Until 2007, I hadn't gone big game hunting since 1980, when I was 15 and heading away to school. I loved bird hunting and continued doing that until a few years ago when birddogs died, kids arrived and time evaporated.
Then, a few years ago I watched an elk hunt on TV and decided I needed to do that. A gunsmith told me my Dad's rusted old Winchester Model 100 in .308 would be too expensive to get in order so I bought myself a slick Hawkeye in .30-06 and started to handload. Every year since I've headed out with the same nucleus of pals and we've largely been unsuccessful on both deer and elk. On great wine, gourmet meals and extremely raunchy discussions, we've excelled...it's just that the quarry hasn't been joining us in all the fun.
I'd been looking forward to this year's true spike hunt in central Washington so was going to pass on mule deer this year. My pals suggested that was a poor decision, reminding me that as a shutdown federal worker I had time on my hands...those reminders contained lots of compound words with the sound of "ucker" in them. Naturally, I caved.
But as I packed up for the Okanogan, I didn't bring the .30-06. Last winter, my buddy up the street, a completely insane rifle nut, started grinding on me about fixing the old Model 100. So, I did. A complete over-haul...recalled firing pin and spring, new slide springs, and even a tidy little bedding job. I plopped a 60's-era Leupold 4x on top and, wouldn't you know it, the damned thing turned out to be a shooter, throwing 150 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips into cute and perfectly serviceable little 1.5-2" groups. Big fun!
Naturally, I decided to take the 49 year old M100 on the hunt. At 7:30 on the morning of the third day, as my pals squeezed an aspen-lined draw, I dropped the very hefty 3x4 below in its tracks with a lung shot as it was hauling ass, quartering away from me at a handy 60 yards.
Knowing what they do about my Dad and the significance of using his old gun, I don't know who was happier, my friends or me!
Last edited by Blueneck; 11/02/13. Reason: adding pics
"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge" -- Charles Darwin "Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." - John F. Kennedy
Who knew that Angus beef cows disguised themselves as mule deer.
Thats a hog of a deer!
Trump HAD the World, ", Trump saw our children, " Trump saw a way to make a brighter day so he started giving There was a choice he was making, he was saving our own lives Its true he made a brighter day for you and me. --Trump WINS 2016
Great buck and great story! Wish I had a rifle from my dad to hunt with but he was just a small game hunter growing up. He just killed his first deer a few years ago and he usually hunts with one of my rifles. One of these days I will inherit his early 50's Wingmaster that my grandfather bought new.
I have a very similar hunting history. I deer hunted a few times in the mid 80's when I was in high school but there weren't many deer around so I never killed anything and lost interest. I started back again in the fall of 2007 and killed a doe in south AL, my first deer ever. I've been hooked ever since.
Those who must raise their voice to get their point across are generally not intelligent enough to do so in any other way.
Great buck - That is a hog - and great story. Good decision to get the ol' model 100 fixed up. I have an Auto-5 20 gauge my grandpa left me that is older than me. Only gun I've used for bird hunting for the last 25 years.
"Blessed is the man whose wife is his best friend - especially if she likes to HUNT!"
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these."
Gang -- Thanks for all the kind words...the fellas and I have already started the discussions about next year, and I've stashed a great couple bottles of expensive red for 2014.
While I've enjoyed getting back into big game hunting and the utter lunacy of the rifle and caliber discussions i have with my buddy up the street, this hunt with this old gun just flat sealed the deal. I'm utterly obsessed with the model, the caliber, the possibilities of improving its performance...you name it, I'm thinking about it.
Pretty sure my wife isn't quite as excited as I am, but she feigns interest well...the best part on the home front is probably that my kids TOTALLY get how cool it is that I finally got a deer and I did it with my Dad's weaponry. The kids like to shoot, they just don't want to kill...maybe this will change that...
"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge" -- Charles Darwin "Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." - John F. Kennedy
I love these "family tradition" threads. It's always cool to hear about a gun staying in the family and having multiple generations harvest deer with it. This year I'm gonna take my late Uncle's Marlin 30-30 out hunting. The gun's never been hunted with; he bought it new about 1991 at age 72!. Only fired a couple boxes of ammo through it up at his camp in Canada and never got to hunt with it. Hopefully this year his nephew will get to fill a tag with it for him. If he were still with us he'd be getting lots of venison.
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