GAP MILLS, W.Va. — When you talk to any hunter, especially in the Appalachian region, he or she can readily tell you every detail of the firearm used to kill their first deer. Actually they can give you a minute by minute detailed account of the entire hunt. The experience is so vivid in our minds, it can never be matched. It’s never forgotten. The thrill of that first deer, whether a doe or a buck, is imprinted on us forever.
Ken Mahon of Gap Mills, W.Va. doesn’t need very much prompting to tell you about his first deer, a buck killed in Greenbrier County in 1989 with a Pre-1964 Winchester Model 70, 30-06.
The rifle belonged to his dad, Roy Mahon. He had acquired it through family friend Parker Hall. Hall, who was originally from Mingo County, moved to Seattle to take a job in the shipyards of the Pacific Northwest.
“He moved back to West Virginia and he had every hunting rifle Winchester had ever made,” Ken explained in a conversation on West Virginia Outdoors.
Hall gave Mahon’s dad the .30–06 and the identical model in .308 to his uncle J.D. Mahon. So Ken used the rifle to kill his first deer in the late 80’s while hunting in Greenbrier County. Soon afterward, as is Appalachian tradition, he threw a lot of haybales during the summer to save up the cash to buy his own
Ruger .30-06 and the old Winchester went back to his dad’s gun cabinet.
“Dad traded that thing to a guy up in the Neola community in Greenbrier County and somehow my uncle did some horse-trading and got the thing. He wanted it because it was a match to his .308 that Parker Kennedy had given him,” explained Mahon.
Through the years, Mahon used his Ruger to take many, many deer. But as time passed, he thought more and more about the old Winchester. The firearm still held a special place in his heart. During a conversation with his uncle 20 years ago, Ken made it clear the rifle was special and if there was ever a chance it would be dealt, he’d like an opportunity to buy it.
Last summer, Ken got a call from his uncle asking for help with his internet. Ken works for the phone company, so such a request was not out of the ordinary. A few days later, he paid a visit to his uncle to trouble shoot his on-line issues.
“I think he purposely did it to get me to come to the house because there was nothing wrong. While I was there working on it, he was plundering around his closet where I knew he kept some guns. He said, ‘I can’t find that thing.’ I asked him, ‘What thing?’ and he said, ‘The gun I’m going to give you.'” Mahon explained.
Stunned, Ken immediately thought of the old Winchester and the conversation from 20 years earlier.
“There it is,” said his uncle as he presented Mahon with his Holy Grail of hunting rifles.
“He handed me that .30-06 and said take it home with you. He really knocked the breath out of me. I sure never expected that to happen,” laughed Mahon.
Now reunited with the rifle of his youth, at least for one hunt, Mahon headed to the family farm in Monroe County on opening day of the 2022 buck season. His youngest son was hunting with his old Ruger and took a deer with it. Then it was Ken’s turn.
“I hadn’t hunted with it since 1989 and we had just moved to Greenbrier County. It took a few days, but it finally came together and It was a surreal moment as I was standing over that buck. I didn’t think it would work out this way, but it did,” he explained.
However, the story didn’t end with two bucks, 33 years apart. The following week, Mahon took the old Winchester into the field in Greenbrier County and fate smiled again.
“I wasn’t expecting anything to happen, but you can’t kill them if you’re not there. A little spike buck caught my attention running through the woods like somebody set his tail end on fire. That got me watching the woods and over there on the side of the hill stood a big eight point,” Mahon explained.
He took careful aim, squeezed the trigger and close to 110 yards away, the buck folded up.
“Right behind the shoulder, perfect shot through the heart and there he was,” he said.
Mahon over 33 years has hunted with the rifle three times and killed three bucks.
“I don’t think I’ll be hunting with anything else from now on,” he laughed.
His son’s buck with his old Ruger was another special moment. Mahon has three boys, all three love to hunt. He figured someday one of them would take possession of the Winchester–but not anytime soon.
“One of those boys will get the gun one day. I’m not sure how that will shake out, but I’ll let them fight over that after I’m gone,” he said.