Greetings fellow campfire members. I want to say that this forum really helped me narrow down my hunting gear when selecting a rifle load, mounts, and scope from the overwhelming availability of gear and abyss of opinions good and bad. I settled in the Hornday GMX 150gr Superformance ammo, Warne QD maxima mounts, and T* Zeiss 8x56 Diatal scope on top of a Remington 700 .30-06.

Back in October I shot my first big game animal - a Mule deer on public land with the help of my friend Dale and Father in law. I took the deer from about a 100 yards with a double lung shot. She went about forty feet and fell. Within an hour we had her field dressed, caped, and in a large backpack. The walk out hurt pretty bad on account to the weight and distance.

While wild game table fare isn't new to our home I felt the need to take up the cause and start procuring meat for the family as my Father in law is approaching his mid seventies and it's only a matter of time before he has to hang up his hat.

I have to say my favorite part was processing the deer on my own with the help of a friend. I made the steaks and ground meat just to my liking. Even the wife and children approve of the venison. This season we also have elk and pronghorn in the freezer owing to my Father in law's success in northern Wyoming.

It's been a red letter year on account of the deer and I expect more to come as I have four elk and pronghorn preference points that I plan on burning in the coming years.

Best wishes to everyone over Christmas and the New Year.

Regards,
Nathan in Colorado







and my most recent hunting buddy named after my Father in law.

Very cool. Thanks for taking the time to post with pics.

Congratulations on your first deer Here's to many more to come.......

Didn't know Zeiss made a fixed 8 power scope, looks interesting. do't see too many 8 x scopes being used, I use an older Leupold 8x40 for deer hunting that works well.

Congratulations

Congratulations.
NEWBIE to seasoned hunter/processor in one year!

When you process game for yourself you are assured that it is yours, and how it was handled.
That filet knife I see in the background can be used to remove silverskin just like skinning a fish.
Makes that process easy-peasy

Lots of good advice from some of the folks here.

Congrats! It's special to have a meal with game you took yourself.

Awesome job man, congrats on your first deer! I love grocery shopping in the mountains!

Very cool. Congrats and welcome to the fire.

This is awesome! Well done man, and congrats!

Love stories like this. Congrats

Agreed, despite bickering and cane raising over politics, stories like these are what makes the 'Fire a well rounded great place.

Congrats Nathan, it'll be the same and then some when you see that boy of yours drop the hammer on his first deer too.

Very nice and as it should be. I enjoy it from the time I'm lacing up my boots for the first hunt, till the last piece of venison is wrapped for the freezer.

Great story, congrats

Great story and great pics! Thanks for sharing!

Congrats!

Congrats. Great story and looking forward to hearing many more!

Good job. Make sure the young man gets to do the same in a year or two. Ed k

Way to go! Looks like you’re u’re hooked and have a hunting buddy on the way. 😀

Good going Nathan!

That's a scope not seen very often. Do you have some really "dark holes" you like to hunt?

Regarding my scope choice, I'm an optics snob and I really like large apertures and long focal lengths in a rifle scope. I'm not too concerned about low light performance but I like how the large aperture controls stray light really well and gives a sublime view. Additionally, it carries a German #1 which is really easy to see in dark backgrounds and poor light.

If the conditions warrant I also have a Leupold VX-1 4-12x40 in Warne QD Maxima mounts to augment the Zeiss with.

Everyone, thanks for the kind words.

Congrats and nice work. The campfire needs more stories like this.

I think I see a couple of Mora knifes and possibly a Marttiini? How did those work out for you?

I clearly see the Victorinox

Congrats, nothing like doing it yourself. My first deer I took to be processed, every big game animal since has been done by me. It greatly enhances the experience and wouldnt have it any other way.

That rapala knife is one of the best low cost deboning knives going, it also doubles as a filet knife if needed 😀

We use those small Rapala knives all the time in the kitchen and yes for butchering game too. Great little knives.

Congrats. Nicely Done. I'm happy for you.

I've been processing my own game since 1972. I've learned some things about it along the
way that I like/prefer and make portions of it easier.

Keep it up !


Jerry

Very cool, congrats!

Thanks for sharing your story.

I'll echo my friend, here, and say thanks for taking the time to let us know how your hunt went. Congratulations.

What they said...


And a question...is your Rem 700 a CDL or a Mountain rifle? I'm currently working on a project gun thats a combination of the two...

And BTW..Mule deer does can be pretty tasty!

Gratz Nathan!

Wondering about this, but other than that, very cool. I like people that process their own meat. With my back problems I am struggling with it, but managed to do 2 so far this year. I dread when I can no longer do my own. miles

Hi Miles, after field dressing on the ground we caped and removed the head and forelegs with the assistance of a gambrel. We then covered the body in an elk quarter and lowered into a huge REI backpack and I walked the deer out using the hind legs to balance the load. It was a relatively flat 1.5 miles so it was doable. By September i'm usually in excellent shape due to working in the mountains with the US Forest Service but even so the load was really heavy. I think next time I will divide the animal up and make multiple trips.

Are you mounting the does head? miles

The rifle was a gift from my Mom to my Dad for his 18th birthday in 1978. According to my Mom, she saved her money from working at the flower shop and then went to JC Pennys (it may have been Montgomery Wards, I can't remember now) with my Uncle to buy the rifle. My Uncle was there to help select a rifle with nice wood and he ended up buying the same rifle but in .243.

The rifle in question started out as an ADL but at some point the stock broke and Dad replaced it with a CDL take off stock and the hinged magazine. Over the years he took a few deer with it but the rifle never really saw much use and probably languished in his safe for 15 years without use. When he heard I was going to buy a hunting rifle he handed the Remington down to me.

I left the head in the field. In retrospect I wish that I had kept the head and cape.

Hi Oakie, the fillet knife is Rapala Marttiini - it was great for deboning and removing muscle fascia, tendons, and ligaments.

Moras are great all around knives that are very affordable and punch way above their weight with respect to quality. I prefer the carbon steel versions to the stainless as I find they sharpen easily and hold a wicked edge. I use 800 grit sand paper to strop the scandi edge back to hair popping sharp in short time. My only complaint is that if you put them on your belt that the plastic sheath makes noise when hit by a rifle stock or brush, for that reason I keep them in my pack.

To field dress and cape the deer we used a Havalon piranta and two moras. The Havalon was nice and cut like a laser but I prefer a knife with a guard and very firm grip a la Mora. We also used a Silky Gomboy 240 saw for the head, legs, and sternum.

The Victorinox butcher's knife was great for cubing meat for the meat grinder and steaking out the back straps and tenderloins. It's been a great kitchen knife too. I highly recommend it.

Great stuff