75 years of hunting

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Those who know me know that I have ben hunting for 75 years plus and during that time I used a variety of rifles and shotguns. They have asked a few times what I thought were the best" this or that" and the word "Best" is in the eye of the beholder ( user ). Plus I have not used all the new calibers on the market today, but speaking of yesteryear I feel these earn a shout out.

Mauser 98
Win 70, pre 64
Win 71 (possibly the best handling lever rifle I ever used )
Savage 99
Parker, Fox and Bennelli inertia system
James Purdy Express Double Rifles which lead to the Double rifle's of today.
Weatherby--One would not be handicapped if all you had was a 257 and 340 ( except for the big 5 in Africa ) and if it was legal I feel the 340 is up to that task as well

What else should I have mentioned ?

as to preferred calibers, again I have not hunted with some of the new ones, but I have and feel I still could ( health issues aside ) hunt everything in the world from predators to elephants with

22-250
6.5 x55
300 H & H
375 H & H
450/400

But I would hate to go through life without having a Win 71, a 243, or a Weatherby., but the 5 I listed served me well for 75 years (-: And I might mention with the new powder and bullets on the market today, they would work even better now than they did in years past.

What did I forget or what should I have used--your turn gentlemen and hunting wife.
 
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Mamm, what an adventure, what a life, n I can only imagine the stories. How I would love to sit down by a campfire w a good boubon n just listen n soak up ur experiences.
I won’t pretend to know or guess ur age but quite a few of the cartridges n guns u have mentioned have served my grandparents well. My grandfather is 92; shot a nice 9pt whitetail this year, my grandmother is 89 n shot her usual buck this year; one of her many claims to fame is she has been hunting since she was a child and has shot at least one deer every year n never has shot a doe, they are both awesome in their own rts n have helped mold me into the man/husband/father/grandfather I am today.
As far as rifles they have used; and still use, for my grandmother is has been the Savage 99 in both 250 and 300 Savage, for my grandfather Mauser 98s in 300HH and ‘06.
They mainly have hunted South Texas on family land but used to go every year to either Montana or Colorado for elk n deer.
I have and have used many of the calibers and or rifles u have used but this post is about u and them.
Thanks again for ur posts
 
Well, I’m less well versed in the weapons since my passion and profession are the wildlife. However, I’ve got my favorites:

22-250 (brought home a coyote with it this morning)
.270 Win - I couldn’t live without it
Beretta semi-auto
.300 Weatherby was Grandpa’s rifle, and figured prominently in nearly ever hunting story of his I can remember.
 
JV842. Some of the best memories I have is memories around a campfire warming up with an adult beverage. It would be a pleasure to share a bottle of bourbon with you while listening to your grandmother and grandfather share hunting and "life" stories with us. I would like to thank you for such a kind post sir, very much appreciated. Congratulations to your grandparents and I hope they celebrate their 100th birthday hunting deer.

Hunting wife, thank you both for the post and for eliminating a yote . How could I have forgotten handguns. We had a few auto's but my memory of handguns always go to the single action Colt, as all the older men in my family liked Roy Rogers and then John Wayne and therefore----(-;
 
Wife .300 all the way.Every animal in Az. is on the board!
Squirrels and Rabbits tend to splatter!:cool:
 
Hunting wife, thank you both for the post and for eliminating a yote . How could I have forgotten handguns. We had a few auto's but my memory of handguns always go to the single action Colt, as all the older men in my family liked Roy Rogers and then John Wayne and therefore----(-;

Oops...I was overly vague. My semiauto Beretta is my shotgun- one of those newfangled ones with the shock absorbers in the stock! I can now bang away all day at geese with 3 1/2s if I want and not feel a thing! :D

Dad was a Dirty Harry fan, so also appreciated a good revolver. He used to have a nickel plated S&W .44 that I thought was the “prettiest” handgun in existence (hey, I was like 10). He sold it before I got to shoot it, but picked up a new stainless one a few years later that he would let me shoot. We did not hunt with it, but it was fun at the range!
 

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