So a couple of wednesdays ago i took the .223 for a walk in the hills. Spotted a nice hind, looked to be a yearling cast off, perfect eating size, lined up the shot just behind the front shoulder, squeezed the trigger, nailed her. Went to check the spot, found plenty of blood, heard some thrashing in the gorse nearby, found more blood ... and that was it. Tracked her for a good two hours until I couldn't see anything anymore and miserably made my way back to the truck, bemoaning the tiny little .223 rounds (more likely due to a shot that just zipped through without hitting anything vital enough to drop her quickly). 

Relayed the story to my wife the next day and almost fell over at her reply ... "get a bigger gun!" ... well bugger me!!! you dont need to tell any red blooded hunter/fisher twice to get a new toy, so down to the gunshop, and out with a brand new Sauer 100 .308 and 2 boxes of winchester deer season xp.

Back in the same hills on Saturday, seen two wild deer in a paddock on the way in - not being one to 5hit in my own yard I resisted the urge to see what the new rifle would do to the 4 point stag of the pair, but it put me in a hopeful mood

After 10km's of quietly making my way around the hills, spooking one yearling, watching my mate shoot a young deer, and realising i need some better insoles for the boots, I spotted my chance, 15m away standing broadside was a young stag with a couple of brand new knobs coming through. Lined up the shoulder (I dont shoot enough to go for headshots, no confidence in my rusty old skills anymore), squeezed the trigger, dinner! First animal I have taken home in about 3 years, now to figure out how I am going to balance my new found joy of hunting with my addiction to diving and fishing ... need more hours in the day!