What was your first big game rifle?
 

I am still working on my book project and have lots of questions only my friends on hunting.net can answer.

How many of you can remember your first big game rifle, and the first deer or elk you took with it? I am looking for stories that share first experiences in the woods. Where were you?, what kind of weather did you hunt in? Was your dad with you, grandpa, brother, mother, aunt, I would like to hear about your first experience hunting deer.

My story was I hunted with a 7.62 Russian dated 1917, I was a freshman in college back in Wisconsin, and shot my first deer in a blizzard, I was so proud to call my dad back in Chicagol and tell him I got a buck, he was very proud.

I appreciate all the help I can get from everyone, thanks..

Dr. Mike

RE: What was your first big game rifle?
 

Short Answer: Remington Model 700 in .270 at age 14....

Long Answer: .... That is, if you consider deer big game, which I don' t, so really it was a Mossberg 810D (one crappy looking gun even when it was new) in .338WinMag at age 23 for elk (big game in my book). That ugly gun has cut a swath of death and destruction for me. Now my youngest son uses it, the other uses my Sako .338WinMag.

EKM

RE: What was your first big game rifle?
 

30/06 took a 5x5 elk with it in 2001

RE: What was your first big game rifle?
 

oops

RE: What was your first big game rifle?
 

Hi.

.280 Rem, Browning A-Bolt, elk at age 18...

RE: What was your first big game rifle?
 

.35 Remington pump,7 pt. buck,killed in 1972...:D

RE: What was your first big game rifle?
 

I started hunting with a 1893 Marlin that was given to me and the first one I bought was a Winchester model 70 in 270 win . This was a pre 64 not the classic .

RE: What was your first big game rifle?
 

My first big bame rifle wasn' t a rifle it was a 12 gague shotgun. I figured it was the best all around gun for a first gun. Birds to deer I could hunt it all with one gun. I took me first deerwith it, a doe, with me grandfather when I was eleven years old.

I got me first deer and my brother got sick and puked in the woods.:D

RE: What was your first big game rifle?
 

Sears Model 53 .30-06 that my Grandpa gave me when I was 15- only five years ago. I was hunting around Goose Creek in NE Nevada. My dad was hunting with me, and my Grandpa was there also, but didn' t go out walking with us. I shot a doe in the heart at about 150 yds. We went to where she went down and found her laying down much like a dog does with her front hooves under her snout. When she saw me she bolted. There was no blood in the area that she was, but I was congfident that I hit her. We eventually found her about three hours later and 300 yds away. That is an experience that I will never forget. It taught me alot about not to give up on tracking a wounded animal.

RE: What was your first big game rifle?
 

Model 70 30:06 Super grade, in 1956,still have it and it is a real shooter.:D

Joe

RE: What was your first big game rifle?
 

Mine was a marlin 30-30 lever action,

I was hunting with my step dad when I was about 14 or so in Georgia. It was around thanksgiving and colder than normal for that time of the year. I didn' t have any good boots so I kept feeling like my toes were going to freeze off.

I was hunting out of a treestand set at the edge of some pines that overlooked a large field with grass growing almost waist high in it. Soon after daylight, I spotted a buck moving from the pines into the field about 50 yards away. When he got about 10 yards into the field he stopped broadside and gave me a good shot opportunity. He dropped in his tracks with a 150 grain winchester bullet through both shoulders.

That was a day I' ll never forget! Neither will my step dad, I still don' t know which one of us was happier.

Oh, and the buck was a 5 pointer that weighed about 150 pounds or so. Not a huge deer, but he sure was awsome to me!

RE: What was your first big game rifle?
 

Open sighted Lee Enfield .303 British.
It worked fine.
Next rifle was a BSA Safari .308 Winchester.
Have used most calibres since.

RE: What was your first big game rifle?
 

The first big game I ever shot was a bull moose with a borrowed .300 savage in a model 99 with a williams peep sight. The bull was laying down at about 80 yards when I first saw him and I dropped to one knee with out thinking of doing it. I held on his chest and fired. Then levered in a fresh cartridge with out thinking about it. The bull got up and as he stood there he started to sway and shake. I put another round in him and he went down. Both shots entered his chest about 4 inches apart. I found both mushroomed 180 grain bullets under the hide on the far side. My high school buddy and hunting partner and I carried the quarters about 3 or 9 miles out on our backs. I don' t remember what age I was at the time but it was then that I became a man.

Robin

RE: What was your first big game rifle?
 

Remington 700 BDL in 6mm Rem. I was 14, it was the first day of the season and it was COOOLLLLDDD. He was a basket racked 8 pt at about 100 yds.

RE: What was your first big game rifle?
 

when i was 12 i had a model 99 lever action .308. Was a real nice gun for me nice and short and light for a young fella. took several deer and moose with that rifle till my brother wanted it back when i got older.

RE: What was your first big game rifle?
 

Winchester 30-30

RE: What was your first big game rifle?
 

Marlin Model 336 30-30 Win. Good luck.

RE: What was your first big game rifle?
 

The first Deer I ever took ummm, seems like it was just last week...... wait it was. The 1st day of Rifle season I went out about 6am 1 hr before sunrise. I sat down in front of a tree at the bottom of a creekbed the wind is blowing at my back which I know is a no-no but I liked the spot and I was somewhat out of the wind. About 7:40 I see a buck walking along the creekbed towards me on the other side of the water.He stoped about 30 to 40 yards out to chomp on some some corn as I pushed the saftey off of my winchester lever action 30-30 it makes a clicking sound which brings the bucks eyes upon me but 3 seconds later he goes back to eating. As I put this 8 point beast in my sights my thoughts are to remain calm. My shot was true he ran about 50 yards and I found him in the creek, the bullet went right trough him. I have a hard time describing what I felt inside but my hunt was a beautiful moment in my life and I will never forget it.

RE: What was your first big game rifle?
 

My first rifle was a 7.7MM Japanese Arisaka, short stock, full military wood, bolt stuck out like a sore thumb, kick like a mule, couldn't find ammo for it except a partial box of Norma 185 Gr. soft points. The whole thing cost me $15.00
Killed my first Deer with my Dads old Savage bolt action 12 Ga.

RE: What was your first big game rifle?
 

My first rifle was a 30-30 bolt action Remington. What a sweet little rifle that was....if I only still had it :-( The very first day that I ever stepped in the woods with a deer tag, rifle and following my Dad, I shot a nice little four point whitetail at about 7:30 AM. Dad sat on another stand a few hundred yards away and came over and I'll NEVER forget that moment. That was 33 years ago this past season. To this day, I still hunt the very same area, and on occasion down the same fire lane we walked in that morning. Up near the shores of Lake Superior....God's country....with alot of snow!!!!

RE: What was your first big game rifle?
 

1917 Eddiestone 30-06. Bought it at a surplus store for 17.50. Shot a Whitetail buck and doe. About 1957 I think.