Tomorrow is Opening Day here in North Dakota. By now, I've usually spent the last couple of months deciding which of my rifles will be chosen to take this years deer, loads will have been re-tested for verification of accuracy, and (of course) sighted in. This fall, though, a random thought entered my head and kept picking at my brain until I had no choice but to follow it's edict: I am to try and shoot this year's deer with my Dad's 30-06.

I'm not sure exactly when Dad bought this rifle - my brother hypothesized somewhere between 1972 and 1974. I'm guessing 72. Prior to Dad purchasing this rifle, he had hunted a year or two with a surplus 1917 Enfield (Remington), which he detested. Hated the bolt. Hated the peep sight. About the only thing he did like was that it was a 30-06. So when he purchased the "new" Remington, the open sights didn't cut it there either ("Damn comb is too high!")... and on went the 4x Weaver.

I watched my Dad shoot a lot of deer with this rifle - he was a meat hunter, and every year he applied for a doe license, with the buck option as his second choice. And back then, truthfully, bucks were kinda scarce - we might go all fall and not see one...so finding one during the 10 1/2 day season (as I recall - now it's 16 1/2 days) was a bit of a gamble. I can only recall him tagging two bucks with that rifle - a nice 4x4 and a dandy 5x6. As for my brother and I - we've each only shot one deer with Dad's rifle, both does. My brother tagged his first with it, and I took one on a whim back when I was in my twenties.

Dad passed away in 2007, and to my recollection his rifle has sat in the gun cabinet ever since. My brother long ago gave up on deer hunting, in favor of bird hunting. And I have somewhere in the vicinity of 13 different rifles to choose from each fall. So his rifle has sat. Dad liked his Remington rifle, but always seemed to shoot Winchester ammunition in it (he didn't reload). So when I decided to go with his rifle, I went to the store to buy some ammo for it. The local hardware store didn't have any. On a trip to Fargo, I stopped in the Scheels there, and cringed at the prices they were asking. I bought two boxes of the cheapest 150gr loads they had (Federal Non-Typical) and paid them their blood money. I was a bit concerned when I took the rifle to the range - and put a target up at 25 yds to see whereabouts the ancient Weaver was going to put the first round. In the end, the rifle/scope combo is still solid - at least out at 100 yds.





Not bad for a Jam-o-matic 742......

Great story buddy! Ton's of luck out there this fall!

I like stories like you shared - reminds me of time around a campfire. Good luck!

Doggone it, that's a great story and good on you, and now you have me thinking similarly. I just dug my Dad's old 1903A3 sporter out for its biennial cleaning. Haven't shot it in decades, because frankly I don't like it. He simply dropped the metal from the $20 rifle as it came from the DCM 60 years ago into a Fajen stock, and didn't hardly dress down the wood before slopping a couple coats of linseed oil on it. Like your father he eventually installed a Weaver K4, and found it to interfere with the safety. He did what most guys did back then and installed a low-swing safety, but he botched the job and it kept falling out. His falling in love with Savage 99's put the A3 on the back burner from the late 70's until he died in '90, but not until he whacked a bunch of does with it. (Like you, bucks were scarce way back then here in MD.) And I thought I was all set for deer season......

God took my verbally & physically abusive father out of my life in 1970 when I was 12 years old. I have nothing but bad memories of my time with him.

Cultivate any memories you can resurrect that bring you joy thinking of your father. I still try every now and then, but there are none.

That's the BDL MODEL 742 they are a lot rarer than the ADL mod. One for the old man. Youbegettnr.. Best of luck ..mb

I’ll be doing the same. 742, .30-06 with the old man’s 180gr RN reloads. Redfield wide field 3-9x

Good story Kaiser and I hope you get one with your Dad's rifle.

I have my Dad's Remington 760 in .270 and I've used it a time or two in his memory. The old Bushnell Scopechief 2.5x8 he put on it way back when is still dead on with 130 grain Core-Lokt's.

Great story and I now have to get my Dad's Marlin 336 and take it for a walk in the woods!

Been using my Dads pre-64 70 Featherweight since he passed. I did have to replace the Weaver K4. The O rings were coming apart and front lens was loose. Gnoahhh did clean the checkering up for me and refinish it. Didn't hurt value any cause Dad had already refinished the stock at least once. I'd rather have it than about any new rifle I could think of.

I have my dads Ruger 257 Roberts he used the last 10 or 11 years he hunted. He died in 2020 the day before Easter. I dropped a nice fat doe opening morning with it. Must of been pretty windy because I remember my eyes watering awfully bad when I was following the blood trail lol.

I made same decision last year to use my dad's pre 64 model 70 in 308 win I only hunted it in good weather and was very particular about the deer so last day of season got to shoot a Coyote at 100 yards and then 18 minutes later shoot the buck I was after he broke one side of rack off but weighed 188 dressed it is either my heaviest deer or second heaviest

Great accounts fellas. Neat stuff!

Yes they are I should of shared a last year. One of my favorite books as a kid was cartridges of the world third edition where I read the book and fell in love with 308 norma mag which is what I'm going to hunt with this year and if I shoot more than 1 I will use the 308 win to test the norma bondstrike bullet

My Dad died last year, about a week before the Pa. opener. I hunted a lot with his 99 last year. I sighted it and loaded a new box of 300 Sav. this year. Won’t be the only one I hunt with buts it’s in the rotation.

I use my dad’s and grandfather’s rifles every year, even if it’s for a couple of morning sits. I killed a nice buck the season after my dad passed. I’m convinced it was divine intervention that I hit that deer running through the woods past me! I enjoy the stories about other “dads” rifles as well.

I just wish I had grandkids to leave my to !I have 12 and none hunt or shoot!

I’m far from certain that retailers are to blame for the high prices. They are likely just passing along the misery. They also have brick and mortar expenses and people to pay. I know time’s short for you, but online sources often have good sales if you take the time to search a bit.

Good luck with your nostalgia project. Those old BDLs were pretty wild, trying to outdo Roy Weatherby I think. When I was a kid a neighbor who hunted in PA had a pump version.

Used my Dads Remington pump 270 after it sat awhile. Killed a nice buck with it. Put a scope on it and my daughter has killed a couple bucks with it. Hoping my grandson will do the same in about 10 years or so. It’s a 1954 model. Edk

Ether goe get one for dad

Many years ago I worked at our local Walmart in the Sporting Goods section. We made between 10 and 15% on the guns we sold but we made between 25 and 35 % on the ammo. I could sell a lot of ammo in the fall, especially just before deer season. Back then we could only hunt with muzzle loader or shotgun in 3 of the 4 seasons. In the 4th season the hunter could use a center fire rifle for does only in the bottom 2 rows of counties in southern Iowa.

Just like owning a computer printer. The printers are fairly cheap, but the ink cartridges were the expensive part.

kwg

Great idea to use dad's rifle. Best of luck!

In 1957 dad bought a new Modell 88 Winchester in .308. It was produced in 1955 so an early one. Very nice. He hunted it until he was 84 then I got it. I killed one bull and some deer with it and the biggest porcupine I ever saw while dad was still hunting.

About four years ago I gave it to my oldest son, it is intended for his son who is left handed. I always liked the rifle and was pleased to see my son did too. The second year he had it he used it to kill a nice four point mule deer. He chose it over his Bansner stocked Pre-64 FW '06 which he rather likes.

This next year that grandson will be old enough to start using it. I truly hope I live long enough for him to get a deer with his great grandpas rifle.

When it’s your left handed grandsons turn, remember the 88s safety is easily reversed for him.

Great story Kaiser Norton, I really enjoy Dad stories, here is mine :o)

My favorite hunting rifle of all time was given to me by my father in 2002. It is a Sporterized BSA P1917 that was Sporterized in England and given to him by his good friend and mentor who befriended him when he was 13 years old. My father was a city boy, his father did not hunt so this older gentleman took my father under his wing because he was keen on hunting, so he took my father moose and deer hunting with him.

This is a picture of my father with his first moose at 16, I believe. The second picture is of my father with the gentleman that gave him the rifle, moose and deer hunting. When he gave me the rifle it had an old Weaver scope on it, since yours has one as well I am guessing that Weaver was a big name when it came to scopes? I hated the scope, so I replaced it with a Bausch and Lomb 4200 Elite.

When my father was given this rifle, he had a new stock customized for it to custom fit it to his personal measurements by a well-known stock smith by the name of Klaus Hiptmayer. The stock is Ferlach Austrian in design made from French Walnut with a Schnobble fore-end treatment. The butt plate is Sterling Silver with my father’s signature engraved into it.

This rifle is super accurate and everything I have shot with it has dropped in it tracks from moose at 500 yards to deer on the full run @ 200 yards, the rifle is a beast and I feel really bad for the chaps that were shot with it in the WW’s. I cannot even imagine a human surviving after being shot with this rifle.

I shoot Winchester Super X Power Points in 180 gr., for the simple reason that the barrel loves this round. I have killed more deer with this rifle than I remember and about 10 moose.

My father was my best friend and he passed in 2014. When I hunt with this rifle, I feel as though my father is hunting with me and is along for the ride, I do not get the feeling with any other rifle or shotgun I own, so I prefer to hunt with it for that reason and because it fits me like a glove, never fails to do its job and fills my freezer every year.

Damn nice looking work on that 17 KB...mb

My father killed a bunch of deer with his tang safety Ruger 77 in 30-06. He wasn’t much of a rifle shot in his later years & it shot everything into a softball sized group but he killed everything he shot at.

As a one year sentimental remembrance of my Dad who often took me hunting I killed a mule deer buck & a cow elk after replacing the foggy weaver with a Sightron s2 3-9 but was going to turn it into a 35Whelan it shot so poorly. My 150 grain fast 06 load got it under an inch so it still lives in original form, hopefully one of the great grandkids will take something with it.

If that model still holds, then they have some room to maneuver on their prices for sure. Like grocery stores, I imagine they cut here and hope to make it up there. I buy almost all my ammo online, and there’s a wide range of prices there for certain, but almost always less than what I see in stores, and I can usually score free shipping as well. I’ve gotten some really good deals from Norma and no duds yet. The 6CM Match was a real deal and shoots great in my rifle.

I’ve mostly given up on ink jet printers. Unless they have separate color cartridges, you end up tossing out a lot of ink when you replace them. I went laser and just replaced the toner with an extra-capacity cartridge that should hold me forever.

Thanks for the inside dope.

Wow, that’s some rifle!

I kill lots of critters, but the gun is always more important than the quarry…

In 1963 my dad decided to buy his first deer rifle and stop borrowing them from my uncles. He picked up a Marlin 336C in .30-30 from K-mart for $60 or so. He had a pachmayr swing mount with a Bushnell 1.5-4.5 scope chief put on it, and used it until 1984. Dad had missed a couple deer with it, and lost faith in it. So, for Christmas that year, he got a 700 BDL .30-06 with a Redfield wide field 2-7x. Meanwhile, I replaced the pachmayr base on the .30-30 with a weaver, and proceeded to shoot very nice, consistent groups. Dad didn’t like the 700 because he had trouble with the safety, so went back to using the Marlin. In 2003, he went hunting on a friends property, despite not feeling well, and on November 17th, they found him dead of heart failure near the blind, still carrying the Marlin. I have that gun, and every year I hunt on November 17th, I carry it. For 15 years, I never saw a deer while carrying it. I figured it was cursed or something. A couple years ago, I was hunting the blind where he died, and had the Marlin and a nice Eatin’ doe came out at 50 yards, she stood broadside, I brought the hammer to full cock, aimed and squeezed. Click. I worked the lever slowly, sure enough there was a round in there. I thought to myself “good one dad”. The deer was still there, so I cocked the hammer, lined up on a very attentive doe, and ‘bang’! She flipped and died on the spot. This morning, I took the gun to the range to verify zero, and the two shots were both in the 1” diamond on the target. Good to go for the 17th, now that the curse is broken.

Old70

My walk-about rifle up here is my Dad's '94 in 30-30. It was manufactured in 1927, and I believe he was given it slightly used when he moved the family to northern Minnesota before WWII, by my mother's uncle - who raised her after her mother died when Mom was 11 days old.. Killed a lot of deer, in and out of season, in the Minnesota years, and some after we moved back to ND when I was 3.

I killed my first BG animal, a doe white-tail with it in 1966, and nothing since. A couple brothers used it for about 25 years and took deer with it, before it came back into my hands 15 or so years back.

Old70 - sounds like you need to clean that thing and hunt it with dry lubricant, or not any at all. That "click" sounds indicative of gummy or frozen works. I wish I still had my 336, now sleeping with the fishes in the Tanana River.

Great story Old70…

Awesome story Old70...... precisely why I really enjoy Dad's Rifle stories, most of us here started hunting with their fathers.

When it's my turn to meet my lord and savior, I hope I go out in a similar fashion.

Thanks for the feedback, I do treasure that rifle. Las, that is the only click that rifle has ever made, and the same round killed the deer. Not sure what it was, but I could definitely hear dad chuckle right after.

Old70

Great story!

Same goes for me.

Great stories each of them. My dad didn't care too much for hunting and had a Mod 98 8mm that was ruff as a cob. I gave it to one of my nephews and he and couple others have killed deer with it. Dan.

Absolutely correctamundo!

Nice hunting setup, but for me, I would have scope eye every time I pulled the trigger.

My dad had a Remington 742 in .243 that had the flip over scope mount on it. He died when I was a teenager and as soon as I could, I changed the scope and rings/mounts on it. I remember my dad shooting nothing but 80 and 100 gr Rem corlockts in it. While the barrel is not the best it still shoots sub of deer. I am currently gathering all I need to reload for it and hopefully hunt with it once or twice.

Great story and I hope you're successful with your Dad's rifle.

My own Dad gave me his lever-action .32 Special a few years ago when he decided that he was done hunting. Maybe I'll take it out when season starts next week.

That's a nice rifle, bruinruin.

I have my Dad's 94 .30-30 and have thought about carrying it out a day or two, but it still has buckhorns on it, I prefer (read: need) peeps if using iron sights. My 94 has 'em, so if a .30-30 goes, it's that one.

It hasn't been fired or in the woods since the mid-80's (he passed in '88).

Nice rifle Bruin, I must have its twin. My dad was not much of a hunter, but he did have a nice 94 .32 spl. I killed my first deer with in when I was 15. This fall that will be 60 years ago. I may take it deer hunting next week for whitetails, but in this river bottom country the shots tend to be longer than the woods, but I might luck out.

Great story and best of luck this year.

My father hunted and worked making guns for many years, my younger sister and I came along after he broke his neck, had to retire and gave up hunting. All of his guns were gone before I came along unfortunately after all of them were gone. I wish I had the Marlin 35 rem he built at Marlin hunted with. One of my most prized possessions is the 336 30-30 he gave me when I turned 12, about as close I can get

I learned I'm in the "dad" age range from this thread and grateful I'm still able to carry my own rifle around.

I can see a semi Auto 06 in Northern MN woods...

open plains in Norda Kota, with a 4 power scope on top?

your dad musta been a good shot...

but mega kudos tho, for pulling out dad's rifle and taking it hunting.. regardless of what it is.

years ago I put together a Model 70 in 6.5 x 57, with a one in 7 twist with a 28 inch barrel... that was the rifle I planned to us, if I ever hunted the Dakotas or Montana/ Wyoming for antelope. Never been done...

it has hunted Oregon tho.... It sure can reach out there with a 140 grain bullet..

kinda like the Creedmoor concept, but on a long action... and I built it before the Needmoor hit the market...

a Remington 260 Varmint rifle was also purchased for the same opportunities.... its just hunted Oregon and Montana once...

My son hunted with his grandpa’s 742 Woodsblaster .30-06 this year. He has other rifles but wants to hunt with that one some. He even dug out one of his old hunting knives to go along, too. Happy Trails

I still hunt and shoot a lot. My son comes out and deer hunts with me every year for 9 days. We have a great time and he has killed some real nice bucks and some turkeys and other upland birds. He really likes to shoot and hunt and somehow he got a membership to the Seattle police range which he took me to. I'm 74 and the last 5 years I've been giving him guns when he comes out. He's going to get them when I'm gone but I love the look on his face every year when he takes them out of the case while we take a break from cutting meat. Most he's never seen before. He and his wife love venison and I like to send him home with 4 deer every year. I would rather give them to him while I can see his reaction. He's killed 20 sum deer with the Sako 270 Win. I gave him.