Thread: The next generation

A long time ago I decided I'd like to hand down my old Ruger 308 to my boy which has a lot of sentimental value to me. I had bought the rifle second hand off my uncle in my late teens and it had accompanied me on many trips over the years including my first trips down south where I shot my first tahr (now mounted) and chamois, first sika, first red stag and my biggest sambar stag still to date (also mounted). Eventually I upgraded to a Sako and have changed to a few other rifles since then but there was no way I would ever sell my OG Ruger. It therefore seemed fitting that I pass it down to my boy when the time was right...

Kruz has always been very keen on hunting, he shot his first deer (a fallow) when he was 7 using a borrowed 243 on a one-off private block where he got to watch lots of deer and carefully select one to shoot without any pressure, it was a great experience for him. Since then he has accompanied me on plenty of trips and whilst there have been a few opportunities for him to shoot animals with my rifle, for some reason or another it hasn't worked out but his passion has grown more and more as he appreciates what the outdoors has to offer and the challenges and anticipation that comes with it. Despite my intention for many years to hand down the 308 to him, I threw him off the scent of it at any chance so he didn't have any idea. He knew that it was very sentimental to me and that I would never ever sell it.

As his 13th birthday approached I just knew it was time. Being a somewhat lightweight rifle for it's era the Ruger wasn’t exactly pleasant to shoot so my plan was to get it suppressed to tame it down somewhat. I put the call out to the forum for anyone selling something suitable and that's when I received a message from a real good bugger @gilly offering an older style suppressor that would do the trick. I liked that it suited the older rifle and despite being quite long compared to modern suppressors, it was fairly slim and matched the rifle perfectly. I got the rifle off to the gunsmith and luckily managed to get it back with just a few days to spare before his birthday. Upon re-zeroing the rifle I was very happy to see that it was still shooting very well.

Finally his birthday arrived and it was time to put my plans into place. We had our family in the lounge whilst he opened a few small prezzies and I took this opportunity to "pop to the toilet" AKA got grab the Ruger and lay it on his bed. I returned back to the lounge trying not to give away my excitement. After opening his last present he thanked us for our presents and thought that was it. I casually said to him "there's one more little thing for you on your bed". He looked at me confused and curious and quickly made his way down to his room with me and his mum in tow. He entered his room and saw the rifle on his bed and stopped in his tracks, silent and staring forward. It seemed like a long pause but eventually he turned to us with a tear streaming down his face.

Once all the emotions were out of the way it was clear what was needed next, we had to go hunting!

Despite the average weather a plan was hatched for an evening walk and we set off up the hill full of anticipation. I was so stoked to see the 308 back out on the hill carrying on where I had left it many years ago, and now in the keen hands of my son. To be honest I didn't expect we would see much but our main goal was to be out there and give him the opportunity to take the rifle for it's first walk. If we happened to find a deer that would be a big bonus.

We arrived at the first area and sat there for a while with nothing seen and eventually got itchy feet and decided to go for a bit of a stalk and leave my wife to watch the first area in case something appeared. As we set off I gave Kruz a quick run down of the plan, he would lead the stalk slowly and would await a nod from me before pulling the trigger on anything. We snuck through for about 30 mins and as we approached an open area I instructed Kruz to be extra sneaky. He crept forward slowly and peered through some scrub to get a view of the open area and immediately turned to me and said "deer, spiker, two!". I too peeked through the bushes and confirmed his sighting and proceeded to give him the ok to shoot. He crept forward and into a crouching position. It was close quarters so there was no opportunity to lay down and muck around with a good rest. He took aim free hand and his shot rang out. His immediate reaction was to chamber a second round and put the bolt into the safe half cock position until he confirmed the animal was down and then looked at me with a huge grin. What an amazing turn of events and such an epic way for him to blood the rifle.



With his first red deer now ticked off the list our attention turned to Sambar. Fast forward a couple of months and we were out amongst the gorse looking for a contender. The spot we hunt doesn't hold many animals so it wasn't until the last evening of the weekend hunt that we finally manage to spot something, a sambar hind. The shot was going to be a challenging one. Not only was the animal moving around in the gorse in and out of sight but getting a decent rest in fading light at 150 yards made things tricky. Eventually everything aligned and he had a clear shot and felt confident. It was one of those situations where the animal disappeared after the shot and there was no indication of a hit or miss. We bashed out way through wall of course and crawled through tunnels to the area the animal was in. It took quite some time searching in the thick gorse but finally we found her not far from where she was originally standing and it was grins all around again.



A massive should out to @gilly for donating the suppressor!

Very much looking forward to many future hunts with my boy.

Well done young fella

Sent from my CPH2145 using Tapatalk

Yep that's awesome. I look forward to the day I can do the same passing over my grandfathers Brno223 to the young fulla.

yeah .....

@8pt Sika. Good read mate. It's the best of times. My youngest is 30 , the how to is done, just watching and sharing now. Nothing tops it.

Well done

A true father

Originally Posted by 7mmsaum

Well done

A true father

+1 there

Thats bloody awesome!
Best yarn on here in ages.
Well done.

Well Done Mate, I sure it will be a memory that will stay with him for life. Great parenting to give him the rifle and get him out using it.

I still remember my dad handing me the keys to the gun safe at 14 and saying way you go son, although he had given up hunting it was still pretty cool at that age to have the family rifles and shotgun.

Awesome. I will do this when my boys are old enough.

Great story obviously well earn't

Awesome write up, loved it! And congratulations to kruz!

Great read and nice to see the next generation coming up and learning from older hunters, passing on of knowledge is an important part of our sport.

Good stuff!

My boy is in his mid 30's now, but he remembers our hunting trips when he was 10, like it was yesterday

Awesome mate, thats what its all about...well done Kruz....