This is the rifle I almost got my first deer with. A Marlin Mod. 336 Carbine in .35 Remington. My uncle bought this with his mustering out pay after WWII or Korea. He served in both.
He took me on my first deer hunt, at a place called Indian Ridge in the coast range of the Cascades. I was 12 yrs old. It was the last day of the season and it was raining and colder than crap. I was hungery, wet and cold and did'nt really want to hunt anymore.
My Uncle nudged me and pointed. He whispered, "There he is." I looked up and saw this big 4 point( western count, 4 on each side) Blacktail Buck. He was standing about 50 yds away just looking at us. I promptly got so excited that I blew a big hole in the ground right in front of my Uncle. He just put his hand on my should and in a quiet voice said , "I think you missed him."
After my Uncle passed away. My cousin ended up with this rifle. He was'nt a hunter and did'nt care about it. Recently my cousin passed away and now it's mine. When I got it, the stock was broken nearly in two at the pistol grip and it was covered with garage grime. I just finished making a custom built stock for it today. I think it's fitting.
Hope it was a good Memorial Day and that all of your memories are gentle ones.
To Everyone~
Ron
