shot a 9 point in pa with my grandpa's .257 roberts

[30-06 boy]

just thought i'd share a story dear to my heart. i lost my grandpa last january. i'm 37 years old. i can count only 2 times in my 24 years of hunting that he missed the pa deer season opener at our cabin in northcentral pa. i now have his custom mauser in.257 roberts. so you know what i was hunting with on the opener this year. at 730 am,i spotted this deer from my climbing treestand about 100 yards away with the ground being covered in snow. could not get a shot untill be was almost out of sight. but he finally "gave" me a shot. at the report he took off on a dead run. my brother came to help me recover him. a17" wide 9 point tioga county mountain deer. scored it from the b&c site at 110". not bad for a mountain buck. i even found the bullet after it passed through him. it was stuck in a log under the hole in the snow that made it poosible to see it. that buck will always be special to me , because i took him with "grandpa's .257". at grandpa's funeral he had full militaty honors with 3 volleys of 7 shots (blanks). he was a marine in ww2 in the pacific. had a purple heart also. but the reason i have included the military honors is this----- the rifles that shot the volleys were m1 garands which fire 30-06 blanks. as they were firing them i had a thought. i'm gonna load some of them and shoot a buck with "grandpa's funeral blanks". they sized ok in fl die and loaded fine. guess what i'm carrying next year? my mauser 98 in 30-06.my brother and dad have done the same thing.they had thier rifles loaded with" grandp's" shells this year but saw no buck to use them on. thanks for reading. just thought i'd share alittle bit from my heart. jason

 

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

Wow thats great. Sorry to hear about your Grand father but glad to here he got the MARINES funeral.

The story about the brass is sure great I just put two of my uncles to rest in the last 6 months with full military honors they were Nam vets. I took extra care in preping my class "A" for there services. You grand father sure would be proud you took that buck with his rifle and used the rounds from his 21 gun salute to hunt with.

I dont suppose thae 98 mauser was a war trophy he had sporterized was it?

 

[HUAINAMACHERO]

Sorry to hear about your Grand father. Anyway I think it is a great story. Thanks for sharing it. All this aspects about life, makes us more passionate about hunting. Keep those funeral brass forever, they will always be good luck.

 

[royinidaho]

Good story, good feellings. Good experience in Penn's Woods.

Lost my dad a lot of years ago. The last thing that he did out side of the hospital was when his 'boys' took him to his "spot" over in Butler County, yep that's in PA too.

I can still see him in his woolrich outfit that he had for many many years, sitting among some down falls watching that trail. It was a great day.

Thanks for the post.

By the way, the REM 721 that he used that day, and every other day, the one that I shot my first buck with, is now my 270 Allen Magnum. I think of dad every time I make a shot.

 

[Kevin Cram]

Jason,
I lost my grandfather this past October, and like you, this was the first hunting season without him. Your story was great and reminded me of all the good times hunting I had with my grandfather. When I shot my buck this year I had my 4 year old son with me, a hunt I'll never forget, and my first reaction after the kill was a look to the heavens and a thank you to my grandfather.