first deer with handgun!

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JEB

JEB

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Aug 10, 2009
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Location
Douds, IA
i have been an avid deer hunter for the past few years and decided to step it up a notch and try to get a deer with a handgun. we group hunt on the two weekends of the season so i knew i would have the weekdays free. my plan was to hunt with the group on the weekends and post up alone during the week. the entire season was uncommonly warm and the deer were just not cooperating. i spent all day for five days straight (mon-fri) in the woods starting well before sunrise to after sunset with hardly even a sighting of a deer, let alone a shooting oportunity. the group hunt on saturday was painfully unsuccesfull so everyone decided to go post up on fence rows or tree stands for the rest of the day. i ended up in a 15 ft. ladder stand and due to a lack of sleep all week and the amount of miles i had walked that day i was dead tired. wouldnt ya know it, i fell asleep in the stand :eek:. i woke up some time later as the sun was just going behind the trees, pulled my hood down, dug out my cell phone to check the time and put it back, streached a bit, looked around... and low and behold there was a doe munching away on some grass 30 yards away with no idea i was there dispite all of my recent movement. i waited untill she was facing away to get my revolver into position. i waited for her to turn towards me a bit and made my shot. she flinched and the shot and i saw a puff of hair from her off-side so i was pretty sure the shot was good. sure enough, a short track later, there she lay!:D

for those who want to know:

gun used:
Ruger Super Blackhawk
.44 rem Magnum
7 1/2" bbl
stainless steel

load:
240 grain hornady XTP
near max charge of alliant 2400
winchester brass
winchester LP primer

and here she is...

attachment.php


she was one of the smallest ones we got, but i dont care. she'll eat just the same!
DSC00992.jpg
 
Congrats. I want to try that sometime, but I need to get a handgun more suited for hunting first.
 
Excellent!

Excellent Job~!

I agree, it is more of a challenge to hunt using a handgun. I prefer it to rifle when I will have to crawl through thick stuff where a long gun just seems to get all hung up on things. Also, if you are shooting under about forty yards, there really is no need for a rifle if the deer is still! If the deer is running, it would not be a good shot even with a rifle, as there is a chance one might just injure it or gut-shot it.

Once I began hunting with handgun, that ended up being my preferred method of hunting!;)

And, as for the doe, nothing wrong with that meat, sure beats some old buck that is in the rut and is so old the meat is tough.:uhoh:
 
I prefer hunting with a pistol in the brush, my favorite being a Ruger BH Bisley .45 colt with 7 1/2" barrel, big problem is when using the single action, you got to pull the hammer back without spooking them.
 
Sweet. I'm trying that myself. I've taken my Blackhawk every day this year but one, hoping for a close enough shot. The one day I left it home, 4 does crossed the trail at 20 yds. :banghead:

Good job!
 
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big problem is when using the single action, you got to pull the hammer back without spooking them.
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i was a bit concerned about this at first as well. when you have a deer standing right there and you pull the hammer back and the woods are really still, those little clicks sound like pans banging togather. i was a little surprised that when i cocked the hammer, she didnt even notice one bit.
 
when sitting in a blind, I put the revolver between my knees and let my coveralls or whatever absorb the sound of cocking it. right now I got lots of oifield activity in the vicinity and i wait for traffic noise etc. to cover the sound.
 
JEB, I'am proud of you for not putting a scope on a handgun. It's like someone putting a mustash on th Mona Lisa.

Also good shot.:)


























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JEB, I'am proud of you for not putting a scope on a handgun. It's like someone putting a mustash on th Mona Lisa.

Also good shot
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I'll bet you ain't wearin' bifocals, yet. :rolleyes:

To each his own, but I prefer GLASS on my .30-30 contender. :D I have taken a couple with a .357 iron sighted blackhawk when I was some years younger and could focus a might better.
 
rifle calibers on pistols almost make them a different animal, their trajectories almost call for optics. for standard pistol calibers like .357mag, .41,44 mag .45 and larger, open sights make hunting comparable to bow hunting. I got friends that hunt with pistols in .22-250, 7-30 waters, even .308, these dont compare to standard revolvers, anyway these are single shot like the contenders.
 
Congrats, I hope someday I can take a bigger critter with a handgun. Im not sure why but I have wanted to do so for the last few years with the 29 or 686. I had better get after this before we run out of deer here in .OR
 
JEB, I'am proud of you for not putting a scope on a handgun. It's like someone putting a mustash on th Mona Lisa.

Also good shot.
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thanks! i think we share an opinion on scopes ;). i carry it in a Laramie holster hung from a western drop belt so a scope was simply not going to be considered. plus, a scope on a single action? :barf: no thanks. i may one day get a scope mount for it to use during load development and to really try to test how good the gun shoots, not just how good i shoot. but once all that is done, the scope will come off as soon as i am finished and the irons will be re-sighted.

I'll bet you ain't wearin' bifocals, yet. :rolleyes:
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not yet and hopefully not for a long time. i spent most of my life wearing glasses with somewhere around 20/100 vision. if i didnt have my glasses, was basically useless. 2 or 3 years ago i had lasik surgery and now im just shy of 20/20. by far the best money i have EVER spent....and my shooting improved too!:D
 
I will never scope a single action revolver. if you cant shoot it open sights, go a different route. it is like putting a moustache on the Mona Lisa, just not meant to be. I love my single action Rugers.
 
I wear trifocals and shoot iron sights on a number of my guns without any issues whatsoever.

I just use the top, largest lens that is for seeing distances. If I tried to use the other two smaller ones, the sight would be a lot clearer, but I would not see much further than perhaps 20 feet at what I am aiming at!;)
 
Congrats. Got my first one with a Ruger New Vaquero in .357 Mag. It wasn't the biggest deer in the world but using a handgun still gives a great sense of accomplishment.
 
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