Before I tell you about the new 308 getting it's first blood, let me tell you about the spike horn tradition getting passed down to the next generation. My son Jacob got his first deer last Friday afternoon, a spike horn. With my old 308 bolt action. It came out of some golden rod and was quartering to him at about 65 yards., He shot it in front of the left shoulder,the 150gr remmy core lokt went through the top of the heart and shredded the right lung. The deer piled right where he shot it. He was really happy and I couldn't be prouder.
So the next afternoon Jacob and I are sitting on an old stone fence just inside the tree line overlooking a clover field. About 5:30 I notice a deer come out over near the other end of the field. I put the H&R Dick's SG heavy barrel 308 up against the tree I was sitting next to for some support, and find the deer in the scope. I watched as it walked up to an old hay bale that was left in the field and put it's head down and started eating. That's when I notice antlers. It has a main beam and a brow tine on the side that I can see. I settled the cross hairs on the shoulder and squeezed the trigger. The deer bucked up, turned and ran into the woods. I thought it was a good hit so after about 10 minutes we went to find it. It was just 20 yards inside the woods. It had just a main beam on the other side.
The next day Jacob went up to the field with a range finder, and came back and told me that the old hay bale was 160 yards.