My first deer — in fact my first three — that cold and misty morning, fell to a 6.5x54 Mannlicher-Schoenauer — not everybody’s idea of a perfect deerstalking cartridge. Today, every rifle shooter has his favourite super-cartridge. Modern, synthetic and stainless-steel options deliver Olympic gold-winning accuracy in the field, yet there is a charm in the old cartridges and the rifles for which they were chambered a century ago.
My first African antelopes were taken in Botswana with a 1920s 8x57. Since then, I have made a habit of hunting around the world using old-fashioned and out-of-favour cartridges in old rifles, whenever I get the chance. I have shot turkey in Texas with a .22 Savage Hi Power double rifle by Watson Bros and buffalo in Tanzania with a .577 Westley Richards.
Deer have changed little, if at all, during the 130 years or so that
