Pistol hunting
11-29-2003, 07:15 PM
#2
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Wall SD USA & Jamestown ND
Posts: 11,474
RE: Pistol hunting
Not this year but I have hunted quite a bit with a 44 Mag S&W revolver and a TC contender in 44 mag and 35 Remington. It a fun way to hunt but you need to put in some hours of practice. Its a little tougher to hunt with most handguns. You need to get pretty close and pistols are not very forgiving of wiggles and wobbles.
11-30-2003, 09:43 PM
#3
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: northern illinois
Posts: 121
RE: Pistol hunting
I have a taurus tracker 357 with 6' ' ported barrel and red dot installed on the taurus mount.Our first slug season I used it instead of my slug gun.The guys I talked to said I was nuts.They said wait till the later season because with my luck a giant buck would show up.Well he wasn' t a giant but a decent 8 pointer. I shot him at about 35 to 40 yds from the treestand and he only went about 40 yds. I used 158gr jsp from winchester it was the hunting load with the deer on the box. I was impressed with the ammo the lungs were just gone!
12-01-2003, 07:47 AM
#4
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Gypsum KS USA
Posts: 1,289
RE: Pistol hunting
Our firearms season hasn' t opened up yet (Dec 3, yeah!!), last year I got a fat doe with my Ruger Superblackhawk .44mag 7.5" , 67yrds with Winchester Super-X 1/2-jacketed softpoint...hoping this year to take out my new Ruger Vaquero .44mag 5.5" with some handloads I cooked up, real barn burners even for a .44mag.
For me, pistol hunting and archery hunting are almost the same hunting style, getting too close is key to success, I like to get a lot closer than I need to in most cases (although with my SBH, a 100yrd shot isn' t pushing my accuracy envelope much). With a rifle, it' s pretty much point and click, getting close enough to harvest a deer isn' t much of a challenge, cut your bbl down by 4/5 (and your sight radius if you use open sights) and take away your shoulder stock and we' re talking about a fun and challenging hunt!
For me, pistol hunting and archery hunting are almost the same hunting style, getting too close is key to success, I like to get a lot closer than I need to in most cases (although with my SBH, a 100yrd shot isn' t pushing my accuracy envelope much). With a rifle, it' s pretty much point and click, getting close enough to harvest a deer isn' t much of a challenge, cut your bbl down by 4/5 (and your sight radius if you use open sights) and take away your shoulder stock and we' re talking about a fun and challenging hunt!
12-14-2003, 11:05 PM
#5
Typical Buck
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: central Ky
Posts: 601
RE: Pistol hunting
I hunt with a pistol 85-90% of the time. I use T/C's(Contender/Encore) mostly, but also hunt with a Ruger SRH in .480 sometimes. This year I took an 8-pointer at 65yds with a Contender in 45-70. He's no wall-hanger, but he's in the freezer and thats what matters.
12-15-2003, 04:11 AM
#6
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Brampton Ontario CANADA
Posts: 423
RE: Pistol hunting
Well hunting with a handgun is illegal here in Canada but between you & me, i've taken deer & moose with my S&W Model 29 .44mag app. 10 years ago...what a thrill.....now you didn't hear that from me!!!!!!!!! Brampton Mike [8D]
12-15-2003, 03:35 PM
#7
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 2,918
RE: Pistol hunting
I carry a sidearm for a back up or close shots. This year the one time I left it at camp I needed it. A nice buck came on my right within 20 yards. I couldn't turn to shoot with him so close.If I would of had my Handgun he would be in the freezer with his younger brother.No need to say what handgun I use.I'm sure you can figure it out.
Ruger Redhawk
Ruger Redhawk
12-16-2003, 05:05 PM
#8
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: NW WY USA
Posts: 206
RE: Pistol hunting
I took an antelope buck with my 45 colt and 2 doe antelope with a FA 454 and a savage striker in 260.
Got a 10 pt whitetail and a doe mulie with a T/C encore pistol in 270 and a doe whitetail with the FA 454
Got a 10 pt whitetail and a doe mulie with a T/C encore pistol in 270 and a doe whitetail with the FA 454
12-16-2003, 07:19 PM
#9
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location:
Posts: 40
RE: Pistol hunting
For many years i hunted with my S&W M-29 44 mag, but for the last (2) i haven't taken it out much. 3 years ago i shot a nice 8 point whitetail here on my place, and in the years before that i took moose, black tailed deer and several other game animials. It's always been my "back up gun" when flying into the bush on extended hunts. Many times it's all i carried.
I use hard cast 255 grain "Keith style" bullets that do a good job for me.
I use hard cast 255 grain "Keith style" bullets that do a good job for me.
