A few years ago I got a call informing me one of my favorite patients had passed. His wife asked if I knew which gun he had left to me in his will. I had no idea he ever had his will changed for me to have a gun of his. I knew he had some really nice collections that were high end, but I told her to let his boys choose what they want and if there’s anything they don’t, then I would be glad to have what was left. Honestly it was the thought that mattered more than anything. We hung up and I didn’t hear from her again for maybe almost a year. She asked me to come by, and as I arrived his entire gun collection was laid out in their dining room. After I drooled for a while, she brought me to an old raggedy case. When I pulled it out she told me this was his first rifle as a child and what he always used when he deer hunted. That meant more to me than the original m1’s or log range setups he had. It’s almost exactly 60 years old now, he got it when he was around 12-13 years old. An old JC Higgins sears and Roebuck 30-30. I’ve taken this out the last few years to honor a good friend, Paul Gasparovic, by taking a deer with it. It never failed I would get skunked, or have a big buck too far, or just a small doe/spike that I didn’t want to shoot. I didn’t anticipate shooting a doe this morning, but I’m sure he was smiling down when I did. 27 yards, heart and lung, and my first deer with a 30-30 and open sights on a gun. I’m exhausted after getting this out, but man it was worth it.
Just an awesome couple of stories
