wants to shoot shotguns, you will regret it.

One thing that might help would be to downsize that scope and get one with more eye relief. Or put a slip on recoil pad to move the nose back away from that scope.

She a has new Remington Model Seven 7mm-08 with a Zeiss scope.

The X Bolt pictured above had a Zeiss on it at the time she was using it (notice in her pic).
I have ordered a new Meopta to replace the old Burris Signature sitting on it in the bottom photo.

. Took me awhile to figure that out as well.... cannons are still sitting comfortably in the back of the safe while several 308’s do a lot of the work now

Last year I got a T/C Compass in 308 and worked up a load for it using the 130 TTSX. I found them to be really, really accurate. This photo shows the powder I used and I used a CCI LR Primer.


It has been effective on game this year as well taking a 240 lb black bear and a 300+ pound hog. Complete pass though on both and both one shot kills





Hope to take a doe with it next week.

That load should have mild recoil too.

Whatever else, it's a really nice looking rifle. I wouldn't be surprised if my wife did something like this if she tried to hunt. I swear that woman could break a screwdriver.

Nice rifle. Nothing at all wrong with a .308. I got 2 and love them.

Very nice and 130's out of a 308 will drop most anything you would want to shoot

130 TTSX do great in a 300 Savage. I bet they are great in a 308. I load 150 GameKings for my 308’s. I need to try the 130’s

She started the new year right! Killed her best buck this morning with her Model Seven 7mm-08. 120 grain Hammer Hunter bullet, shot was 20 yards, buck was trailing a doe and was about 45 minutes behind her.
She should it right-handed, aimed with her right eye and no issues.

I used the .308 to take a decent 8 point at 180 yards on 12/26/21. I used a 130 grain hand-rolled TTSX, shot through front shoulders, ruined both shoulders and neck, bullet was just beneath the skin on the far side.







You can see the bulge on his shoulder, the bullet.
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