Handgun successes with deer hunting ...... ?? PA in particular.

[P95Carry]

I usually and from habit go out with my deer rifle ... never really thought of much else.

However, following the subject cropping up .. somewhere here probably .. i got to checking in my PA Game Commission Digest for this year, 2003. Under the heading ''Lawful Arms and Ammunition'' .... I read ....

''Deer and Bear ....

1) Manually operated center fire rifles, shotguns and center fire handguns with all lead bullet or ball, or bullet designed to expand on impact;

2) Muzzle loading long guns of any type, 44 cal or larger;

3) ... archery stuff. ...................

Buckshot is not legal.''

I had heard someone say handguns were OK ..... well, looks like they are. Odd tho, bit like in OH .. no actual minimum specification re caliber and muzzle energy etc.

I am now thinking of taking my rifle as usual but also having a good hunting revo with me too ...... perhapsd my 9 1/2" Redhawk in 44 mag or maybe the .454 Casull. For a 50 yd shot I think either would do well.

Who has had good results with handgun ..... and what cal and load etc.??

 

[mete]

I am just across the line in NY.I have used a 44Mag with Speer 225 at 1260 . The only bullet I recovered went through 25-30" of deer expanding to 50 cal in the process. You don't need more than 44mag and don't use the 300 grain bullets they're not necessary, stick to 225-240. Average buck in PA is 150 lbs. Accuracy is the most important thing, maximum permissible groups would be 1 1/5". With iron sights you're good for 50-60 yd . Work up the most accurate loads and practice, practice.

 

[Steve in PA]

Taken several deer here in PA with my handgun, a Ruger Super Redhawk .44mag. Its the 9 1/2" barrel version with a 2x6 Bushnell scope mounted on it. I reload/handload and have used Hornady 240gr and 300gr HP-XTP bullets over H-110.

I use the 300gr during bear season......haven't goteen one of those blackies yet......but I'm trying!!!! I've used the 240gr to take deer out to 75 yards.......the pistol is sighted in dead on at 100 yards......which is as far as I would shoot the .44mag.

In PA the minimum caliber is the .357mag......which is good too if you keep your shots to 50 yards and under. With some of the newer, heavier bullets (180gr) you could extend the range.....but if I carried the .357mag I'd keep it around 50 yards.

If you are going to handgun hunt.......leave the rifle at home.

 

[P95Carry]

Steve ..... an academic question really, cos I would not use anything less than full .357 mag anyways - for me .44 mag is a base line .... but where is the min cal mentioned? I am purely curious.

 

[Steve in PA]

Mmmmmmm........good question. I had thought it was in the digest but just flipped through it and couldn't find anything about caliber. Could have sworn it was in there. I'm sure it has to be or you could use a .25 to handgun for deer

 

[P95Carry]

Yep - checked thru Digest again myself ... not mentioned is it.!

A thread going not so long ago suggested same sorta ambiguity in OH .. all it needs really IMO is some muzzle energy threshold .... shoot above that is fine .. below is a no-no. Personally I'd say that something exceeding 1,000 ft lbs is getting into the right area.... which is anyways less than half most rifles.

A 158 bullet at 1500 fps in .357 mag will yield ME of 785 ft lbs .... if you push a .44 mag 240 grn bullet to same speed, and it is not too difficult, then you have all but 1200 ft lbs ME ..... now that is getting useful ... and also shows why I'd not use .357.

Much would (should) be common sense to those of us with respect for our quarry and methods of taking ... but then there are those ''hunters'' ... hmmm, not an appropriate word always .... who would beat a damn deer to death with a toothbrush if they thought it'd work!!

 

[Joe Demko]

I've used a Super 14 Contender, S&W 686, Ruger Security Six, and Ruger Blackhawk .45 Colt all successfully for PA whitetail. Used off-the-shelf ammo for all except the Contender.
Second that you leave the rifle at home if you are going to hunt with a handgun. Concentrate on what you are trying to do. Keep your shots realistic. Have fun.

 

[243_shooter]

I've been toying with the idea of leaving the rifle at home myself. Seems the general thought here is .357 mag isn't adequate? I was planning on using my 4" 686 with premium ammo, while trying to keep the shots under 50 yds (about the max of my ability to hit well with the revovler). I guess if the .357 isn't going to cut it I'll just stick with the rifle?

The only thing I hate more than not seeing any deer is chasing one that somebody winged for a couple miles, then not finding it. I _don't_ want that to happen.

Leo

 

[P95Carry]

yep 243 . I really do think it is better to sway toward being over-gunned with handguns .... than under-gunned.

Quick clean kill ... or not at all.

 

[huntsman]

for what it's worth, Ohio law is straight wall cartridge 1" long, min 357mag,min 5" barrel and only 1 firearm at a time. That means you can't take a shotgun and sidearm it's one or the other.

 

[PALongbow]

Trust Steve when he says "leave the rifle at home" if you going to handgun hunt. I should have taken his advice last year. I took the rifle and handgun but took a deer within handgun range with my rifle.

Ron