The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Why not use a heavy rifle for typical deer hunting?

jglsprings · February 14, 2014, 12:56 PM

Wow, what a serious thread for such a personal choice!

</start old man rant>

Back when I was a kid.... (don't you love old farts that start every story that way)...

My first deer rifle was a Enfield No4 that my uncle had some how acquired...

AS I REMEMBER IT it sill had the 4 foot bayonet on it from the great war. And as a 7 year old the darn thing was taller than I was AS I REMEMBER IT... we did however get to drive to the trail head (the end of the hay fields at the base of the mountains) to start the 40 mile forced march, up hill, in the winter, dodging grizzly bears...

And I swore that after two seasons of that set up I would go to school - get a good paying job - and buy my uncle and myself a reasonably sized rifle!!!

I think this was a ploy of my uncle's to instill what he considered "character building" in a young fatherless "kid" from the city...

So... true to myself I did go and get better, smaller, lighter, easier rifles to hunt with... and I even eventually bought my uncle a "good" hunting rifle which he did use... And I never forgot the forced marches and dragging of elk and all the other parts of hunting with that battle rifle.

But the last time I was able to go out shooting with this guy - We took out the Enfield just for old time's sake... He wasn't able to hunt then... and as we were setting up the rifles on the bench he said "I sure don't remember that rifle being so darn heavy" and then he gave me a wink...

</end old man rant>

The moral of the story? Old farts say “darn” a lot...

February 14, 2014, 12:56 PM	#44
jglsprings Senior Member Join Date: January 7, 2009 Posts: 1,827	Wow, what a serious thread for such a personal choice! </start old man rant> Back when I was a kid.... (don't you love old farts that start every story that way)... My first deer rifle was a Enfield No4 that my uncle had some how acquired... AS I REMEMBER IT it sill had the 4 foot bayonet on it from the great war. And as a 7 year old the darn thing was taller than I was AS I REMEMBER IT... we did however get to drive to the trail head (the end of the hay fields at the base of the mountains) to start the 40 mile forced march, up hill, in the winter, dodging grizzly bears... And I swore that after two seasons of that set up I would go to school - get a good paying job - and buy my uncle and myself a reasonably sized rifle!!! I think this was a ploy of my uncle's to instill what he considered "character building" in a young fatherless "kid" from the city... So... true to myself I did go and get better, smaller, lighter, easier rifles to hunt with... and I even eventually bought my uncle a "good" hunting rifle which he did use... And I never forgot the forced marches and dragging of elk and all the other parts of hunting with that battle rifle. But the last time I was able to go out shooting with this guy - We took out the Enfield just for old time's sake... He wasn't able to hunt then... and as we were setting up the rifles on the bench he said "I sure don't remember that rifle being so darn heavy" and then he gave me a wink... </end old man rant> The moral of the story? Old farts say “darn” a lot... __________________ Let's eat Grandma. Let's eat, Grandma. Commas save lives... Last edited by jglsprings; February 14, 2014 at 02:57 PM.