I was just curious if anybody takes there Garand Deer hunting. I took mine one time and took a seven-point. I must say, humping it through the woods all day gave me a much greater respect for the guys humping it in WWII. Something you can't get pulling it out of your car a the range. Evertime I see Marines on TV humping around in the Pacific, I think about that hunt...that was a great generation of Americans. Good Shooting! Eric
I've done it (no kills, so far) but not trudging through the tundra mile after mile. I do hunt with a Jap 7.7. Its a light rifle, fast aimming, mild kick and is always dead on with a cold barrel and Norma ammo. Out in open country, its my trusty 1/2 price Savage 30-06 110E with Russian 30mm scope shooting sub, sub MOA, 165 grain sp hand loads. (brag) The FAL l1a1 makes a great hog gun when the piggies are out in the open and just open up on em'. Pigs don't wait and look around like deer do.
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Guns and cameras don't mix
Last edited by Full MeTal Jack; 06-04-2002 at 11:16 PM.
Took my garand hunting a couple years ago got a ten point. And you are right carrying one around all day makes you happy to set it down, but in a time of need you can count on the M1 it will not let you down like the plastic mouse guns will. And the 30-06 will reach out and touch someone...
The worst kind of slave is the one who thinks he is free...
The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to permit the conquered eastern people to have arms. History teaches thet all conquerors who have allowed thir subject race to carry arms have prepared their own downfall by doing so...Adolf Hitler...4/11/1942
I have been actively deer hunting since 1995. I can proudly say that I've never taken a deer with anything BUT an M1. The first three years were with an S&K scoped Tanker in .308. Since then I've used an M1D, 1st with an M84 and the last two years with a Weaver K4 60B. I even proudly put my obsession on my license! (Thanks to StockDoc for the bumper sticker).
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Character is doing what is right when no one is looking.
Took mine out last year on open praire and humped it for several days. Took a 6 point down at 150 meters with just the open sights and standing. One shot, one kill, but who is bragging. 150 gr Remington on a cold day in November.
thats all i hunt with in missouri. taken all my deer with an m1.
the last one was a 10 point on the run 150 yards out one shot, dropped where he got hit..
for those interested in not tearing up their walnut, buy a cheap ramline camo synthetic stock for $50 all 3 peices just add metal, and use it, makes m1 handier and you don't care if you scratch the hellout of it.
used my "new" M1 last November. took a doe on the last hour of the last day of the season. wasn't my year to even see a buck. my right arm was a couple of inches longer, but the M1 is the first semi-auto I've ever used for deer, and it's kinda fun to try a little target practice after a frustrating day of no deer.
It's no heavier than a Browning B-bolt 7 mm RM with big 3-9X that I carried for a couple of years, and I like open sights anyway.
fwiw, my brother uses a 308 and I don't think the deer notice any difference between the 308 and the 30-06.
I've been hunting for deer with a garand for 35 years got a lot of deer. I dont find the garand too heavy, you just have to get used to it. It always works and with the peep sight it's very accurate. I have never had a deer get up and move after getting hit with a 30-06. I usually hunt in farmland, wood lot areas so I don't do much heavy brush hunting. When I lived in the Ozarks my favorite spot was a terraced hill overlooking an alfalfa field.
SIR also! I went into the store in Wpg on three different occassions and they would let me look at two rifles each visit, still in the brown paper and cosmoline. The third time, one of them was a beauty. At $175 how could I not buy it? I was in last week again and they're all sold out.
I guess they were all Danish rifles? Mine had the sticker on the stock under the barrel, but I used the dishwasher cleaning trick suggested on this site and didn't remove the sticker ahead of time so it's gone now. I hate to say this with so many purists on this site, but I cleaned up the stock, steamed the dents, primed it, stained it and urethaned it. It looks real good.
My father and brother and I have a few unique old rifles kicking around, but the M1 was new to most of the guys I hunt with. "What the hell is that old cannon?" was the typical response.
I have pretty much always used an open sighted lever action until now. Nobody ever wanted to borrow the Winchester, but they sure want to try out the Garand!:assult:
Mine too was packed in cosmoline, so much that the action barely worked. I got it through their mail order service. I took a day off from work when it arrived and cleaned it. For the stock, I used hot water and steel wool to clean it up and then I used tung oil on it. Mine too had the id tag on the inside of the stock, but I was able to save mine. Mine is a Danish Breda with a 4 digit serial #.
Had mine out last year for hunting and took a 4 pointer at 150 meters with one shot. The guy I was out hunting with looked at the rifle and asked what it was (I was hunting with a Lee Enfield Mk 111 before). When we tracked down his buck, I discovered that he had never field dressed a deer. So I said hold this (the M1) and he said jess, is this ever heavy. He was carrying a Win 98 with a scope. So I suppose to him it was heavy. Great rifle, I love it. One of these days I've got to get into Winnipeg and go to SIR.
Full Metal Jacket, I'm glad to see that I am not the only one around that hunts with both the 7.7 Arisaka and the M1 Garand. Been lucky enough to take one deer with each "as issued" rifle. I normally hunt with a more modern semi-auto that sports a scope(getting old you know!) but still make it a point to dedicate a few days to humping around the mountains with an antique rifle. I've also hunted with a 1917 Enfield and a Civil War musket(yes it's original) but have not taken anything with them yet. My father has taken one deer with the musket and 17 with an Arisaka. Used to be able to buy Garands for $90 and Arisakas for $10 but those days are long gone! Wish you success during the upcoming season!
WildBill
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Remember, anyone that surrenders their Rights for the promise of Protection deserve neither the Protection or the Rights. WildBill
$90 bucks, that was back in 1965. I saw Garands for that much then, said to my dad, thats what I want. Thirty years later, got one. then another and now have a CMP receiver on order and a parts kit to make one in 308. Last Februray, at Chaparral WMA, I put a .311 out of the Arisaka right over the head of a Javilina. Little pig didn't know which way to run.
Don
SIR is not a huge store, but they seem to rotate some pretty decent older rifles through their firearms counter. last time I was in they had a really nice Remington Model 8. the John Browning design that took down Bonnie & Clyde. http://www.remington.com/aboutus/history/m8.htm
unfortunately, I can't buy them all!
was wondering if you took part of your training in Portage? used to drive out to the Moose Jaw air show in the early 80's, but haven't been to any for years, except to volunteer at the last one held here.
Manitoba: I sure did, about the same time you were going to the airshows. I went through Portage in late '82 and again in the summer of '86. I've been back a couple of times with various aircraft just to visit. I was there for one of the old (I think it was called the "Timmy Dance") hanger dances at Portage too. I've had a number of friends work out at the base. Never hunted the area though. Had a brother hunt the Rossburn/Russell area for several years when he was posted there. If you were at the last SAS in 2000 we might have actually seen each other, of course not knowingly. To bad about a lot of the airshows this year in Canada. Ours is cancelled; but, we've decided to have a family day on the base with a practice by the Snowbirds.
Full Metal Jack, the mountain range is the southern end of the Appalachian chain. Tallest mountain around this end of Georgia is a little over 5,000 ft. Sorry for the delay in replying, had problem with my computer.
Regards,
WildBill
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Remember, anyone that surrenders their Rights for the promise of Protection deserve neither the Protection or the Rights. WildBill
I understand the Winnipeg airshow was a success again, but even there the attendance was down from the year prior. I think it may have had something to do with the weather, it just hasn't felt like summer enough yet, although this past weekend was finally warm enough and the mosquito's were out in force.
I actually haven't done any whitetail hunting around Portage, I grew up at Birtle (almost Saskatchewan) and still drive out there every November to hunt on the family ponderosa. The Birdtail river runs through one side of the farm, so we mostly don't have to go off the property, which adds a degree of safety. Not that that's a big issue, it seems like there's fewer hunters out every year. The Assiniboine river is also only a few miles away and there's lots of bush so it's good deer country. Last year though, they were a little harder to find. But lots of bear crap and lots of coyotes. Found three bambi skulls while pushing bush, so I think some of the youngsters didn't make it. I'm going to have to figure out how to hunt bear one of these years. I think a Garand will work on them, too.
One of the guys who occasionally hunts with us recently bought 80 acres just south of RMNP, north of Rossburn, then moved in an old house that he plans to retire to. Real pretty country. His wife knows where it is, but hasn't yet indicated an interest in retiring there! Hasn't invited us up there to hunt yet, I think he's scouting out all the best places for himself. Although we have spied out a few of his treestands!
I think that the M1 would do well on bear; however, the best ammunition for the old girl, without putting too much stress on her, is 150 gr. That might be a little light for bear, but it depends on the size of the beast I guess. Maybe someone else can help on this one.
I've been running whitetails west of Moose Jaw, in the Chaplin, Old Wives Lake areas. I've always had success there. This year we were out two days (took four days off work) and back with our limit (one each) on the second day. Nothing like grain fed whitetail.
Deer Hunting with the Garand 
