By Dave Hurteau

Having predicted it, I’m not surprised that the great Savage 99 put down the very, very good T/C Icon. But I am shocked -- do you hear me -- shocked that both the Marlin X7 squeaked past the Sako 85 and Ruger No. 1, handsome and handy as it is, outlasted the excellent Kimber 84M. I never saw either of those coming, and judging by the comments neither did some of you.

In any case, our Elite Eight is set—all good matchups to be sure, but probably none better than the 700 vs. the 99. I can’t begin to guess what you folks will do with that. But whatever you do, more heavyweights are going to fall in this round. So let’s have at it.

By Dave Hurteau

After more than 3,000 votes per matchup, the Division I Elite Eight rifles are settled: The Model 70 crushed the 7600, the Savage bolt thumped the Marlin lever, the Vanguard put away the Encore, and in a mild upset, the Ruger 77 inched out the Browning X-Bolt. (I have to say I’m sad to see the X-Bolt go; it really has everything you could want in an all-purpose deer rifle from a practical standpoint. Oh well, thems the breaks.)

In the last post I invited you to talk smack about the rankings, and you did a fine job. I made a couple of minor corrections based on your input, and while I can do nothing to satisfy the many Tikka fans, I will acknowledge that you make a fair point. I can’t say the same for the 94 nuts. Hey, I love that gun, too. But it’s a brush gun.

By Scott Bestul

Say what you will about modern deer hunters, the Sander family understands ethics and lives that way. Last fall, they not only allowed a young man to track a wounded buck onto their hunting property, they sacrificed hunting time to assist in the recovery. For their unselfish efforts, David Sander, his 16-year-old son Colton, and David’s uncle James, were awarded the state’s Hunter Ethics Award for 2011.

Dan McQuire, who nominated the Sander’s for the award, told this story to the Wisconsin Outdoor News, the bi-weekly outdoor newspaper. “My son, Jacob, 15 shot a buck about 8:15 on opening day. This would be his third buck, his largest. The hit was a little too far back to put the buck down immediately.

The buck left our hunting property and ran onto David and James Sander’s land. They were hunting there with David’s son, Colton. Colton was the first person we approached. He came down from his treestand to talk to us. He then talked to his father and uncle, who gave us permission to search the property. Their reaction is the reason we nominated them for the award.

by Scott Bestul

I covered the topic of shed poaching in my “Whitetails” column in the April issue of the magazine (see below). 

Well the practice of trespassing to find whitetail antlers is getting to be such a major problem in some areas of the Midwest that one state, Iowa, has considered legislation to stiffen penalties for those caught trespassing for shed antlers. According to a thread on the site Iowa Whitetails, the bill is currently not active, but had it passed, the legislation would have charged the trespasser with a misdemeanor and fined the interloper as much as $625. In addition, the shed poacher could have been charged additional fees related to the size of the antlers stolen.