Member's Hunt: The ‘Jinxed’ Winchester

by
posted on August 13, 2015
** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **
jinxed_winchester_f.jpg

By Nick L. Notte, West Rutland, Vt.

At the age of 12, my son Brian, after hunting since he was 8, decided he wanted to advance from the .22 Mag. and 12-gauge he was currently using in pursuit of deer to a deer rifle like his grandpa’s. So, Brian got a job helping a family member who raised beef and went to the farm a couple of days a week to help with baling hay and feeding livestock. I took him to a local gun store where he put a $20 deposit on a Winchester .30-30. He paid another $20 every week after that until the rifle was paid in full. 

Brian was the proud owner of the rifle of his dreams. Of course we had to get a scope and sling, and get out to the range to sight it in. He was so excited with deer season just around the corner that he got a friend with an ATV to take him to camp, where he scouted out the place he anticipated killing his first deer on opening day with his brand new Winchester.

Opening morning in the treestand, Brian sighted on a buck and fired. To his amazement the deer did not go down. He proceeded to fire again, wounding the deer. We tracked the deer until all signs were lost before we gave up.

undefinedSome years passed, and it wasn’t until he went off to college at Vermont Tech that he had his second chance to bag a trophy. Vermont Tech is located in a wilderness setting in an awesome part of Vermont, and the hunting is great. As long as you checked your rifle into safe keeping, the college allowed you to bring it. One afternoon he decided to try his luck in the woods near campus, and lo and behold, a beauty of a buck appeared. Lining him up in the crosshairs, Brian squeezed off a shot. The deer went down but got right back up. Brian tried to eject his empty and load another round, but in the excitement he short-stroked the lever causing the rifle to jam and a crucial part of the action to break.

That was it. Brian determined in his mind that .30-30 Winchester was jinxed, nothing like the rifle his grandfather had bragged about. I felt bad for him and made a deal to give him a .30-06 Remington Model 760 pump in trade for the .30-30, and he jumped at the chance. I had the rifle repaired and put it in my gun safe. I said to myself that someday Brian will have a son of his own, and I will give him that rifle to try his luck.

It wasn’t long before Brian had a son, Dillon. Dillon was at the house one day, just old enough to talk, and I showed him the rifle that would someday be his. For the next few years of his life, every time he came to the house he would sit in the middle of the bed in the spare room and hold that rifle in his lap. He would caress it like a puppy, and you could see in his little face his mind was racing, anticipating the day he would be big enough to take it out hunting with Dad and Papa.

Like his dad, we started Dillon early at 8 years old, but the rifle was too big for him and so he had to use smaller guns when tagging along with Dad. We soon realized that we could purchase a youth kit for that rifle with a much shorter synthetic stock. After assembling the new stock and seeing it fitted him perfect, he was off to hunt like a big-game hunter with his big-game deer rifle.

That rifle proved not to be the jinx Brian said it was, as at the age of 9, Dillon bagged his first deer with it. I will never forget the phone call from his father from the kill site. Brian was so excited for Dillon his voice was shaking.

Dillon is now 17 years old and has shot seven deer with that “jinxed” .30-30 Winchester. This past season he bagged a nice 6-pointer at a dead run. He has a trust in his deer rifle much like his passed great-grandfather. Dillon swears that when he is an old man like “me,” he will still be putting the game down with the .30-30 Winchester that his father claimed let him down twice in his early days and that was proclaimed a jinx.

Latest

Lead Photo 02
Lead Photo 02

Head to Head: 7x57mm Mauser vs. .30-06 Springfield

I’ve had more than a few requests for this Head to Head, so I figured it was high time to pit two of the early 20th century’s most popular military cartridges against one another. Let's dive into the 7x57mm Mauser vs. the .30-06 Springfield.

NRA Hunter Education FREE Online Course Now Available in Louisiana

The National Rifle Association of America’s award-winning free Hunter Education online course is now available in the State of Louisiana, the latest addition as NRA works to make the course available to hunters in all 50 states.

Moultrie Updates Line of Game Feeders

Moultrie has expanded the capacity of its line of feeders, and bettered the cameras' integration with the company's connected technology to streamline the feeding process.

Building the Ultimate Elk Bow

Elk are remarkable creatures that dwell in some of the most hellish landscapes on earth. An elk bow needs to be tough, light, and ultra-accurate. Here's how to build the right one for you.

First Look: Spandau S2 20-Gauge

Spandau Arms, a brand of SDS Arms, has announced that the  Spandau S2 Shotgun is now available in a 20-gauge model in both a Mossy Oak Bottomland and a traditional wood finish.

Count Some Quail, Tally Some Turkeys

The Arkansas turkey season ended in May, but there’s still good reason for hunters and outdoor enthusiasts to keep the birds in mind when they head out to their favorite hiking trail or drive the backroads of The Natural State. Outdoorsmen who scare up coveys of quail are welcome in the survey as well.

Interests



Get the best of American Hunter delivered to your inbox.