.500 S&W Meets Texas Whitetail

It seems that taking or suggesting head and neck shots has become more popular lately. Not sure why but nobody has convinced me.

Great demonstration of the 500 mags power. Can't wait to see the whole show.

-to the folks with negative comments on this,
@MaxP is a well respected authority on handgun hunting, there is nothing unethical about putting an animal down with maximum efficiency, i don't know any hunter that uses every part of a game animal and takes every scrap of meat. If you do kudos but it isn't the norm.

Some folks just don't get it......and they never will. I don't have a problem with it, the problem I have is how they feel this need to harshly criticize those of us that do.

Last weekend was opening weekend of deer season. I hunt a small parcel of private property that has a good number of deer on it. But, it's size dictates you sit, and you have to sit all day. So I have a nice blind, with heat and a tripod/shooting stick for shooting off from. On Saturday I never saw a deer until 1:45 in the afternoon, and it was a small buck walking @ 45 yards. Had seen him several times bowhunting. Between then and dark I saw 7 does and two more small bucks within the range of my .460. Just did not feel compelled to shoot one. Was a day when I would have been happy with any of them, but I knew my grand-daughter (age 9) was going to be mentored by her dad on Sunday and I was hoping they would take my blind. They did just that and @ 8:30 Sunday morning I heard the little .223 bark and soon received a text message in my ladder stand "Pappa....I got one!" Turned out to be a nice fat doe that had come in with two other does and a small 6 point, and her dad talked her into letting the buck walk(good for her). After helping drag it out, getting it hung up a a bit of early lunch, she tells me she wants to try and shoot one with one of my handguns. She has been practicing with my P.C. 44 Magnum Hunter and is pretty good with it out to 40 yards. But since she only has practiced out to that, I told her that was her limit. Off to the blind we went. Needless to say, we saw several shootable deer that afternoon from the same blind, but none within those 40 yards. Add to that, the use of electronic muffs for ear protection(she had bluetooth ones so she could play video games on her phone while waiting) and having to get the N-Frame on the rest without spooking those deer every time, it was a tough and luckless afternoon for her.

On the walk out after dark she told me, "Grandpa....using a pistol is a lot harder than using a rifle".

She gets it.

How far away was that deer?

Max has been filming a TV show, presumably with a professional camera crew, who use professional grade equipment rather than their cellphones.

So how far away was that deer? You'll never know, unless someone who was there and measured the distance tells you.

The headshot idea is bad policy on deer. Tiny target and all they have to do is move just a touch and its a horrible wound. That said, you lose 8oz of meat for an ethical kill? Should be an easy choice for anyone not trying to snipe deer in the depression era with a 22 mag!

Its my property he shot the deer on. Shot he took was easily 40+ yards. Clean ethical kills on all deer, what else do you want. The fence line is 100 yards and on that south end its not the friendliest neigh or as far as deer recovery. All i can say is good luck with a 357. Perfect placement and youre good. Ive seen plenty of guys ive invited to hunt my property wish they chose better as we followed the blood trail over the fence. No question about it that even with little deer hitting em hard is the way to go. I shot the biggest buck of my life nicely quartering away with a 41 mag just behind the onside shoulder and out the offside shoulder. What most would call a perfect shot. A deer of that caliber deserved better than a head shot as they all do, really. That deer died on the fence line, and that stand is about the same distance from the west fence as max’s is from the south fence. When we talked about him using a 500 smith i was all about it. Just put em down. I usually use a 460 or 454. Ive seen too many make it over the fence.

One other thing to address, forest.....not sure what your issue is, but you really really show your experience in your reaponses. By that, i mean lack of experience. Max isnt under gunned for buffalo. Not in the least. The only way buff’s that are one shot kills is because they only give you one and they die later. Period, end of story. Not only are they tough animals, anatomically and physiologically they have features put in them by the Lord above that keeps em ticking. Besides the tough bone and hide, they have a very very thick pericardium that seals holes and doesnt allow them to bleed out quickly at all. Recently i had a large bovine on its feet for 6 minutes after a 1 1/2” hole was placed through both ventricles of the heart. This is because they run really really low blood pressure and have a very slow heart rate. Deer and elk, not so much! Totally different creatures. Max put that cape buff down faster than any cape buff ive seen that wasnt brained or spined

Tradmark said:

One other thing to address, forest.....not sure what your issue is, but you really really show your experience in your reaponses. By that, i mean lack of experience. Max isnt under gunned for buffalo. Not in the least. The only way buff’s that are one shot kills is because they only give you one and they die later. Period, end of story. Not only are they tough animals, anatomically and physiologically they have features put in them by the Lord above that keeps em ticking. Besides the tough bone and hide, they have a very very thick pericardium that seals holes and doesnt allow them to bleed out quickly at all. Recently i had a large bovine on its feet for 6 minutes after a 1 1/2” hole was placed through both ventricles of the heart. This is because they run really really low blood pressure and have a very slow heart rate. Deer and elk, not so much! Totally different creatures. Max put that cape buff down faster than any cape buff ive seen that wasnt brained or spined

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Well put, things such as heart rate and blood pressure are things alot of us (myself included) don't think about when going for such large game. No experience with them so the thought hadn't crossed my mind, but makes perfect sense. Learn something new every day. Folks like you, max, and craig have been fantastic to learn from and are the reason why greenhorns like myself keep coming to this forum. Thank you.

And @MaxP nice shot, looking forward to the next episode.

MaxP said:

And yet they never provide evidence that they do it themselves, but they are quick to criticize and suggest. When called on it, they slink away like a thief in the night. That’s the nature of the internet.

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I'm not slinking away from shooting a small doe in the head from 30 feet for the meat a couple years ago. Standing still looking sideways from me, 44 mag Mountain Revolver with Crimson Trace grips.

Nice shot.

I've never handgun hunting before. I would like to try it some time. The biggest handgun I own is 44 magnum.

There's clean shots, well placed shots along with shots to the vitals. I guess some people can and will justify anything when they blindly follow the pack.

I myself would of taken a lung shot on that deer rather than a shoulder shot, but what the heck do I know. I got an idear why don't we start a new thread taking a pole on wether hunters would either take a close range broadside shot at a deer to A the shoulder or B to the lungs/heart/vitals.

Same goes for that excellent example of stocking and taking a frontal shot on that buffalo. Then pounding it with a 2nd shot anywhere you could hit it then finishing it off with a shoulder shot.

More examples of quality marksmanship and excellent hunting skills.


Nothing better than close range shooting of medium sized animals that takes multiple shots at point blank range to kill. PMAX says he's not outgunned, that leaves shot placement/skills or simply hit the darn thing wherever you can to slow it down.

Used to go deer hunting with a friend of mine, I'd use a 357 & he'd use a 12ga with pumpkin balls. Myself I would be hard pressed to take a frontal shot & if I did it would be just below the head into the neck. The majority of my shots/kills were to the lungs/broadside shots. My friend on the other hand was what I call a "flock shooter". He'd bring a big hammer with him (12ga) and hit the deer wherever he could, then use multiple shot so finish it off.

PMAX's videos bring back memories of my friend and his hunting/shooting skills. Joe would use the biggest hammer he could find and keep pounding the critters until they dropped & then give them 1 more just to make sure.

I would love to see a thread using the link above as an example of animals being shot @ what I call point blank range and asking people to vote on wether they would:
A. Hit the animal where ever they could on the 1st shot to slow it down & then use multiple shots to finish it off.
B. Hit the animal in the vitals with a heart or lung shot on the 1st shot.
C. Take a shoulder shot on the 1st shot to slow the animal down so they could use multiple shots to finish it off.