Standing in snowshoes, trudging up a nasty slope in 2 feet of snow after a December storm in the Catskill Mountains, I had doubted my sanity until I caught sight of the buck creeping through the hemlocks. Steadying myself as best I could on the evil footwear, I brought the Tikka T3X Lite to shoulder, and sent the AccuBond on its way. Working the bolt, I had no need to fire another shot; the 7mm-08 Remington had done its job. If you’ve ever hunted those hills, you know there aren’t deer behind every boulder.
I have a good amount of hunting rifles to choose from, but this little Tikka is very light, making it a perfect choice for the more rugged parts of the Catskills. I’m not a sheep hunter who counts ounces, but I sure do appreciate a lighter rifle when things get steep. Come down from the Catskills and into the Hudson Valley, with its farm fields, thick woods and everything in between, and rifle weight plays less into the equation.
My dad bought a Winchester Model 100 autoloader in the 1970s, when there were plenty of doe tags, and he would routinely take multiple deer when opportunity knocked. The Model 100 isn’t very heavy, and he relied on it for firepower, needing the rapid second and third shots on the fruit farm that could be quickly destroyed by deer.
The lever
