The Wife's first deer of the season

steveNChunter · November 29, 2013, 08:40 PM

I finally convinced my wife to brave the cold and go hunting with me this evening. She has hunted with me a few times each season for the last three years but this was her first time out this year. We saw this spike right before dark at about 75 yards and waited for it to walk out into a clearing. It was walking at a brisk pace so when it got to the clearing I did my best impersonation of a doe bleat so it would stop. She was already looking through the scope and as soon as the deer stopped she pulled the trigger. It jumped and ran about 30 yards leaving a decent blood trail. She had made a perfect shot on him, broadside right behind the shoulder.

Her rifle is a Remington Model 7 .243 win. She was shooting an 85 gr Nosler partition over 38 grains of W760 (a staring powder charge in most manuals). There was a little more than caliber-size entry hole and quarter-size exit hole. It went right through the heart, blowing it in half and clipped one lung on the way through. This is the first year I have loaded for her rifle, the 95 gr Federal Fusions she had been using performed well, but they generated a little more recoil than she cared for, especially in the lightweight model 7. I'm proud of the performance of the load, but most of all I'm proud of my hunter!

Jackie Bushman ain't got nothin' on her

paknheat · November 29, 2013, 09:00 PM

Way to go. Great shot placement . My sons first rifle was a model 7 in .243.

steveNChunter · November 29, 2013, 09:16 PM

The model 7 is great rifle for kids/women because of it's shorter length of pull, and short, lightweight barrel. However light weight means more felt recoil, and even a .243 can be a bit much for a recoil sensitive, small framed shooter. My wife is 5'1" 110 lbs so she is inherently recoil sensitive. The lighter loads really helped that problem, and the SuperCell recoil pad I put on the stock helped a lot too. The factory recoil pad was just a piece of hard plastic, not very helpful at all.

She's thinking about getting a new stock for it since I informed her that Boyd's is now making youth stocks. She likes all the "pretty" color options

Panfisher · November 29, 2013, 11:06 PM

She looks like a camoflauged eskimo! Congratulations to her.

taylorce1 · November 30, 2013, 12:03 AM

Tell your wife "Awesome job!"

globemaster3 · November 30, 2013, 12:41 AM

I can completely understand the recoil issue! My oldest is 5 foot nothing and a buck. Her Weatherby Vanguard youth .243 she could shoot well, but did not enjoy the recoil. It almost caused her to quit going to the range with me.

I put her into a 6.8 AR to mitigate the recoil and she loves it!

Great spike she got there! Good on her for shot placement!

ragsxd · November 30, 2013, 05:19 AM

congrats on deer

.284 · November 30, 2013, 06:33 AM

It had to be the doe bleat........you should take all the credit, that's what I'd do.

Seriously, that's one proud and happy huntress. Nice job to both of you and that deer should look great mounted in your freezer.

Keg · December 15, 2013, 03:38 AM

Congrats to her!

BIGR · December 15, 2013, 12:02 PM

Congrats to your wife.

shortwave · December 15, 2013, 08:55 PM

Okay...she shot it... and now you have to cook it.

She looks pretty tickled in that pics. I'm thinkin you may have a great hunting partner.

Congrats to ya both.

Snyper · December 19, 2013, 04:15 AM

I used to have a Model 7 in 6mm Rem, until I let my wife shoot it

Now it's "her " rifle"

We've killed a large herd of deer with it over the last 30 years, but I had to buy a different rifle if I wanted to hunt at the same time she did

November 29, 2013, 08:40 PM	#1
steveNChunter Senior Member Join Date: December 14, 2012 Location: Southern Appalachian Mtns Posts: 1,520	The Wife's first deer of the season I finally convinced my wife to brave the cold and go hunting with me this evening. She has hunted with me a few times each season for the last three years but this was her first time out this year. We saw this spike right before dark at about 75 yards and waited for it to walk out into a clearing. It was walking at a brisk pace so when it got to the clearing I did my best impersonation of a doe bleat so it would stop. She was already looking through the scope and as soon as the deer stopped she pulled the trigger. It jumped and ran about 30 yards leaving a decent blood trail. She had made a perfect shot on him, broadside right behind the shoulder. Her rifle is a Remington Model 7 .243 win. She was shooting an 85 gr Nosler partition over 38 grains of W760 (a staring powder charge in most manuals). There was a little more than caliber-size entry hole and quarter-size exit hole. It went right through the heart, blowing it in half and clipped one lung on the way through. This is the first year I have loaded for her rifle, the 95 gr Federal Fusions she had been using performed well, but they generated a little more recoil than she cared for, especially in the lightweight model 7. I'm proud of the performance of the load, but most of all I'm proud of my hunter! Jackie Bushman ain't got nothin' on her __________________ DEO VINDICE

November 29, 2013, 09:00 PM	#2
paknheat Senior Member Join Date: October 17, 2006 Location: East Texas Posts: 334	The Wife's first deer of the season Way to go. Great shot placement . My sons first rifle was a model 7 in .243.

November 29, 2013, 09:16 PM	#3
steveNChunter Senior Member Join Date: December 14, 2012 Location: Southern Appalachian Mtns Posts: 1,520	The model 7 is great rifle for kids/women because of it's shorter length of pull, and short, lightweight barrel. However light weight means more felt recoil, and even a .243 can be a bit much for a recoil sensitive, small framed shooter. My wife is 5'1" 110 lbs so she is inherently recoil sensitive. The lighter loads really helped that problem, and the SuperCell recoil pad I put on the stock helped a lot too. The factory recoil pad was just a piece of hard plastic, not very helpful at all. She's thinking about getting a new stock for it since I informed her that Boyd's is now making youth stocks. She likes all the "pretty" color options __________________ DEO VINDICE

November 30, 2013, 12:03 AM	#5
taylorce1 Senior Member Join Date: November 18, 2005 Location: On the Santa Fe Trail Posts: 8,242	Tell your wife "Awesome job!" __________________ NRA Life Member

November 30, 2013, 12:41 AM	#6
globemaster3 Senior Member Join Date: January 28, 2006 Posts: 1,482	I can completely understand the recoil issue! My oldest is 5 foot nothing and a buck. Her Weatherby Vanguard youth .243 she could shoot well, but did not enjoy the recoil. It almost caused her to quit going to the range with me. I put her into a 6.8 AR to mitigate the recoil and she loves it! Great spike she got there! Good on her for shot placement! __________________ NRA Life Member "We have enough gun control. What we need is idiot control."

November 29, 2013, 11:06 PM	#4
Panfisher Senior Member Join Date: July 30, 2010 Location: Missouri Posts: 1,337	She looks like a camoflauged eskimo! Congratulations to her.

November 30, 2013, 05:19 AM	#7
ragsxd Member Join Date: December 29, 2008 Posts: 46	congrats on deer

November 30, 2013, 06:33 AM	#8
.284 Senior Member Join Date: July 8, 2009 Location: davison, michigan Posts: 665	It had to be the doe bleat........you should take all the credit, that's what I'd do. Seriously, that's one proud and happy huntress. Nice job to both of you and that deer should look great mounted in your freezer. __________________ Guns have only two enemies, rust and politicians! Deer are amazing creatures....so please don't burn the sauteed onions and I'll pass on the steak sauce, thank you.

December 15, 2013, 03:38 AM	#9
Keg Senior Member Join Date: February 13, 2011 Location: Freestone County, Texas Posts: 1,133	Congrats to her! __________________ Hog Hunters never die........They just reload.........

December 15, 2013, 12:02 PM	#10
BIGR Senior Member Join Date: June 13, 2000 Location: Mountains Posts: 1,385	Congrats to your wife.

December 15, 2013, 08:55 PM	#11
shortwave Senior Member Join Date: December 17, 2007 Location: SOUTHEAST, OHIO Posts: 5,970	Okay...she shot it... and now you have to cook it. She looks pretty tickled in that pics. I'm thinkin you may have a great hunting partner. Congrats to ya both.

December 19, 2013, 04:15 AM	#12
Snyper Senior Member Join Date: December 16, 2013 Location: Eastern NC Posts: 3,047	I used to have a Model 7 in 6mm Rem, until I let my wife shoot it Now it's "her " rifle" We've killed a large herd of deer with it over the last 30 years, but I had to buy a different rifle if I wanted to hunt at the same time she did __________________ One shot, one kill