I bought this gun because my Grandfather had one when I was kid. I used it to harvest my first deer when I was about 12 or 13. When he passed, we would out that he had gifted it to someone else and I was very disappointed. He knew that I had a lot of nice rifles and left it to someone that didn't. I gave up hunting about 35 years ago as I did so much of it that I got tired of it. Only this year did I go again and took a really nice Texas Whitetail.
I like to go to the range and am not sure if I would hunt with this rifle.
Nice you've gotten back into hunting again. I took a hiatus for about 8 years and jumped back in a few years ago.
I completely agree with RAS, hunt it. The .300S is a very versatile cartridge and a 99 chambered in it is plenty accurate enough to take game with. Also, they're a pleasure to shoot. In my opinion It having been reblued is a plus for a hunting gun, because the collector value ship has sailed and you can cover it with some honest wear. If it gets too bad, you can always reblue it if you like. At the same time, there's nothing wrong with keeping it as a gun.