THE HAPPY HUNTER

The shop received these comments in an email correspondence recently, which are being passed along to readers: 

"I bought a new 270 because I always wanted one, and that made me happy. I sighted in the 270 from a bench and it shot well, and that made me happy. I practiced a lot with the 270 and it didn't kick much, and that made me happy. I shot a good mule deer with it the first year, and that made me happy. I shot an elk with it the second year but couldn't find the elk, which made me unhappy. A group of us found the elk the next day but it was spoiled, which made me unhappy. We discovered that the shot had been well placed, which made me unhappy about using the 270 on elk. I lost a lot of sleep, but I learned a lesson. I traded the 270 for a 300 magnum, which I plan to use successfully on both deer and elk, and now I am happy again. I wish your gun shop had been around when I bought the first rifle, because I think you would have steered me in the right direction at the beginning. I'm the guy from Montana (with that noisy border collie puppy) who stopped in last week. You have a very nice shop, and I'll be back. You have the best ammo selection and most loading supplies that I've seen in quite awhile, and good quality rifles."

I remember the man (because of that squirmy puppy), but he didn't have time to stay more than a few minutes to size up the shop. I was visiting with a gun customer at the time, and he may have listened to the gist of our conversation, or perhaps someone told him about the shop. Whatever the circumstances, I appreciated his remarks and his honesty about losing that elk.