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One more thing I will add, is that if you want to do any of the "cool" stuff, do it while you're young, in good shape, and not broken down. Like I told you sniper school damned near did a number on me. After my most recent deployment I had entertained the notion of moving to "the dark side.....the army(no offense Joe and the others)"...and going for a spot in the reserve SF unit in Mississippi. I had talked to a couple of guys and was almost going to do it when I realized that I could probably tough out the training and make it, but since I have a shot up leg, ruined knees and destoyed ankles and back, that I would probably never make it to an operational status. So I decided to stay with the snipers, and will probably become a Warrant Officer after my next deployment. Just something to think about.

I wasn't able to get back. Like I said I was hunting three hours away from home and HAD to get to work that Monday. My Dad lives down there, and while he is laid up right now with a hip problem, a friend of ours did go back and look while he was hunting, with no more luck than I had. Just sucks a big one!!!

Poak: I've been in the marines for almost ten years now. My path has been a VERY interesting one over that decade. I was a little older when I joined, I turned 23 in boot camp and did 4 years active duty. I was actually a topographic intlligence specialist by trade, where incidentally I learned drafting, survey and GIS that I use in my civilian job to this day. However, I was the "gung ho" marine that decided that being a POG wasn't for me. I ended up woking with recon battalion, Force Recon and various sniper units in a test program. That helped me decide to make a career choice and I became a grunt. I eventually joined a sniper unit and finally went to sniper school. The long and the short is, that no matter what you decide to do, you will have a ton of fun and will goin valuable skills and experiences. PS...if you want to join SF...I would recomend Army SF, Air Force Combat controllers or Marine Corps MARSOC...in that order. No offense to Mark@sea , or his buddy, but I have dealt with way too many SEALS (Team one and Team 10 specifically) and have had a rather unpleasant experience most of the time. The only ones that were actually decent were the snipers from Team One, they were down to earth and not cocky. Anyway, as said before, go talk with all of the recruters, and decide for YOURSELF what you want out of the service....then choose the one that best provides the end goals for YOU!!! If you have any questions, fel free to PM me.

I guess none of you have alarms or dogs. I keep my police trade in 870 loaded with 4 00 buck in the tube and nothing in the chamber. If anybody breaks into my house I don't "worry" about alerting them to my presence by racking my shotgun, that will be done by the alarm wailing and the 2 pit bull mixes and golden retriever/brittany mix trying to tear a tasty bite out of the bad guy's ass. I have trained enough with my shotguns to be able to maniplate the slide lock to chamber a round. And guys, remember this is not Haditha Iraq, and we are not lying in wait for an enemy to appear so we can capture or kill him, we are defending our homes, and if racking the shotgun does scare them off, so much the better, then you don't have to spend the better part of the next month going through the horrors of having killed someone in your home. But hey....that's just my

I don't specifically hunt for sheds, but I end up finding a few every year as I get ready for turkey season, as well as throughout the summer. Hope you find that 10 point's sheds.

My bad....it was the 742 it was the remington semi auto twenty years ago. Thanks for the correction. I never can remember which model is which.

I have shot virtually all of the modern semi auto's on the market. I really like the XD's, but I don't own one. I do however own four Glocks and carry one of them evry day of my life. I agree with the other posts, go to your local rang or gun shop, handle each model, and others as well, and see which one you like best. They will all shoot about the same and they will all perform about the same. It boils down to personal preference. And a BIG +1 to the fact that people shoot themselves in the ass by not keeping their booger hooks of the bang lever, not because a gun has a "design flaw". That is what always drove me nuts about Marswolf, he advocated keeping your finger ON the trigger......WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Train yourself to keep your finger straight and off the trigger and you won't hav any problem with ANY weapon.

Mugster...I wish I had had the option to choose my action type. However, to hunt during this late season, Mississippi law says you can only hunt with an exposed hammer single shot..uuggghhhhh... I normally shoot a bolt action 30-06 and have had to make FAST follow up shots..but I credit sniper school with teaching me how to manipulate a bolt QUICK! However. the first deer I ever took was with a semi, as a matter of fact a Remington 760 in 30-06 that my Dad borrowed from a friend. I'm still trying to buy that gun. He promised me he will me it to me in his will:)

I'm still kicking myself in the butt, when I was last at Stone Bay at Camp Lejeune a couple of years, there were HUNDREDS of ammo cans sitting behind the ammo bunker at sniper school, not locked up or anything. I knew I should have grabbed a few, but I didn't ..........I know, I know...I'm an idiot. Nobody said marines were the smartest of animals.:-\

Wild West Guns in Alaska has made a killing upgrading Marlin lever actions for the rigors of hunting up there. One of the first things they do is put a set of synthetic stocks on it. Check 'em out..http://www.wildwestguns.com/

I was going to post some really smart, awe inspiring post, but what does it matter, everyone already knows everything. I agree with punisher, the gun is for the woman, and only the woman. Most women CAN'T deal with the double action of the snubbie and still keep the sights aligned. The snubiie is more of a "professional's gun" than the 1911 or any other rtyp of gun. I do agree the 3" revolver is a great compromise especially if it is a "k" frame. My 5'1" wife HATES all of my revolvers, she loves HER Sig P239 357Sig with short trigger, and she has recently fallen in love with 1911's.

I always say a quiet, quick prayer for every animal as well, but this one actually had me on my knees with a tear in my eye.

I wanted to go back the next morning, but I was hunting in Columbus, MS and I live in Memphis and this happened Sunday. I actually thought about calling in on Monday just so I could go look some more, but I had a project at work that HAD to be out the door Monday night. It was a heart wrenching decision, especially as hard as this noble creature fought for his life, I felt like I owed it to him, but there was just nothing more I could do. I would have stayed out all night looking for him, but I wore out the batteries in both of my flashlights and had to drive back to Memphis and get to work the next morning.

When I read this thread earlie I downloaded the recipe and when I got home I shoved it under my wife's nose and said we are doing this Sunday.....with a grin she said "that's a heartattack waiting....but it will be good"

Ok, so here is the background.....I've been deer hunting for 20 of my 32 years. I can't even begin to tally up the number of deer I've shot. This year alone, up to this weekend, I've put 7 on the ground, 2 in Tennessee and 5 in Mississippi. And I have NEVER had to look more than 50 yards for a deer. I normally try to shoot them in the shoulder or break the spine. Call me lazy or responsible, but I hate letting an animal run very far, if any. Which is why the following story sucks. In Mississippi, they have eliminated the muzzleloader season and now call it a primitive weapon season. They allow you to hunt deer during this season with bow, muzzleloader and single shot hammered rifles chambered in a caliber 38 or larger. I was hunting some new property with my single shot 45-70 all weekend and didn't get a shot at anything. At 4PM on Sunday, a good sized buck with a messed up rack walks out at 199 yards. I take a shot and he jumps like he's hit. He runs about 200 yards, then goes down. While I'm waiting the obligatory 30 minutes, the buck gets up and runs another 200 yards towards the woods, but goes down again. I'm thinking he's done by this point. I knew he was hit, I thought it was a good shot, so i waited a few more minutes, then go looking. As I'm walking out, he gets up AGAIN and runs into the woods. I back off and wait again. Then go look. LOTS of blood. I follow the blood trail for about 30 yards then it disappears. I look and look and finally find more blood about 25 yards away. This happens several times as I followed him for almost a mile. It's now 2 hours after I shot him and I still am following him. I lost the blood trail AGAIN and went into some heavy cover that is a HUGE bedding area. I see a large blood pool where he had laid down but had obviously gotten up again. That was the last blood I found. Never found the deer. Looked for another hour and nothing. I felt, and still feel horrible. I'm not a religious person, but when I finally had to give up, I kneeled down and said a prayer for this magnificent animal that refused to give up and "just die". Sorry for the long story, but I had to share.

I as well love reloading, but hell, damned near everyone of my rifles shoots soooo damned well with factory ammo that it's hard to match or beat it with my handloads... I guess I'm both blessed and cursed. Now I will reload for my 338 just for economy, and when I start my 6.5-284 build I really want to see what handloads will do for that puppy.

Ok. When I first saw your name I thought Junior Grade like a Navy Lt junior Grade, but I knew that couldn't be right. 10 years in the military has corrupted me I guess.

Oh, yeah, and the army quals "only" out to 800 with their M24's.

USMCJG..no problem.........I know how they shove so much down your throat you end up forgetting so much. And in '91 they might have still been shooting at 800. I know Pendleton didn't start shooting at 1000 till just a yea or two ago, when they finally built a 1000 yard range. We used to tease them about going through the "lite" course. BTW what does the "JG" stand for if you don't mind me asking.

I think those are 10 round boxes, 20 boxes per case. I believe that is what it means. Also if you look at Midway, they list those as 10 round boxes. Damned, you got my hopes up for relatively "cheap" 338 factory ammo. Oh well, will have to bite the bullet and buy those $150+ competition dies.

Out of the box, Savage is the accuracy king. My 110 tactical will shoot sub minute groups with Winchester white box and will shoot 1/4....yes that's right 1/4 minute groups with Federal Gold Medal Match. Even though I have several other tactical rifles, mostly remingtons in 7.62 and 338 Lapua, my savage is my "go to gun" when I need accuracy or when I am shooting a sniper competition. And the best thing about it was the price, I bought it used from a guy who had put 40 rounds through it. I traded him a crappy Kahr K40 for the rifle and a hundred bucks. Plus he had put an aftermarket trigger on it that is a wet dream to shoot.

Actually, the 308 is good out to 1000 yards. Marine snipers qual out to that routinely. The only downside is that the 175 grain 7.62 that we shoot goes subsonic between 900 and 1000, so anything past 1000 is a bit of a gamble. However, I have engaged targets out to about 1250 with it with some success. The 338 stays supersonic out to 1500 yards making it realatively "easy" to mak hits out to that distance and beyond.

Occassionally you can find the 700 338 Lapua at http://www.snipercountrypx.com. Also, where are you finding Lapua ammo at for $50 a box. The last "deal" I got on ammmo was Hornady for $70 a box

Brother......do I feel your pain.. Getting denied happens to me about every other time I buy a gun. Years ago I was the NCO on duty when a fight broke out. I called the MP's and they filled out a report. About five years after that I started getting denied. Apparently, my SSN got transcribed on that report and listed me as the offender, only by SSN not even my name. So, afer all those years it finally made it to the FBI where TICS draws it's info from. TICS sent me a form to send to the FBI with all of my proof that I indeed was not guilty of anything and I'm still getting denied five years after I sent in the paperwork. I've called the FBI, TICS the base where it occurred and I still get denied. I carry around a copy of my DD214 (discharge papers) that shows I wasn't guilty so that everytime I get denied I just fax that in and they overturn my denial. But it's crazy, its hit and miss as to when I get approved and when I get denied. Good luck with all of this. I hope you get resolution more quickly than I have.

I have both a 308 and a 338. If you are just getting into long range shooting then go with the 308. As stated above it is cheaper to shoot, easier to find components for and unless you have a 1000 yard plus range you really can't appreciate the full benefits of the Lapua. Also if you are wanting Remington 700 in 338 Lapua you will have a long wait ahead of you, it took me almost a year and a half to get mine!! If you are looking for something more than the 308, go with a match grade 300 win mag. They are a little more costly than the 308 rounds, but they shoot flatter and remain supersonic longer than the 308. it falls somewhere between the 308 and 338.