We have finally had some decent weather here for the Tennessee rifle season, now 12 days old. It was 21* with a heavy frost and very still this morning. The woods had also finally dried out yesterday after a lot of rain. I was in my chosen spot an hour before SR and by SR I'd seen 5 does, two of which were less than 20 yards from my spot (ground). About 45 minutes later I saw a buck following the route of some of the does and I thought he might come up really close (he looked like a shooter)

He did not, instead he followed another trail through the thick brush. I had to stand to shoot him and the Marlin 1895M did just what it's supposed to do, dropped him in his tracks at about 70 yards. He turned out to be a 7 pnt, not the 8 I figured him for, but a decent buck, none the less. He's #3 for the year so far and 4 1/2 weeks of rifle left in Tennessee to fill my last buck tag.

It was a very nice morning & now I'm tired! They don't seem to drag as easy nor load themselves in the back of the FX4 as well as they used to. Wonder why?

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Very nice Buck!

congrats!

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Chris in NH.

"some days, I wish my dogs could talk"

Great going...congrats

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Congratulations on another successful hunt! Is that your third buck of the year? Indiana has a one-buck rule, so after we put horns on the ground, we focus on does. What caliber is your 1895 chambered in?

Thanks to all for the nice comments. In Tennessee we have 3 buck tags and are allowed to shoot bucks of any size. My first buck this season was a Tn M/L buck and he is my biggest so far. My second was a Kentucky rifle buck on opening day there. And this is my 2nd Tn buck, leaving me one more buck tag and, actually, as many does as I might want to drag! (3 does a day for the entire season)

My 1895 is a GG sized .450 and I was shooting factory 350gr FN loads. This gives me harvests with .356, .375, & .450 in my Marlin rifles. I'm expecting a 45-70 GG to arrive soon and will enjoy hunting with it as well. No better rifle than short & light in my boat (Oh, and one that SMACKS!!)

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A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote
a blank check made payable to "The United States of
America" for an amount of 'up to and including my life.
That is honor, and there are way too many people in this
country who no longer understand it.

Wow, sounds like they're really trying to reduce numbers! That would be great, to be able to shoot several deer. One for steaks & roasts, another for burger, another for jerky, another for sausage....

Congrats.

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NRA Endowment Member
SCI Member

way to go Tenn. That one will be some good eating for sure. Good luck the rest of the season.

Congrat on the hunting successes.

My prairie buck tag will turn to a doe tag when the season reopens the end of December. Took a big mulie doe on the prairie next to the last evening and a decent Hills buck two days later. A new (to me) 1953 M70 featherweight in .308 did the job both times with one shot kills at 209 and 277 yards. So far my .338 WM hasn't fired a round at game.

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Still Learnin' as I go!

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I owned a 1954 M70 Featherweight for several years... what a nice rifle! I still have a 1952 M70 standard rifle and a 1960 custom shop Featherweight. Hope your hunts have turned into big deer with lots of yummy steaks!!

__________________
A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote
a blank check made payable to "The United States of
America" for an amount of 'up to and including my life.
That is honor, and there are way too many people in this
country who no longer understand it.

way to go!

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fred d.
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