Please indulge me on this. I have never written anything like this, just jotting down memories from an old man.
I have frequently posted on here, and joined Backfire Plus shortly after Jim started it. As I approach the autumn of my years, i was sitting here reflecting on my life as a shooter, hunter, law enforcement officer, and a patriot of this great country, it gives me pause to remember what a great hobby and sport this is. I was born in Texas, and have lived here all my life.
I will be 73 years old this coming October. I began shooting with my Dad when I was 8 years old. We began shooting with a Remington pump .22, have no recollection of the model. I continued shooting into my teens, where I was a Boy Scout, and at 14 achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. I worked one summer as a counselor and rifle range instructor. I got to shoot a lot that summer. I had bought a Browning Tbolt .22, and eventually carried a 49 out of 50 average on a 50 foot range. As a side note one of my duties was to fire the canon every morning to awaken the camp. Other than dove hunting and rabbit hunting, I really didn’t get to start deer hunting till my late twenties.
I started the Dallas County Sheriff’s Academy when I was 20 years old, and graduated the academy as a deputy sheriff when I was 21 (1974). My wife actually had to purchase my duty weapon, because I was not 21 at the time (She was a year older than me). I spent 10 years as a deputy sheriff. Learning to shoot a handgun was definitely different than shooting a rifle. Many rounds later and an excellant FBI firearms instructor, I was able to always qualify with one point less than a perfect score. That was actually intentional, as you never know in that situation, and there are never perfect scores.
I have had lots of rifles in those days, Brownings, Remingtons, Winchesters, Marlins. Many different calibers, from .243 to 300 win mag. I always had nice rifles, and nice scopes. Probably in the 1980s to 90s a Browning A-bolt Medallion with a Leupold 3-9 was the nicest deer rifle I had. It shot well and was very accurate. I never have missed a deer and they have always fallen where they stood.
As I got older, being self employed, owning a company that installs and services automated gate systems, I decided I would like a really nice deer rifle. I wound up treating myself to a Sako Finnlight in .270wsm with a Zeiss Conquest 3-9 scope. That was maybe 2004 or 2005. Being a Texan, I have hunted in East Texas, Central Texas, and West Texas. I have had hunting leases in Comanche, and for the past 16 years a 4000 acre lease in Seymour, about 20 miles from the 6666s ranch. It was on the Seymour lease I shot a nice 8-point at 285 yards with the Sako 270wsm. Was really just to see if I could do it. That is the thing about hunting in Texas. Most deer are taken while sitting in a deer blind, usually 100 to 200 yards to a deer feeder on a timer. I find I really don’t refer to it as deer hunting, more like deer harvesting. Not really much to it, rifle that shoot .5moa at 100 yards, really deer harvesting.
About 10 years ago I sold all my rifles and shotguns. I had guns I literally had not shot in 30 to 40 years. So I decided to do asset re-allocation, and sell all those gathering dust and buy high end rifles that I would hunt with. I have several AR-15s some with thermal for coyotes, an AR10 with a duo day/night thermal for hogs, a 6.5cm, a 6.5prc, a 7prc for deer and pretty much anything else in North America.
So I have only shot white tail deer, plus lots of pigs, coyotes, and varmints. I have a bucket list that maybe I can fill before my days are done. I would like to shoot a Mule Deer, maybe a Auodad Sheep, and a Antelope. If I was maybe 10 years younger an Elk, but I can’t walk up and down mountains anymore.
With the rifles I have I should be well equiped to hunt any of these. I would like some of the new calibers, but realistically what more is it going to get me. Just my thoughts.