Since the forum has slowed down, I’ll share a bit of Winchester activity in my neck-o-the-woods.

This year I chose to hunt deer with the ’94 .25-35 Takedown, 26″ Octagon, Crescent Buttplate, topped with an old A5 scope.  No Black-tailed bucks wanted to sacrifice themselves, so no venison in the freezer.  But it was a pleasure carrying this rifle throughout the hunts.  Getting old enough myself, that the hunts are mostly on fairly flat ground.  For some reason, the Coast Range seems much steeper than it was 40 years ago.

I’ve had the rifle for several years.  Shot it mostly when with my sons and enjoying plinking out to 120 yards.  That was fair weather shooting.  I love to share shooting days with those boys–young men in their 20’s.  My younger brother says his son is an excellent shot, and that our families should get together for the fun.  It sounds as if he anticipates my nephew giving my sons a run for their money in a competition. Though, considering how my sons have shot enough lead to tilt the Earth’s axis a bit, my nephew might not want to declare a contest.  Would be a delightful shoot for all of us.  I am proud of all of them, nephew too, for their skills and their safe gun-handling, and for the fulfillment they get from shooting well.  Brother and nephew are up in south-central Washington–we’re in western Oregon.  Maybe next summer we can meet to play.

Back to Winchesters!  The .25-35 will be 94 years old in six days.–One of our youngest Winchesters.  While hunting with it on cool drizzly days, I found that my usual carry method caused the eye-piece lens to fog.  Carrying it in the crook of my left arm and with my right hand resting down at the tang/lever.  It seemed the heat from my hand was fogging the scope.  Had a handkerchief handy, so no problem.  And–scopes surely have improved–in that last 1/2 hour of daylight when hunts often get interesting, this little scope would not gather enough light to be able to see a buck even at close range.  Yikes!  Still, it was good to be out carrying it.

Even though I didn’t get to shoot a buck, that didn’t keep me from trying to get the itch out of my trigger-finger.  An accurate shooting rifle, and such a joy to shoot!  Tonight I was reloading a few hundred 86 and 117 grain cartridges to replenish the on-hand stock.  I do have lead gas-checked bullets for this rifle, but haven’t found load information for them yet.

While hunting, I did come across fresh cougar scat–flies coming to it.  Within 70 yards, found where the cat had bedded in some of our newly planted grass.  (We’ve been clearing brush and planting for wildlife.)  Looked hard for the kitty, but he too didn’t want to be shot.  Maybe see him this fall/winter.

Elk season begins this coming weekend.  My youngest son is beginning to tap into his inheritance–my .270.  He will be carrying it for elk, so I’ve decided to carry the .25-35.  Some folks believe it is too light for elk, but if I do my job with the shot, should be a dead elk.  Plus, I’ll likely do more tending of the fire than I will be hunting.

Speaking of my youngest son–When he was nine, he loaded a few .38-40 cartridges for when he would be old enough to hunt deer.  When his first year of deer hunting finally arrived, he chose to hunt with those bullets in his Great-great grandfather’s ’73.  We were hunting mule deer at that time, and he turned down using the .270.  Killed his first two deer with the .38-40.  And his third and fourth deer, he shot with a ’94 .32-40.  He has been a Winchester fellow from an early age.

Well, I’d best quiet down now.  Just meant to send a note on the pleasures of carrying old Winchesters around the woods (and deserts.)