PENELOPE RIDES AGAIN: TWO BUCKS AND A LIFETIME OF HUNTING MEMORIES

 

Del and Stacie Albright with Penelope, the .243 

This isn't just another "she got her first buck" hunting story. 

It's about two first bucks, 53 years apart, taken with the same rifle.

You see, my wife, Stacie, just harvested her first buck using "Penelope," my trusty Remington Model 700 in .243 caliber. I bought that rifle 53 years ago and harvested my first buck with it shortly after I returned home from Vietnam and left the Army.

Now, more than half a century later, Penelope has helped make another hunter's dream come true.

 But this tale has another twist.

 I grew up in a hunting family, and my granddad drilled three things into me: "Shoot up, drag down, and never miss the noon stretch. That's when the bucks get up and move around."

Well, Stacie checked every single box! A 75-yard, slightly uphill shot. One clean hit on a beautiful, broadside 3-point blacktail. A five-yard downhill drag to the Jeep. And the shot? Straight-up noon!

Stacie Albright with her first buck, a B Zone Blacktail using Penelope, the .243 rifle.

 And here's the kicker. This was after coffee in the morning sunshine, a leisurely breakfast at the local café, and all of about TEN MINUTES of actual hunting! Talk about a dream hunt!

 I've been hunting and taking bucks for more than 50 years, and this was hands down one of the easiest, sweetest, and most memorable hunts I've ever experienced. Watching Stacie take her first buck with the same rifle I used for mine made it something truly special.

Del harvested his buck shortly after Stacie's with his Sako .308, B Zone Blacktail.

A note on the hunt: Both deer were legally harvested during California's B Zone deer season, properly tagged, and processed for our freezer. We believe in ethical hunting, responsible wildlife management, and making full use of the game we harvest.