First time pistol deer hunting?????

[Randy1911]

Later this year I will have the opertunity to go deer hunting and was thinking about taking my Ruger Super Redhawk 7.5" barreled and scoped revolver ( I don't have any suitible rifles anymore). At what distance should I be praticing at? Also at that range what size of a group should I be able to hold. My load is a 44 Mag. with 23.5 grains of H-110 over a Hornady XTP 240 gr. JHP. Any suggestions. This will be my first deer hunt in 15 years.

 

[MCgunner]

I'd practice at 50 and 100 yards with a .44. It's plenty enough to take deer to 100 yards. Learn your trajectory to 100 yards and practice it at various shorter ranges. Your probably looking at about 5" high at 50 if you zero at 100 or near abouts and you need to understand this instinctively. OR, you can hold over at the longer range, sight for 50. Have to work out what you think is best there, I reckon.

 

[rcmodel]

Get yourself a big package of paper dinner plates.

Whatever the range is you can keep all your shots on a paper plate is your maximum effective range for deer hunting.

The plate is the approximate same size as a deers kill zone.

rc

 

[Randy1911]

Thanks for the help. I'll go and get some paper plates and see how far my effective range is. I'm guessing 50-60 yards. I just got this revolver a month ago and I am not that good yet. It's time to pratice, pratice, pratice.

 

[MCgunner]

Always use a rest for best effectiveness. Shoot off sticks or a gun rest on a stand. Last resort, lay back against something and use your knees or go creedmore, but a rest is always important with a handgun. You can make hits at 100 yards if you practice using shooting sticks or other field expedient rest.

 

[22-rimfire]

I had a lot of trouble holding my SRH still in the woods without a good rest. Tried a couple of options; shooting sticks etc. Discovered I really like a monopod and you can adjust the height for when you are walking and lower when you are in a stand or on the ground.

Practice practice. 100 yds seems awfully far when you're used to shooting 25 yds and sometimes 50 yds with a handgun. Paper plates are the way to go. Take some binoculars with you to look for holes.

 

[dakotasin]

i zero my 480 and 50 ae 1" high at 75 yards, and then spend a lot of time practicing out to 150 yards - and don't neglect the short shots, either, because w/ a 75 yard zero it is possible to shoot right over a deer's back at 30 or 40 yards.

you will be surprised at how quickly you can become proficient at longer ranges w/ a good handgun. you will also be surprised at how difficult it is to steady the pistol in the field for a shot - so practice w/ field rests. i'll never forget my first handgun hunt, and how i almost couldn't get the shot off because it was so hard to hold that heavy gun steady (7.5" ruger srh). a note about long range handguns... pay attention to how much energy they truly deliver on target. since i don't shoot a 44 mag i have zero knowledge of its capabilities, but i do know the 480 and 50 ae run out of ethics at about 125-150 yards...

i run a scope on my srh, and regret it... too hard to use for hunting. i run a red dot on the desert eagle and really like that, and my not-big-bore hunting handguns run factory irons and consider them to be viable 50 yard guns.

good luck!

 

[MCgunner]

Discovered I really like a monopod and you can adjust the height for when you are walking and lower when you are in a stand or on the ground.

I bought a monopod the other day, more with rifles in mind, though. It is kinda neat, but is less stable than the sticks. Maybe I'm just not as used to it, yet. I've only just tried it out and that with my scoped Ruger .22. The sticks, when sitting and resting the elbows on the knees, are very stable. I figure next time I go west and hunt on foot, I'll take both in the day pack. They weigh squat.

pay attention to how much energy they truly deliver on target. since i don't shoot a 44 mag i have zero knowledge of its capabilities, but i do know the 480 and 50 ae run out of ethics at about 125-150 yards...

.44 mag runs out of juice something beyond 100, 125 maybe, so I figured 100 yards is a good cut off. My own choice is a Contender in .30-30. It carries just under 1000 ft lbs with a 150 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip at 200 yards. Shoots 3" high at 100, sighted for 200. I sorta like it. My longest shot has been 90 yards, though. I don't have to worry about trajectory as I won't shoot beyond 200. My blackhawks are iron sighted and I pretty much stick to 50 yards with 'em.

 

[Randy1911]

Thanks guys. I will try and make some shooting sticks and see how that goes. I know what you mean about the shaking. I will proably try to hold my shots to 50 yards seeing the woods are fairly heavy here where I live. I won't be going till December so I have plenty of time to pratice. I just bought 600 jacketed bullets to pratice with. I will most likly be sitting on the ground leaning against a tree.

 

[Legionnaire]

Not sure the conditions under which you hunt, but I find that trees make good expedient rests. I simply place the back of my hand against the tree and brace that way. At the range, I do the same against one of the supports holding up the roof. Practice with both hands against the trees--i.e., back of shooting hand, back of supporting hand--because you never know what direction you'll have to shoot when in the woods.

Also practice shooting off a horizontal log. In that instance, I rest my forearms on the log, not my hands. Do the same from the bench when practicing at the range. I also practice shooting off my knees when seated butt on the ground. Especially for revolver hunting, field expedient rests are the way to go.

And I'll second (or third) that paper plates are excellent practice targets. Your max range is the distance at which you can keep all six shots on the paper. Work very well.

 

[frankt]

I sight my 7 1/2" .41 mag Redhawk about 1" high at fifty yards. I will take a shot with a good rest, out to 75 yards but the woods are thick here too and I rarely kill a deer over 40 yards.
Just find what range you can keep your shots in the kill zone and limit yourself to that. I approach handgun hunting as I do bowhunting, get close and pick a spot.

Good Luck!

 

[HGUNHNTR]

I know it might sound silly, but also examine the basics of your shooting mechanics, (hold, trigger manipulation, etc) Make sure your not using the cup and saucer method for holding your revolver.

You're right on about the practice, just make sure you are practicing the right things.

 

[Kernel]

I sight my .44 Mag to be dead nuts at 100 yds with 240 gr XTPs. That puts the max point blank range at about 120 yds. Practice with a Y-yoke monopod and use it when you hunt, makes a good walking stick, too. The treads the Y-yoke attach to are the same as on the bottom of a camera. So I can also use it for slow-shutter-speed and/or telephoto photography (which I often do to kill time, waiting for the deer to show up).

 

[flipajig]

I hunt with a pistol also and the advice given is good. One thing to remember is know your limatations. I shoot a SBH in 44Mag with oppen sights im using 240 grn hard cast pill
over 19.5 grn of 2400 this works in my gun. I shoot alot of pistole rds a year between IDPA and shooting my contender and BH. The best thing that i can say is pratice,pratice and when you think your good enough pratice some more.. good luck and have fun. My first deer with a hand gun was at about 17 yds with my Bh and what a rush almost as good as taking a deer with a bow..
Also go to Hand gun hunter .com there is a lot of great advice there..

 

[Randy1911]

Thanks for all the advise. I think I will proably try to keep my shots under 50 yards if possible. I made some shooting cross sticks on your advise. I will go pratice if and when the rain stops (we've had 17" since Labor Day). I am reallyt looking forward to going hunting.