Man Hawkeye, you are off to a wonderful 2011 hutning season!  Congrats on a fine antelope!!!

Using those guns is pretty cool, and yours is a pretty nice one.  I am actually toying with the idea of using my Dad's .348 Winchester that he got from his Dad last year.  It's a great lever gun, kinda on the large side, with peep sites on it.  Maybe just take it out once or twice, but still keep the scoped marlin on standby.

Sorry to see your Dad and Uncle struck out, but like you sdaid, we can't all go 10 for 10, right.... (Just kidding Mark).  I am sure they still had a blast!

I love that 444 Marlin.  Might as well be lobbing hand grenades out there... Hahahaha.  Cool hearing about your success with such a weapon.  My buddy is out in South Dakota hunter Prongers right now.  Can't wait to hear from him.  Another good friend got back from Wyoming about 2 weeks ago and had a successful hunt with his family.  Weather was crazy bad most of the week he said but they managed to take three.  Congrats on a great hunt.  Next year I'll be out there.

Way to go bagging some antelope with the .444 Marlin.  That's pretty cool.  How far of a shot did you take with the open sights?  Just kind of adds to the fun when using cool guns and calibers like that.  Great job!

The shot was lasered at 154 yards. I took one other shot on the trip and it was lasered at 219... a little long for standard open sights. I shot just over her back. I wouldn't take that shot again. I plan on throwing a peep on it.

I love that you added a little fun to the hunt with the .444.  Kinda want to muzzleloader one with my Hawken one of these days.

I was debating between using the muzzleloader and the .444 and it came down to the fact that I've taken a few deer with a muzzleloader but nothing with the .444. I chose right... it was fun!

I'm going to take it along on my 3rd season elk hunt and depending on what terrain/veg type I'll be in, I'll either carry my .270 or The Morter. The .338 got to chase elk last year so the trusty ol' .270 gets the nod this year.

Great job with the lever gun!! I have never use one that big but have taken a couple of deer with an old 30wcf. My dad has also started using a 100 year old 32 special adn took his antelope buck in Wyoming with it as well. He ouldn't change anything on the rifle due to it's age but fortunately it already had a tang peep sight on it. That makes a huge difference in you shooting for sure.

Here's a link to some good modern ones. 

http://www.skinnersights.com/

Hawkeye, you have had a great year and again congratulations on yet another score. Nice looking uncommon doe. Is your taxidery cost going up on this one too? Also congratulations to all the other hunters in your group. Sounds like your dad was very happy helping all the other folks out which is very cool. Good memories and more great eating.

hawkeye,

You are just wackin and stackin this year ! Congrats ! I can't wait to see what happens with your 21 tag .........

Quinton

Thanks guys... I'm leaving early tomorrow morning to get a little last minute scouting in for my deer hunt. Believe it or not... I feel more pressure on me to produce during this hunt than I put on myself for my mtn goat hunt. I want to bring back a PIG buck!