Growing up in the 50s, in a small Missouri town most kids, myself included had a .22. Open sights were the norm, only rich kids had a scope on their rifle. After cataract surgery with astigmatism correction a year ago I wanted to try open sights again. I have a nice little 6.5 lb 8x57 DST Mauser sporter not drilled for a scope. I hunted with it several days this season looking for a buck, no luck. This was the last day so I decided to take a doe if one appeared. I woke up to 25 degrees & a snow storm. About an hour into the hunt I saw 3 does, I took an off hand shot, missed or so I thought as they all bounded away. About 5 minutes later a doe came back, the way she was acting told me I had not missed. I put a 2nd shot into the chest, she went down. The hunt was over for this year. It was very gratifying to harvest a deer with a hundred plus year old rifle and open sights. The rifle is a .318 bore, so it is a hand loading proposition. I worked up a load about 2 years ago that is dead on at 100 yards. 175 gr .318 bullet, 44.5 gr IMR 4320, Remington large rifle primers. This photo was taken about 10 minutes after the final shot, you can see how much snow is on her already.
Mike deer4.jpg
Mike deer4.jpg
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