Guns, Dogs and Blades QnA
Last Saturday marked the opening of antlered deer season in PA. Lately, if been using rifles that were projects for me to restore. This year, I finished restoring a Remington-Lee 1899 sporting rifle in 30-40 Krag. It is a pretty rare rifle since only a little over 1400 of them were made in all calibers combined.
I worked up reloads using 220 grain round nose bullets and developed an excellent combination that was accurate out to 100 yards with open sights. Target picture was taken at 50 yards. Not bad for a 125 year-old rifle.
I hit the road on Friday after Thanksgiving and headed out to Centre county. Monday morning, I settled into a nice clearing back in the woods. Shortly thereafter, I saw 2 does heading my way about 65 yards away. Both deer were of the same size. The lead doe took a left hand turn and presented me a broadside shot. I centered the sights just behind the shoulder and pulled the trigger. I saw her crash about 20 yards away in the woods.
She's smaller than I had anticipated but hunting isn't a catch and release sport. As I told the fellows in camp, "anybody can shoot a big deer but you have to be accurate to shoot a small deer". I will finish butchering her today. I'm sure that the meat will be delicious and tender. This was a great ending to a fun project.
Last Saturday marked the opening of antlered deer season in PA. Lately, if been using rifles that were projects for me to restore. This year, I finished restoring a Remington-Lee 1899 sporting rifle in 30-40 Krag. It is a pretty rare rifle since only a little over 1400 of them were made in all calibers combined.
I worked up reloads using 220 grain round nose bullets and developed an excellent combination that was accurate out to 100 yards with open sights. Target picture was taken at 50 yards. Not bad for a 125 year-old rifle.
I hit the road on Friday after Thanksgiving and headed out to Centre county. Monday morning, I settled into a nice clearing back in the woods. Shortly thereafter, I saw 2 does heading my way about 65 yards away. Both deer were of the same size. The lead doe took a left hand turn and presented me a broadside shot. I centered the sights just behind the shoulder and pulled the trigger. I saw her crash about 20 yards away in the woods.
She's smaller than I had anticipated but hunting isn't a catch and release sport. As I told the fellows in camp, "anybody can shoot a big deer but you have to be accurate to shoot a small deer". I will finish butchering her today. I'm sure that the meat will be delicious and tender. This was a great ending to a fun project.