Went out for a long walk in the Maine Woods today; and it didn't hurt that it was the Deer Season opener. We didn't see anything worth shooting, but that would have been a bonus for us anyway.
Here's my old 1938 Savage 99-F. Per the expert Savage Historian who recently "factory lettered" this old rifle for me, it is a "Savage 99-F Lightweight Takedown; not to be confused with the 1955 Model 99-F or the 1899-F." Interestingly, the copy of the 1938 Jobbers Price List he sent me (since mine was made/shipped that year) says the rifle's weight is 7.5 pounds... (Wait a second, I thought it was a "lightweight"?)
But she sure carried well in the woods, regardless of the actual weight... You can't beat a day -- even a soggy wet one -- when it's spent out in the woods in the company of Mother Nature, blued steel & walnut, woolen red & black-checkered hunting clothes, and the required Hunter Orange... The wet wool does gets a little heavy, but does indeed stay warm even while wet... Turns out that shortly after 8AM (we started at oh-dark-thirty), that the iron sights was a great idea... I found where a beaver had been pretty busy, and all 3 of these next shots use the Savage 99-F for scale. He started off on the small size... Then he moved up just a little in size... ...and then Wow -- Mr. Beaver got REALLY ambitious with this one!!! Man, that's a whole lot of bark and wood to chew! And then, about an hour later -- still raining -- the best part of the day's "hunt", was finding THIS!!! Boy, that sure would have made a great photo op, to drape a BIG 'OL BUCK across the hood of that old car, with the old Savage resting in its antlers!!!
Ah well, I can dream, can't I... Gee, maybe next week?!?!
Tight groups.
Old No7
