A buddy of mine wanted to know what to expect if he shows up at deer camp, here at Genesis 9:2-4. He wanted to know terrain, choice of rifle and load, and weather. Here is what I told him:

SW Bracken County, KY is a land of ridges and hollows. The elevation usually only differs less than 100 feet from ridgetop to creek bottom. It has all been cleared at least once. Tobacco and cattle once ruled. Tobacco is leaving and there are fewer and fewer cattle. Some folks are turning to sheep and goats. My ridge is about 40 % open hay pasture that has been edge-managed for the game. Left to the wild, the pasture quickly turns to cedar thicket, and after 70 years you have Oak/Hickory Savannah.

I hunt with 12GA slug, 30-06, 308, and 30-30, mostly from elevated stands in the Oaks and ground blinds overlooking pastures. The shots we take are under 100 yards, and most are under 50. When I’m hunting the pastures, I try and take a 30-06 bolt gun that can reach out to 200, but my longest shot to date is 165 yards.

My favorite loads are:

30-06 ==> 165 grain Hornady Interlocks over H4895 for field work

180 grain Hornady Interlocks over H4895 for brush

308 ==> 165 grain Hornady Interlocks over Varget — loaded low to be more like a 300 Savage

30-30 ==> 150 and 170 grain Hornady RN over H4895

Having just concluded my 4th opening weekend hunt with the 30-30 in which deer have come to harm, I am becoming unimpressed with its stopping power compared to the others. I also had the Savage 99 in 308 out this past weekend, but never brought it up.

This weekend, I will be taking the Remington 742 in ’06 with 180 grainers and trying for the big buck in the oaks. I’ll have the Winchester 70 ’06 with 165 grainers for a trip to one of the ground blinds with my 6 yr old son.

Opening day usually has a low in the thirties and a high in the low fifties. This year we had a low on Sunday of 23F– that’s cold. This weekend will warm up and rain with lows in the 40’s and highs in the 60’s. In over 20 years of hunting, I’ve gun hunted in snow showers twice, and never had snow on the ground.

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