OK, need some help from y’all to help me determine if I’m being a bit silly here. Bottom line is that it does not look like I will be getting permission to hunt the private farm I was able to hunt last season, so it looks like I will primarily be hunting public land. Being on public land in Central VA means other hunters, especially on Saturdays (and especially opening days). I have always hunted from the ground, but I think that I would be much more unlikely to get hit with a stray bullet if I were up in a treestand. I was thinking about selling my slug gun (Marlin 512 Slugmaster) and using the money to buy a used climbing treestand. But, I will have a hard time selling that gun. If I make a list of pros and cons, I think I have to admit that my attachment to it is sentimental.
Pros
• I already own it and it is a legal means to take deer in shotgun-only counties (so is a muzzleloader, but holding multiple rounds allows the taking of multiple deer at once [or a quick follow-up shot available if ever needed])
• Similar to the first reason, I already own it and it can be used by another person that wants to learn to hunt (I don’t have very many deer-killing guns)
• I carried this gun around Pocahontas State Park my very first season hunting (many, many outings) and killed my first big buck with it (sentimental)
Cons
• The gun is fairly heavy (there are lighter slug guns)
• The trigger is insanely heavy and needs a trigger job ($$ to pay a gunsmith to do it, or $$ to buy the tools I need to do it myself)
• Recoil is ridiculous (a 20-ga slug gun has much lighter recoil than a 12-ga)
• The scope mount sits so far forward that the 4x Weaver I have for it won’t sit far back enough that you can see through it. So, in order to scope the gun, a gunsmith needs to tap the receiver and move the mount back an inch or so, or I have to find a scope with the dimensions and eye relief to work properly (a real PITA since the Weaver I have is pretty standard, dimensionally).
So, what do you say? Have you sold a gun that you had a fond memory of, and regretted it? I mean, on paper (and regardless of the need for funds to purchase a treestand), I should sell this gun and buy a Savage 220F. But, me being me, I would like to keep this gun and also buy a Savage 220F.
