My hunting career started like most with Dad taking me to the woods. Growing up in Pa. means alot of hunters and bad weather. Not very condusive to developing interest, but I stuck it out. I took a hunt in texas in my late teens and met with a caring PH (since deceased) who got me hired me on later. Through this work I saw more game taken in a season than in a lifetime in Pa. I gutted over 100 deer in a 2 week stretch once. From there I freelanced around the west, Finally hooking up with a "Trophy" operation ( read; High Fence, Estate) who has/had properties in many states. I guided alot plus I was in charge of Property development, which ment I did the dirty work for the Staff Biologist. I have shoot approx. 5000 whitetails in the last 10 yrs. I have used most every caliber out there. I started with .308 and .30/30 then decided I could not ask for a better test ground. I used from then on everything from the .223 to the .375 H&H along with a few cannons as well. We culled a few hundred exotics as well most to the size of sable and eland and I used the larger stuff on the larger game. A 375 whacks a sable 1 hell of a lot better than a 270. I have used all of the short mags, ultra mags, STW, Lazz, remington, winchester, WBY, etc.....the conclusion being that a bullet of ample weight will drop a whitetail if shoot broadside thru the fore ribs. If the shot is anything other than that YOU had damn well pay attention to bullet construction and shot placement.
As this progressed along we branched out of the "normal" high fence areas and started to procure properties in other regions. So we could offer all the S.C.I. recognized whitetail sub spieces. This is when the shooting really took off. This is when it was so intense that I contacted the Bullet and ammo companies to send in the clowns( gunwriters) to "help" out. We then contacted rifle companies to "test" there lastest junk as well. Trust me when you shoot 300 rds in 3 days of heavy deer loads thru your remchester with the last 4x14 scope with shit bullets you will see what falls apart and what stays together. The rifle manufactor participation is why I am a very good M.A.S.H. style gunsmith. The shit I saw fall apart would fill a railcar. I later took some courses locally and study with a very good German schooled gun builder here in Pa.
So as this all marched right along I was flying here and killing that and it became a job, a shitty job. The people where great, the exposure to so much technical data was fabulous, but the deer deserved better. I had a bad experience with a huge fork horn white tail on a huge piece of North Carolina mountain land. He had 3 generations of mutant offspring running all over those hills passing the forky thing around. I killed all of his sons and most of there girl friends but couldn't spill his blood. It became quite an obsession in the end. He is dead and I do not work for them any more. I now have a relatively normal life working in the family business here in Pa. guiding in Wyoming in the Fall and still trying to PH in Namibia.

This is it, on a thumb nail, of why I am an opinionated, pompus, self righteous, know it all.

ED

No publication wants my story as they think the public preception right now couldn't stomach it. To tell the truth I can't really.

[ 12-02-2003, 06:37: Message edited by: E O ]

Well, I don't know Ed, it seems like it would make an interesting read to me. I would buy a copy. - Dan

Not sure what prompted you to post this. However since you did I want to know what rifle caliber is your favorite for deer and why? Surely you have one that stands out a little over the rest.

EO,
Sorry to hear about your experience with the rich corporate guys. It seems they are able to work the goodness out of anything in pursuit of higher profit margins.And they seem able to turn a profit in every area of life.
Before they are finished this planet will be a very bad place.

Ed, you got a book cookin' inside you, and I'd buy it too. What burns inside may or may not be wildly embraced, but what you've learned about shooting ain't chipped beef. Best to you.

Dan

I'll second BigSky...

Ed, count me in also, I want a copy of that book. I also would love your opinion on calibers and bullets on mule deer, white tail deer, and Elk. Very interesting life story you gave us there. As for the corporate world, I work in that, and I can say if I knew what I know now, I would have sought employment with a small company, or started my own. Corporations are ruthless, heartless, and obsessed with the almighty stockholder, and trust me, that will be their demise.....

I wrote this not as a big pat on the back but as an explanation of where I got my info and opinions. I have been accussed in hateful emails of being full of shit. Well maybe on somethings, but not all of it. As for a book I really don't know, maybe someday soon. Thanks for the support.

ED

Well special ed,that was a real special story of fiction.

When you write your book,make sure the publisher uses a grainy paper with high pulp content and no plastic coatings. That way after the reader struggles through the introductory and is overdosed with bullshit,they can at least use the rest of the pages to wipe their ass with.

By the way,all the talk about Pa. and your hunting skills reminds me another buttfuck on here by the title of wyowhisper. He's alot like you,a self proclaimed hunting and shooting prodigy,that just can't help but share fairy tales. Makes a guy wonder if you two dipshits aren't one and the same.