“My daddy purchased a semi-automatic Remington Model 742 Woodsmaster from JCPenney the same year I was born.⁠ ⁠ He topped it with a simple Bushnell 4×32 scope; it was easily the biggest purchase he’d made in a long time, probably one he could barely afford. But for a man who hunted to put meat on the table, that rifle wasn’t a luxury. That gun became Daddy’s pride and joy. He carried it with him through the Virginia mountains for more than 40 years and killed more deer with it than he could remember. The walnut stock and steel receiver were nothing fancy, but they were tough and honest — like him. For more than twenty seasons, I followed that man — and that rifle — through the woods. Daddy died in 2017. He suffered a heart attack on the last day of the Virginia deer season. The following season, I got to watch my younger son, Silas, take a shot at a buck with the same rifle — a beautiful 125-yard shot. Freestanding. No rest. His cheek pressed to the same worn wood that held my father’s...