Almost sold my .308
- Thread starter Lonster
- Start date
TomTeriffic
Active member
So I purchased this rifle new a few years back. Just liked the looks of it and bought it and had a 3-0x50 Zeiss Conquest mounted on it. I took it to the range and sighted it in, shot 4 deer with it and I put it away in the safe never to be touched again, I, like May others have several rifles and I actually prefer my 7mm-08 for deer hunting. 2 years ago when my girlfriend (now wife) wanted to kill a deer I told her that I had the perfect rifle for her and showed her the rifle and she loved it. She is somewhat uneasy around guns, never really shot much. So I thought it would be best for her not to shoot the gun UNTIL she actually squeezed the trigger on a deer. So I showed her the ins and outs of the rifle and went over gun safety a few times, she practiced aiming and dry-firing several times and she was ready to hunt. I took her hunting with me and she killed a doe and was so excited, she never felt the recoil from the rifle. Then the next trip she killed another doe. She was a deer killing machine and she loved her rifle.
The Nightmare Hunt:
So the day comes when the wind is right the time is right and I was taking her on her first hunt where she would be hopefully take her first deer sitting by herself. I had planned on her sitting with me in a shooting house but her 11 y.o. niece was staying the weekend with us so I decided to let them sit together in a shooting house and I would sit in another one about 1/2 mile away. After all, Kasey my wife, was now an experienced hunter and was insisting on killing a buck.
I take them to the stand and get them situated, go over gun safety once again, remind them of the do’s and don’t’s, wish them luck and I head off to my stand. I start getting texts from them almost immediately letting me know that they have already seen a buck chasing a doe but “it wouldn’t stand still for her to shoot it”. The entire afternoon was narrated by text messages from Emma, the 11 y.o.
So, about 10 minutes from dark-thirty, I get a text “buck in the field Kasey is about to shoot it.” So I listening and anticipating the shot…BOOM. Then my phone starts buzzing, Emma is calling I answer the phone anticipating celebratory girly sounds but instead I can hear Kasey crying and Emma saying “aunt Kasey is bleeding really bad, we need you to hurry over here!” I was shocked and said “where is she bleeding?” Emma says “her nose”.
So I hurry over to their shooting house and Kasey is still crying, Emma is scared and there’s a dead buck in the field, a small 5 point.
Anyhow, it turns out that my wife, who is right-handed is left eye dominant. In the excitement of shooting her first buck she closes her right eye and shoots with her left eye, while shooting right-handed! When the rifle recoiled, the scope hit the bridge of her nose and gave her a big goose egg and the blood began to pour. At 34 years of age she had never had a nosebleed and it scared her to death, lol. She is a photo freak, always taking photos, ALWAYS, however, she refused to let me take a photo of her with her buck, due to the nosebleed and bruised eye and nose.
Selfie she sent me right after I left her in the shooting house on her hunt.
The rifle now:
So it’s been in the safe, not being used, Kasey said “I never want to see that rifle again!” So I have since given her a sweet Model Seven 7mm-08 and all is good again. So here is a really nice .308 just sitting there not being used. A couple of days ago a friend of mine mentioned that another friend was searching for a .308 for a Christmas present and was really having trouble finding one so I said “I’ve got a nice .308 I could sell her.” I was unsure of a price, and he wasn’t sure that the wanted to spend the kind of money that my rifle was worth. Anyway, I dug it out and wiped off the dried blood, yes it still had blood on it from Kasey’s nose! So, after wiping it down, and shouldering it a few times, I took it to the range and shot it some. After the range trip I have decided that I just can’t get rid of the .308. I’m going to order some Barnes TTSX 130’s and possibly some Hammer bullets and work on a new hunting round. Just can’t part with it, especially with the memories that have been made with it.
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What make/model is that THREE-OH-EIGHT if I may ask?
EKYHunter
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2020
- Messages
- 1,189
Browning X Bolt Stainless Stalker.
Yep, it’s a Browning X-Bolt stainless stalker with the fluted barrel.
