Hunting with a Handgun
- Thread starter Andrewsky
- Start date
- Status
Jimmy Newman
Member
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2006
- Messages
- 280
What's the point of doing anything but killing deer at 50 yards from an elevated box stand at a feeder with a high power scoped rifle? This is an extreme example, but it's a related topic 
.
For me it's about the challenge (mostly the challenge of having to get close). Where I hunt there are a lot of deer and I haven't had any trouble lately making 200 yard shots off of shooting stix or a tree branch of the correct height, but I'm not terribly interested in doing the super long range thing. So instead I've taken up pistol hunting (with an open sights S&W M57-1 .41 mag) and plan to start on bow hunting (I have a good bow and am a good shot with it, I just haven't really tried hard on hunting with it yet. Plus, I just really like pistols.
I shot a deer last season with the .41 mag and the deer made it about 30 yards before it dropped like a rock. I don't think that's an unethical kill at all (it is the second farthest I have ever had a deer run). Of course, I've shot pistols a lot but am not great, so I set a maximum range of 30 yards for myself (with a rest I can hold about a 3" group at 30 yards) to insure I could make a clean shot. I think you do have a responsibility to make sure you are capable of taking good shots if you hunt with a pistol or a bow - but that's no different from hunting with a rifle, the constraints are just a little different - for me, with my revolver, more than 50 yards is an unethical shot, versus 300+ with my rifle.
Also, it's nice not to have to lug the big rifle around.
There are other valid reasons as well. A very good friend of mine suffered a stroke about ten years ago. He has since recovered fully but for several years lost most of the use of his left hand and couldn't operate a rifle reliably, but didn't want to give up hunting. He bought a long barrel .357 revolver, put a scope on it, learned to shoot it with one hand and a rest, and did very well for the seasons he couldn't use a rifle (he killed a deer with it that I seem to remember placed in the top 10 of the deer killed in the last 100 years on the hunting club he is a member of).
.For me it's about the challenge (mostly the challenge of having to get close). Where I hunt there are a lot of deer and I haven't had any trouble lately making 200 yard shots off of shooting stix or a tree branch of the correct height, but I'm not terribly interested in doing the super long range thing. So instead I've taken up pistol hunting (with an open sights S&W M57-1 .41 mag) and plan to start on bow hunting (I have a good bow and am a good shot with it, I just haven't really tried hard on hunting with it yet. Plus, I just really like pistols
.I shot a deer last season with the .41 mag and the deer made it about 30 yards before it dropped like a rock. I don't think that's an unethical kill at all (it is the second farthest I have ever had a deer run). Of course, I've shot pistols a lot but am not great, so I set a maximum range of 30 yards for myself (with a rest I can hold about a 3" group at 30 yards) to insure I could make a clean shot. I think you do have a responsibility to make sure you are capable of taking good shots if you hunt with a pistol or a bow - but that's no different from hunting with a rifle, the constraints are just a little different - for me, with my revolver, more than 50 yards is an unethical shot, versus 300+ with my rifle.
Also, it's nice not to have to lug the big rifle around
.There are other valid reasons as well. A very good friend of mine suffered a stroke about ten years ago. He has since recovered fully but for several years lost most of the use of his left hand and couldn't operate a rifle reliably, but didn't want to give up hunting. He bought a long barrel .357 revolver, put a scope on it, learned to shoot it with one hand and a rest, and did very well for the seasons he couldn't use a rifle (he killed a deer with it that I seem to remember placed in the top 10 of the deer killed in the last 100 years on the hunting club he is a member of).
Bartkowski
Member
Well at closer ranges I would bet that if you shot a deer with a hangun in an appropriate caliber or a rifle in an appropriate caliber that the hangun might drop a deer more than a rifle. Just because of the bullet size...the energy trasmitted would be greater, right?
Clipper
Member
Anyone can shoot a deer with a rifle at 50 yards...But are you good enough to pull it off with a handgun? Without a rest? The skills I developed shooting everything from squirrels to deer with a handgun for 30+ years has not only made me a better shot, but also required me to be a more patient and dedicated hunter. When you can lay all six rounds through the bottom of a coffee can offhand and unsupported at 50 yards, you know you can shoot.
Jimmy Newman
Member
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2006
- Messages
- 280
Bartkowski,
Even at close ranges, handguns are not nearly as effective as rifles (with a few exceptions, like a TC Encore with rifle bullets, or maybe .460 or .500S&W). The reason for this is that a rifle bullet causes something called hydrostatic shock - it damages tissue around the bullet path because of the shock wave behind the bullet. This is the big chewed up damaged area around the bullet path. To get this to happen, you need about 2000fps of bullet speed. .41 mag is a FAST handgun round, up to about 1600fps, but it doesn't cause hydrostatic shock at all. You might get there with the new .460 or .500 revolvers. The deer that I shot with my .41 had a perfectly clean hole straight though it with little to no damage to the muscle tissue around the bullet path. The deer dropped so quickly because I put the round right through the middle of its heart.
Even at close ranges, handguns are not nearly as effective as rifles (with a few exceptions, like a TC Encore with rifle bullets, or maybe .460 or .500S&W). The reason for this is that a rifle bullet causes something called hydrostatic shock - it damages tissue around the bullet path because of the shock wave behind the bullet. This is the big chewed up damaged area around the bullet path. To get this to happen, you need about 2000fps of bullet speed. .41 mag is a FAST handgun round, up to about 1600fps, but it doesn't cause hydrostatic shock at all. You might get there with the new .460 or .500 revolvers. The deer that I shot with my .41 had a perfectly clean hole straight though it with little to no damage to the muscle tissue around the bullet path. The deer dropped so quickly because I put the round right through the middle of its heart.
Not really. Energy is equal to mass times velocity squared. That's velocity that's squared, not mass. So velocity is "more important."
As long as you guys are making ethical kills, it sounds perfectly reasonable to me to use a pistol.
I guess my original question was basically, why handicap yourself with an inferior weapon, and the answer is, because it's a challenge. That's logical enough, eh?
Oh, btw, both of the deer I've shot in my short hunting career were dead right there. Both were shot with a .300 Win Mag bolt action out of a 26" barrel. BOOM!!!! The first was in the neck at 35 yards and the second was at 200 yards in the spine. Neither of them moved a step after shot, so I figure the kills were pretty ethical. I've been unsuccessful on my last two hunting trips though...what can ya do, right?
Well, the T/C Contender pistol is more accutate than 99% of rifles...it still holds the world record set with iron sights: 1" X 3.5" at 500 yards.
Add the Encore pistol to the mix which uses rifle cartridges and you have an exceptional challenge.
The fastest downing of any boar I have shot was with an Encore chambered in .444 Marlin (boar dropped in 12 yards, with a single shot). It dropped faster than the boar I hit with a .375 H&H (boar dropped in 200+ yards, with two shots).
I started hunting with a pistol due to a fused neck. Others hunt with pistol for challenge.
Doc2005
Add the Encore pistol to the mix which uses rifle cartridges and you have an exceptional challenge.
The fastest downing of any boar I have shot was with an Encore chambered in .444 Marlin (boar dropped in 12 yards, with a single shot). It dropped faster than the boar I hit with a .375 H&H (boar dropped in 200+ yards, with two shots).
I started hunting with a pistol due to a fused neck. Others hunt with pistol for challenge.
Doc2005
Last edited:
MCgunner
Member
Oh, here we go down the slippery slope of "ethics" again. I know you're just lookin' for info, but if handguns are unethical, you'd better outlaw bow hunting post haste. As matter of fact, the PETA types have been after bow hunting for years. Actually, they're after ALL huntning. I just saw some woman from PETA on a morning news show stating that deer hunting (with rifle) is as cruel as Micheal Vick's dog fighting activities. Be careful how you throw that word "ethical" around.
I've killed two deer quite dead with a .357 magnum, didn't go more'n 25 yards and the other dropped in its tracks. I've dispatched 5 with a Contender in .30-30 so far. I enjoy handgun hunting for the reasons everyone here states. I enjoy precision shooting with a handgun. I got into IHMSA for a while, but hunting is much more fun and you can't eat metal rams.
I've killed two deer quite dead with a .357 magnum, didn't go more'n 25 yards and the other dropped in its tracks. I've dispatched 5 with a Contender in .30-30 so far. I enjoy handgun hunting for the reasons everyone here states. I enjoy precision shooting with a handgun. I got into IHMSA for a while, but hunting is much more fun and you can't eat metal rams.
jmorris
Member
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2005
- Messages
- 24,191
I'm with Doc on this one, there are not many rifles that will out shoot my XP-100 in 7mm br. But, it and the contenders are only really handguns by law, if you are thinking about a "side arm" the ranges will be much closer (depending on how well you shoot). Look at it this way, if you have a pistol to defend yourself against a 250lb bad guy it should be just fine for a 120lb deer.
Kingcreek
Member
Part of the problem right out of the gate here, is that you are assuming a gradient of ethical kills.
Is one kill more ethical than another?
an ethical kill is an ethical kill. period.
Your ethical kill with the .300wm is not more ethical than my ethical kill with a .44 handgun round or an arrow or a muzzleloader.
I hope we see an end to these hunter-questioning-hunting issues.
I don't hunt with a handgun
But my brother does. He has taken two nice and quite large bucks with his 6” SS Python, and will be trying for #3 thin season. He does have a red dot scope of some type mounted on it, and he is pretty proficient with that 357. He likes the challenge of having to get close enough to make the shots. I personally would rather hunt with a rifle for a number of reasons but see nothing wrong with hunting with a pistol if it is powerful enough, you are responsible and only take the shots that you can make, and can keep your shots in the vitals at that distance…. But then again, the same rules apply to rifles.
But my brother does. He has taken two nice and quite large bucks with his 6” SS Python, and will be trying for #3 thin season. He does have a red dot scope of some type mounted on it, and he is pretty proficient with that 357. He likes the challenge of having to get close enough to make the shots. I personally would rather hunt with a rifle for a number of reasons but see nothing wrong with hunting with a pistol if it is powerful enough, you are responsible and only take the shots that you can make, and can keep your shots in the vitals at that distance…. But then again, the same rules apply to rifles.
rantingredneck
Member
I've handgun hunted for awhile and have taken a couple of deer with a .454 Casull. Both were DRT. I got rid of the Casull earlier this year but will be hunting with my Ruger P90 .45ACP and heavy handloads (260gr Speer SJHP's @ 750-800fps).
It's all about shot placement and appropriate bullet selection. I tend to hunt the thick country where 50 yds is a long shot. Most of mine lately have been 35 yds or less.
It's all about shot placement and appropriate bullet selection. I tend to hunt the thick country where 50 yds is a long shot. Most of mine lately have been 35 yds or less.
I think one factor I didn't consider was the ranges involved.
Most of North Dakota is wide open prairie. A rifle is a much more effective tool here.
But I suppose if one was hunting in the Alleghenies are something, there would be little difference.
Most of North Dakota is wide open prairie. A rifle is a much more effective tool here.
But I suppose if one was hunting in the Alleghenies are something, there would be little difference.
kmrcstintn
Member
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2006
- Messages
- 1,236
I can think of 2 very possible scenarios where having a sighted in handgun during hunting season becomes a welcome thing to have...
1) you wander away from your perch/post/stand/etc to answer the call to deposit some liquid gold and not place a foreign odor into the area around your hunting location; you are standing erect and peeing into a recepticle or on the ground; your rifle/slug gun is slung over your shoulder or perched against the next tree over; a deer wanders within 35 yards of you and you know that any movement to retrieve and bring your long gun to bear on the critter may cause some unwanted results; you quietly and slowly unsnap your holster; you cautiously and slowly raise the pistol to a good firing position; you aim, cock the handgun, and squeeze the trigger...BANG!
2) you are sitting while quietly snacking or eating; your rifle is leaning against a tree or perched nearby; again a deer comes into the vacinity...again any major movement to secure the long gun would cause spooking the animal and BYE-BYE BAMBI; quietly, cautiously, and slowly retrieve the handgun from the holster, aim the handgun, cock the hammer, and squeeze the trigger...BANG!
essentially, you are handgun hunting by necessity and not by design...later
1) you wander away from your perch/post/stand/etc to answer the call to deposit some liquid gold and not place a foreign odor into the area around your hunting location; you are standing erect and peeing into a recepticle or on the ground; your rifle/slug gun is slung over your shoulder or perched against the next tree over; a deer wanders within 35 yards of you and you know that any movement to retrieve and bring your long gun to bear on the critter may cause some unwanted results; you quietly and slowly unsnap your holster; you cautiously and slowly raise the pistol to a good firing position; you aim, cock the handgun, and squeeze the trigger...BANG!
2) you are sitting while quietly snacking or eating; your rifle is leaning against a tree or perched nearby; again a deer comes into the vacinity...again any major movement to secure the long gun would cause spooking the animal and BYE-BYE BAMBI; quietly, cautiously, and slowly retrieve the handgun from the holster, aim the handgun, cock the hammer, and squeeze the trigger...BANG!
essentially, you are handgun hunting by necessity and not by design...later
Mannlicher
Member
While I rarely take just a handgun afield, I do hunt with one. There are times when the heavy cover is so intense, that I sling the rifle, and depend on just the handgun.
Belly Crawl
Andrewsky: Sir;
I had the very conversation yesterday with my shooting buddy.
He is like myself, kinda, sorta out of shape, yet he is a fair shot.
We are going coyote hunting in a couple of weeks
The set-up
My intent; him rolling a coyote over.
He enjoys a 1895c, I enjoy a Blackhawk .357,
We have a good spot pick out.
We have worked on our shooting.
He; using both my handgun, and the 1895c He does pretty good.
Now I want him to sneak up on the Coyote within 50 yds. take a couple of deep breaths and slip a good clean shot.
Sir; the object as 'I' see it; isn't the kill, it's the moment.
A Shooter isn't a trigger puller,
A Shooter is a realistic visionary. Quote "can I realistically make a clean shot"
It's not how many fish you catch, but how that you enjoyed your friends adventure.
Andrewsky: Sir;
I had the very conversation yesterday with my shooting buddy.
He is like myself, kinda, sorta out of shape, yet he is a fair shot.
We are going coyote hunting in a couple of weeks
The set-up
My intent; him rolling a coyote over.
He enjoys a 1895c, I enjoy a Blackhawk .357,
We have a good spot pick out.
We have worked on our shooting.
He; using both my handgun, and the 1895c He does pretty good.
Now I want him to sneak up on the Coyote within 50 yds. take a couple of deep breaths and slip a good clean shot.
Sir; the object as 'I' see it; isn't the kill, it's the moment.
A Shooter isn't a trigger puller,
A Shooter is a realistic visionary. Quote "can I realistically make a clean shot"
It's not how many fish you catch, but how that you enjoyed your friends adventure.
MCgunner
Member
Well, yeah. Down here in the brush, it's rare to get a shot much over 100 yards. A 50 yard shot is the norm. Rifle hunting deer under those conditions can sometimes just feel like cheating. I enjoy hunting with my handguns under those conditions. Out west, I'd see a lot of shots I could make with a rifle I'd have to pass with a handgun, but hey, that's part of the game. You have to get close. There's more hunt in the hunting with a handgun. I'd bow hunt, but I'm left eye dominant and right handed and bows and me just don't work. So, handguns have similar ranges to bows and, to me, present a similar challenge.
MrDig
Member
I think the challenge of getting close enough to the deer to take it ethically with a handgun is the "point" of hunting with one.
The same holds true with a Bow.
The Point of Hunting Ethically is to know your own limitations well enough so as to make a Kill Shot as opposed to spray and pray.
Frankly I find leg hold trapping somewhat gruesome, but it is legal and I rarely if ever ask what the Point of it is. It is just not my cup of tea so I don't do it.
If we as Hunters and Outdoorsmen start asking one another what the point of a certain type of hunting is, we may as well give in to the Anti hunting crowd. The question is divisive and counter productive to keeping the sport alive and well. Isn't this why Jim Zumbo got skewered by firearms owners? He didn't see the "point" in owning an EBR and stated so publicly and went so far as to equate ownership of an EBR as being Terrorist. Well as a Veteran and a Hunter, and RKBA advocate I was insulted he created a division in a community that is divided enough and has made one too many concessions to the Anti-Gun Lobby.
We need to close ranks and stand firm on the second ammendment and the privelage to hunt.
The same holds true with a Bow.
The Point of Hunting Ethically is to know your own limitations well enough so as to make a Kill Shot as opposed to spray and pray.
Frankly I find leg hold trapping somewhat gruesome, but it is legal and I rarely if ever ask what the Point of it is. It is just not my cup of tea so I don't do it.
If we as Hunters and Outdoorsmen start asking one another what the point of a certain type of hunting is, we may as well give in to the Anti hunting crowd. The question is divisive and counter productive to keeping the sport alive and well. Isn't this why Jim Zumbo got skewered by firearms owners? He didn't see the "point" in owning an EBR and stated so publicly and went so far as to equate ownership of an EBR as being Terrorist. Well as a Veteran and a Hunter, and RKBA advocate I was insulted he created a division in a community that is divided enough and has made one too many concessions to the Anti-Gun Lobby.
We need to close ranks and stand firm on the second ammendment and the privelage to hunt.
MCgunner
Member
You can legally open carry while involved in a sporting activity (hunting). Get back to the truck, unload and store. The law says it has to be locked in a trunk, which trucks don't have, and that's always been kinda stupid to me. But, I carried illegally concealed for many years until I was able to get a CCW when they passed the law. Don't ask, don't tell was my philosophy on that. Actually, when you're hiking the woods in a national forest, you can open carry in Texas, anytime you're involved in the outdoors, but hunting is obvious.
Most of the hunting in this state, though, is on private land. There is very little public hunting and what there is isn't where I'd wanna hunt. I've mostly hunted on private land and you can carry a handgun anywhere on your own property whether you're hunting, working cattle, running fences, whatever.
Actually, when you're hiking the woods in a national forest, you can open carry in Texas, anytime you're involved in the outdoors, but hunting is obvious.Most of the hunting in this state, though, is on private land. There is very little public hunting and what there is isn't where I'd wanna hunt. I've mostly hunted on private land and you can carry a handgun anywhere on your own property whether you're hunting, working cattle, running fences, whatever.
Yeah, I see what you're saying. I'm not anti hunting or trapping, I was just curious.
Hunting with a handgun always sounded interesting to me and I wanted to hear what you had to say.
I'm surprised it's okay to open carry while hiking in Texas. I bet some day open carry will be legal again. The mainstream media is going to have a field day if that happens.
Troutman
member
<<You can legally open carry while involved in a sporting activity (hunting). Get back to the truck, unload and store. The law says it has to be locked in a trunk, which trucks don't have, and that's always been kinda stupid to me.>>
Starting Sept.1, if one doesn't have a CHL, you can keep it in the glove compartment.
Starting Sept.1, if one doesn't have a CHL, you can keep it in the glove compartment.
kmrcstintn
Member
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2006
- Messages
- 1,236
if someone likes the effectiveness of handgun rounds while in thickets, heavier brush, or good close shots and doesn't want to drag their super duper full bore long distance hunting rifle, he or she could use a handgun caliber carbine (eg: my hunting sidearm is a 4" or 6" .357 magnum handgun and I recently bought a Marlin 1894C in .357 magnum with 18.5" barrel to match); even though I bought the carbine as a camp gun, it can double as a 50 yard gun with open sights and/or a 75-100 yard scoped gun...low recoil and effective on anything up to a medium sized deer or hog...
Troutman
member
<<if someone likes the effectiveness of handgun rounds while in thickets, heavier brush, or good close shots and doesn't want to drag their super duper full bore long distance hunting rifle>>
That’s the idea of the new hunting handguns that are out today.
Some will say, why not just use a rifle. Well, a rifle is not only longer to carry, overall length, also more weight.
Even Marlins weigh in at 7 lbs. Where even a 10-1/2 inch (barrel length) big bore revolver will weigh in at 5 lbs. With the weight and overall length taken into account. When it’s a horse race that close, sticking with the above (quote) scenario, it’s the jockey that’s going to win it. Jockey, meaning, who’s carrying it.
Even the same, make, model of big bore handguns, there is a big difference between a 10-1/2 and 4 inch model. Size-wise. Not only overall length…….weight. A 4 inch can weigh in at 3-1/2 lbs.
That’s the idea of the new hunting handguns that are out today.
Some will say, why not just use a rifle. Well, a rifle is not only longer to carry, overall length, also more weight.
Even Marlins weigh in at 7 lbs. Where even a 10-1/2 inch (barrel length) big bore revolver will weigh in at 5 lbs. With the weight and overall length taken into account. When it’s a horse race that close, sticking with the above (quote) scenario, it’s the jockey that’s going to win it. Jockey, meaning, who’s carrying it.
Even the same, make, model of big bore handguns, there is a big difference between a 10-1/2 and 4 inch model. Size-wise. Not only overall length…….weight. A 4 inch can weigh in at 3-1/2 lbs.
sm
member
I have always enjoyed small game hunting with a handgun.
I use only factory sights.
For me, it has to do with using woodscraft skills to get close enough for the shot.
Like bowhunting with a firearm - labgrade
I grew up doing this with Mentors & Elders as a kid.
We didn't have, much less use camouflage, and I still don't.
We used what guns we had; it was about skills of being in the woods, and the Software part, the Guns themselves played a more minor role if you will.
One just used a gun that fit them, in which they had the correct basic fundamentals down pat, and had quality practice with.
One learned their skill limits, and stayed within such limits - hence the woodscraft skills.
If one could always hit a golf ball sized target with a .22 Revolver like a High Standard, H&R, Iver Johnson, at 25 steps/yards, or the same with a Ruger Standard semi-auto, then that is the distance they limited themselves to.
Golf ball about the size of a squirrels head.
Get "close" , rub two quarters together, and the squirrel would come around the tree, and one could make a clean ethical kill.
Model 10 with fixed sights, and 4" barrel, I have felled many rabbits.
Bone Stock Gov't model of 1911, and mild target load, felled many rabbits as well.
Ditto for BHP.
32 caliber revolvers were popular when I was growing up and the term "Trail Gun" was attached to these.
Just a handy handgun and caliber to fill the pot while on the trail.
Squirrels, rabbits, grouse, and other game were often referenced in Ads for these .32 cal "trail guns"
Pest Control around the property.
Normal when I was growing up for folks to have a single shot shotgun at least behind the back door;ditto for one in the barn.
Trucks had gun racks and cars most likely had one in the trunk.
Between a long gun and garden hoe, well a garden hoe felled many a rattlesnake or water moccasin near water.
Garden hoe "shooed" many a feral cat.
Money was tight, so folks did not "spray and pray". Then again, folks grew up learning to shoot, with correct basic fundamentals.
.22, 32, 38spl, and various shotgun shells were in coffee cans at the hardware store, so one could buy just one, or three or whatever they needed.
That said, handguns were "just what one did". Hardware guns, in .22, .32, and .38spl were popular, since they were less money.
Ladies always had a handgun, and they could flat shoot.
While the shotgun/.22 rifle/ 30-30 may have been put on the back porch, the handgun was on person.
Especially with a Prison Work crew out doing road work [chain gang] one always paid attention.
Chain Gangs, knew folks were armed, and could shoot, so it was rare any real incidents took place, those that did, did not work in the escaped inmates favor.
My Grandma could shoot anything, and shoot it well! She toted what we call a Model 10.
Rabid dog come around, and she would get between me, other kids playing and shoot one time, and DRT.
MY very own .22 revolver, she gave me, she used more than once.
One time a bunch of feral cats came onto property and near the covey of quail that lived back there.
Hen house, and some new baby chicks.
I was about 4 years old and she takes my gun, and being smooth, quiet, and me on the back porch paying attention , sneaked up and shot feral cats.
She did not miss, and came back with two ctgs not fired.
She unloaded my gun, and reloaded it back to nine ctgs.
I will never forget this, and other times she did this. Flowered print house dress , halfway between knees and ankle, with a apron and just smooth, quiet, fast and taking head shots and the feral cats DRT.
Got a burlap bag, shovel, toted the cats down to spot where a brushpile was, and that was that.
I was sitting on the tailgate of a farm truck eating a peanut butter and banana sandwich , and sipping milk from a mason jar one day.
Grandma, myself and other folks were messing with a farm pond, clearing brush, and Grandma put her hands over my ears.
The Mentor on the backhoe, stopped, and took a Gov't 1911 and shot a Spike Buck, in season.
I still knocked over my milk and it went off the tailgate, breaking the jar, I was, surprised!
Grandma removed her hands and put mine over my ears, and she eased off to the side, a doe came running out, and was heading straight for that tree where Grandma was.
She shot it with her Model 10!
Long guns were in the truck, just the handguns were on person, and ...well...
"run what you brung".
How raised - what you do.
I use only factory sights.
For me, it has to do with using woodscraft skills to get close enough for the shot.
Like bowhunting with a firearm - labgrade
I grew up doing this with Mentors & Elders as a kid.
We didn't have, much less use camouflage, and I still don't.
We used what guns we had; it was about skills of being in the woods, and the Software part, the Guns themselves played a more minor role if you will.
One just used a gun that fit them, in which they had the correct basic fundamentals down pat, and had quality practice with.
One learned their skill limits, and stayed within such limits - hence the woodscraft skills.
If one could always hit a golf ball sized target with a .22 Revolver like a High Standard, H&R, Iver Johnson, at 25 steps/yards, or the same with a Ruger Standard semi-auto, then that is the distance they limited themselves to.
Golf ball about the size of a squirrels head.
Get "close" , rub two quarters together, and the squirrel would come around the tree, and one could make a clean ethical kill.
Model 10 with fixed sights, and 4" barrel, I have felled many rabbits.
Bone Stock Gov't model of 1911, and mild target load, felled many rabbits as well.
Ditto for BHP.
32 caliber revolvers were popular when I was growing up and the term "Trail Gun" was attached to these.
Just a handy handgun and caliber to fill the pot while on the trail.
Squirrels, rabbits, grouse, and other game were often referenced in Ads for these .32 cal "trail guns"
Pest Control around the property.
Normal when I was growing up for folks to have a single shot shotgun at least behind the back door;ditto for one in the barn.
Trucks had gun racks and cars most likely had one in the trunk.
Between a long gun and garden hoe, well a garden hoe felled many a rattlesnake or water moccasin near water.
Garden hoe "shooed" many a feral cat.
Money was tight, so folks did not "spray and pray". Then again, folks grew up learning to shoot, with correct basic fundamentals.
.22, 32, 38spl, and various shotgun shells were in coffee cans at the hardware store, so one could buy just one, or three or whatever they needed.
That said, handguns were "just what one did". Hardware guns, in .22, .32, and .38spl were popular, since they were less money.
Ladies always had a handgun, and they could flat shoot.
While the shotgun/.22 rifle/ 30-30 may have been put on the back porch, the handgun was on person.
Especially with a Prison Work crew out doing road work [chain gang] one always paid attention.
Chain Gangs, knew folks were armed, and could shoot, so it was rare any real incidents took place, those that did, did not work in the escaped inmates favor.
My Grandma could shoot anything, and shoot it well! She toted what we call a Model 10.
Rabid dog come around, and she would get between me, other kids playing and shoot one time, and DRT.
MY very own .22 revolver, she gave me, she used more than once.
One time a bunch of feral cats came onto property and near the covey of quail that lived back there.
Hen house, and some new baby chicks.
I was about 4 years old and she takes my gun, and being smooth, quiet, and me on the back porch paying attention , sneaked up and shot feral cats.
She did not miss, and came back with two ctgs not fired.
She unloaded my gun, and reloaded it back to nine ctgs.
I will never forget this, and other times she did this. Flowered print house dress , halfway between knees and ankle, with a apron and just smooth, quiet, fast and taking head shots and the feral cats DRT.
Got a burlap bag, shovel, toted the cats down to spot where a brushpile was, and that was that.
I was sitting on the tailgate of a farm truck eating a peanut butter and banana sandwich , and sipping milk from a mason jar one day.
Grandma, myself and other folks were messing with a farm pond, clearing brush, and Grandma put her hands over my ears.
The Mentor on the backhoe, stopped, and took a Gov't 1911 and shot a Spike Buck, in season.
I still knocked over my milk and it went off the tailgate, breaking the jar, I was, surprised!
Grandma removed her hands and put mine over my ears, and she eased off to the side, a doe came running out, and was heading straight for that tree where Grandma was.
She shot it with her Model 10!
Long guns were in the truck, just the handguns were on person, and ...well...
"run what you brung".
How raised - what you do.
- Status