Just wanted to share a little of this past weekend with y'all. I haven't had a better opening weekend in a long time. It started off as a 3 day trip out of town to take my wife to some medical specialists to try and get her well. After a couple of days of tests she told me she didn't want to go home - she wanted to go to the hunting camp and relax, and work with our retriever. Luckily it was only about 1 hour away from her doctors offices.
My last trip up during archery season I had brought my Handi 30-30 (thanks OldSolja!) and left it in the safe at the cabin. I was all set. got to the camp Friday afternoon, got my wife settled and went out to check my cameras.....Lots of venison running around in the woods, and at regular times during late morning and early afternoon. the other guys got up before daybreak to go out into the chill with their 300 Winmag bolt guns. They all thought it was comical I was "only" using a cheap single shot rifle. they all came back to camp around 10 am with nothing to show.
I went out at about 9:30 after a great breakfast my wife made and set up in my ground blind - the wind was still. 9:45 a doe with twin fawns(one still had spots on its rump like an appaloosa) came down the trail. Watched them walk towards me for 110 yards coming within 20 feet of the blind. They never had a clue I was there and I smiled as they went into the thick cover. At 10:20 I was shifting my position on the stool and saw 4 huge does come out about 120 yds away. Two turned and came down the path toward me for about 30 yds then meandered back into thick cover.
At 10:30 all four does came back down the trail. No antlers around so at 30 yds out I pulled the trigger on my Handi - loaded with Winchester silver box 150 grain. Looking through the scope I could see two deer down! The second deer had walked up right behind the first one and had its head down when I shot. the 150 gr FP took out the heart of doe #1, exited thebetween the ribs and severed the vertebra in the neck of doe #2!
The little Handi shoots exactly where I wanted it to and then gave me some extra good luck to boot! I got back to the camp around 11:15 and was grinning big, and very proud of my "cheap" little single shot rifle. My wife took the tenderloins and soaked them in some buttermilk then a little sasoning and flour cooked up a great lunch for me to eat after I finished cleaning!
Thank you to all my Handiholic brethren out there that can appreciate this simple, rugged and accurate rifle! I have learned much over the years from you and wanted to share this experience.
