Who hunts or wants to hunt big game with a handgun?
- Thread starter Ernie
- Start date
Nick87
Well-known member
I believe a new member bcgunworks is strictly a handgun hunter from what I've collected from his posts. Some pretty impressive handgun hunting at that! I hope I didnt butcher his username. I think I got it right.
BAKPAKR
Well-known member
I have taken whitetails, black bears, and elk with various 44 revolvers and a couple of whitetails and a mountain goat with a 10” T/C Contender in 30-30.
deer_shooter
Well-known member
Ive taken a couple whitetails with my super redhawk 44
Dan O
Well-known member
I've taken antelope and deer with T.C. 7mm tcu, xp100 7mm BR and Ruger Super Redhawk in 44 mag & 454.
Dan
Dan
MJE2083
Well-known member
I've carried a .454 for deer several times but never had the opportunity to use it.
Cav1
Well-known member
Three whitetails and a mulie in our weapons restricted areas down in the river bottoms, all with .44 Magnums. When my eyes were younger and fully functional I used an open-sighted 6-inch S&W Model 29, now I'm using a 6-inch Model 629 with a 2x pistol scope.
I learned a lot from my mistakes the first go-round. I shot a forkhorn mulie at about 75-80 yards with a factory 240-grain JHP. My shot was a bit too far forward and rather than a double-lunger behind the shoulder I hit the shoulder blade itself. The JHP essentially destroyed the leg...it was literally hanging by a tendon...but not so much as a bullet fragment ever managed to penetrate the rib cage to the vitals. This resulted in a long stern chase of about three quarters of a mile until I caught up to the deer in a draw and was able to finish the job with a spine shot as he came up the other side.
Now I don't use anything but 300-grain Wide Flat Nose WFN hardcast bullets loaded to 1,150 fps, which is also my bear load. With the scope, I zero it at 100 yards, which puts me only 2 inches high at mid-range and 4.4 inches low at 125. Just bagged a whitetail doe last Saturday at 112 yards, the big WFN went in one side of the boiler room and out the other, and she managed only a couple of jumps before she piled up. I might try for a cow elk if I get the chance.
Randy did a podcast interview with Todd Orr, who's a really hardcore outdoorsman who's hunted elk with a handgun for many years and harvested some really nice ones.
I learned a lot from my mistakes the first go-round. I shot a forkhorn mulie at about 75-80 yards with a factory 240-grain JHP. My shot was a bit too far forward and rather than a double-lunger behind the shoulder I hit the shoulder blade itself. The JHP essentially destroyed the leg...it was literally hanging by a tendon...but not so much as a bullet fragment ever managed to penetrate the rib cage to the vitals. This resulted in a long stern chase of about three quarters of a mile until I caught up to the deer in a draw and was able to finish the job with a spine shot as he came up the other side.
Now I don't use anything but 300-grain Wide Flat Nose WFN hardcast bullets loaded to 1,150 fps, which is also my bear load. With the scope, I zero it at 100 yards, which puts me only 2 inches high at mid-range and 4.4 inches low at 125. Just bagged a whitetail doe last Saturday at 112 yards, the big WFN went in one side of the boiler room and out the other, and she managed only a couple of jumps before she piled up. I might try for a cow elk if I get the chance.
Randy did a podcast interview with Todd Orr, who's a really hardcore outdoorsman who's hunted elk with a handgun for many years and harvested some really nice ones.
timberman56
Active member
I've shot a few deer and several hogs with my 10'' Encore in 243wssm. It's more accurate than I am.
Addicting
Well-known member
Friend of mine shot the biggest deer of his life on the 15th with a 44 Mag. He hit in the front shoulder with a 180g Hornady XTP. That deer went a mile and a half before we ran out of permission to keep tracking it.
I did the math and at 120y he hit the deer with around 450 lbs of energy. Not enough to penetrate the should blade and enter the chest cavity. Needless to say he is switched back to a shotgun.
I did the math and at 120y he hit the deer with around 450 lbs of energy. Not enough to penetrate the should blade and enter the chest cavity. Needless to say he is switched back to a shotgun.
I’ve taken a Pronghorn and a black bear with a 44 mag revolver, many years ago. Been away from it for 30 years. Several years ago, bought a new revolver and really want to get back into it! I was going to get a deer this year, nothing special....just a deer. Didn’t get to hunt. Still have an elk tag.....but, that’s starting to look doubtful also! Life gets in the way of life! memtb
HandgunHunter
Well-known member
I find no limitations in hunting with a handgun....but it does take more time in the off season.
Fact is the average Hunter starts having trouble with a long gun at 200 yards....I said average....not pointing a finger at anyone.
I put in thousands....that’s no exaggeration...of rounds in off season practice. I hunt vermin with the same handguns I use for big game.
If I can hit vermin such as pdogs or ground hogs at my desired max range with a particular firearm then big game vitals won’t be an issue.
I prefer to be under 200 yards when I take game...it just increases the likelihood of a clean kill.
I will also always seek out a supported shot. Could be using things in the field like rocks or trees, shooting sticks, or the tripod for the spotting scope.
Depending on the gun and load I’ll use wheelguns to 200 yards.
Since a handgun doesn’t weigh as much or take up as much space I generally carry a single shot in my pack for longer shots if I can’t close the distance. Sometimes in the open country of Wyoming it’s just not possible.
A TC contender can get me to about 400 yards depending on the cartridge and a single shot xp100 can get to distances I wouldn’t even care to try on game.
Fact is the average Hunter starts having trouble with a long gun at 200 yards....I said average....not pointing a finger at anyone.
I put in thousands....that’s no exaggeration...of rounds in off season practice. I hunt vermin with the same handguns I use for big game.
If I can hit vermin such as pdogs or ground hogs at my desired max range with a particular firearm then big game vitals won’t be an issue.
I prefer to be under 200 yards when I take game...it just increases the likelihood of a clean kill.
I will also always seek out a supported shot. Could be using things in the field like rocks or trees, shooting sticks, or the tripod for the spotting scope.
Depending on the gun and load I’ll use wheelguns to 200 yards.
Since a handgun doesn’t weigh as much or take up as much space I generally carry a single shot in my pack for longer shots if I can’t close the distance. Sometimes in the open country of Wyoming it’s just not possible.
A TC contender can get me to about 400 yards depending on the cartridge and a single shot xp100 can get to distances I wouldn’t even care to try on game.
Greyman
Well-known member
Absolutely one of my favorite types of hunting is putting the sneak on a sounder of hogs with my Ruger Blackhawk .357.
thusby
Well-known member
I wish I had the time to consider this option.
shootbrownelk
Well-known member
I've shot deer and a few cow elk with my Ruger SRH in .454 and my S&W mountain gun in .41 mag.
