Do you Hunt with a hand gun?

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Prof Young

New member
Handgun Lovers:

I'm curious as to how many of us hunt with our hand guns. What guns, and and what do we hunt?

I hunt deer with my 44 mag. It's a Taurus Raging Bull, with scope. I've hunted squirrels and rabbits with my Super Comanchee that shoots a 45 long colt or a 410. Obviously I use the 410 option. I've also hunted squrrels with a Buck Mark Camper 22 cal but not very successfully.

I do use long guns and a bow to hunt with as well, but there is a bit of a special challenge and extra satisfaction when a hand gun hunt is successful.

Live well, be safe
Prof Young
 
A lot of rabbits with whatever I happen to feel like carrying that day. 22LR obviously is the most efficient, but if I feel like doing a little shooting with my 45 or 357, then I will take that. Whenever I'm driving or walking around for work and I see a coyote loping along I'll jerk out whatever revolver is handy at the time and give it a shot. I've shot hogs with a couple handguns. And it's a hoot to try and hit a prairie dog with a 357. A 22 lr is better if you intend to stay with it for many shots though. And finally, if I'm hunting deer or elk with my rifle but a fairly close shot inside 50 yards presents itself, I'll take it with my 44 magnum. This fall I will be carrying a new one along during elk season. That will be a 480 Ruger.
 
Taurus model 44 & Rossi model 971VRC in .357 both for deer

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I don't hunt big game with a handgun..........although I do always have a handgun on me when hunting big game. For non-game animals and varmits, I usually have a rifle and pistol on me, and switch between them depending on the mood and terrain I am in. I rarely go out with just a pistol, pistols are fun, but I often shake too much for real serious accuracy with them.
 
Took my first Javelina with my Llama Omni 45 and last years Javelina with my Taurus Pt99AF. I take lots of small game with my 22 pistols. Sadly never been able to get a decent shot at deer with my sidearms (or just too impatient and took them with the rifle)
 
I have used a handgun for the past few years :)

A huge blast. The challenge of getting close intrigues me.

A S&W .41 magnum, good gun and amazingly accurate.

BUT....I carry the handgun and I try no matter what to use it, but I ALWAYS carry a rifle with me. For the off-chance I see a 30"+ muledeer, or the most important reason. If I wound something, I want to be able to drop it before it gets away to suffer an agonizing death.

Got a doe my first year. Amazing. Little doe I (After gutting) managed to just toss in the back of the pickup.......Took 4 shots to the lungs and 1 in the liver and didn't die......Took along time, which is amazing as there was basically zero lungs left....

Last year I got another Doe and a buck. Nothing spectacular. 3X4 with about a 20" spread. But it was with a handgun so :) It was a long shot, about 90-100 yards. But I felt good about it, and just in case, there was 2 other guys with rifles within sight. Only took 1 shot, hit the lungs, he wandered a minute or two then dropped.

Dad's got a couple of antelope and deer with his .500 as well. Decent 5X5 white tail, and a 14" pronghorn antelope.
 
This will be my first year with a "real" hunting handgun. I picked up a Remington XP-100R in .260 with a 2.5-8x Leupold scope. If I'm on a bench, I can shoot it almost as well as any other deer rifle I've got. I'm not so good shooting offhand however.
 
I'v taken 5 Whittail with my RagingBull 480. Countless small game. I just love to hunt with handguns. I think there is kind of a teenage rebelious feeling with showing up at deercamp without a rifle and filling the permit.

Just a sidenote: Smoking coyotes with a 1911 is a hoot!
 
Two years ago when I was a poor college student I bought a .41 magnum Raging Bull to hunt whitetails with. Now that I have a job I think I will upgrade to a Smith and Wesson. I love the .41 mag, I just bought a reloading press and I cant wait to actually be able to shoot the rare and expensive .41.
 
Used to carry my 22/45 all the time coon hunting and have used my .357 on deer. That being said, when I go hunting these days I take a long gun. Got tired of the noise.

My hand guns are now relegated to range time and time in the field when hunting isn't the primary goal (i.e. fishing, camping, hiking, etc). Gotta have a gun (ANY GUN!) with me for those occasions when a rabid pop can or man-eating ground hog makes a sudden charge at me. Handguns work great stopping them critters short.
 
Acquiesced to my former father-in-law's insistence that I sit up in a deer stand and "hunt" deer on his property, about 25 years ago. Didn't own a rifle and didn't particularly care about killing a deer, so I just took my ol' Mod 29 Smith .44 mag that I'd inherited.

Went hunting once; carried a revolver; killed a deer; never went back. Just don't see the challenge. :eek:
 
I attempted to shoot a rabbit with my Ruger Single Six once, and that didn't went too well. I managed to "release" the tire pressure of my old man's 89 F-150.
 
One of my favorite ways to hunt deer. I went crazy! I put an Eotech sight on my S&W 44 mag, cooked up some home grown loads, and started consistently grouping 2" at 100 yds. I made the commitment to carry only the mag in the field....no cheating with both the handgun and rifle. One big late season doe so far and naturally I'm looking for that buck now.
 
i hunt with all of my handguns,some more than others, in first pic, rem xp100r in 260, xp-100r in 223, thompson contender 35 rem. second pic. ruger mark 11 in 22, ruger 45lc-45acp, ruger old army in 44 cap-ball, ruger bearcat in 22, third pic. s&w 617 in 22, 686 in 357mag, s&w 29-2 in 44 mag. sorry about the dark pic,s. eastbank.
 

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Handguns are my preferred hunting tools. I hunt deer, hogs and occasionally black bear in some fairly brushy, rough terrain. 6" Ruger GP100 with handloaded 180 grain hardcasts is good medicine for whitetailed deer out to 75 yards. Super Blackhawk .44 magnum for hogs and blackies. Also, I have a Buckmark that's killed more rabbits and squirrel than any rifle I own.
 
.44 Ruger Redhawk when I am walking the woods during deer season (870 when I sit. I hunt deer for food not trophy)

Ruger 22/45 for coons.

S&W 627 for those odd days on either of the aforementioned critters.
 
I have been hunting deer with handguns for about 20 years. First with a Thompson Center Contender in .35 rem. and lately with a Rem. XP100R in the same caliber. Both were fitted with a Leupold 2X EER. I use handloads with a 158 gr. JHP. Awesome whitetail round!
 
I'm going to try using my 357sig for a whitetail this year. It will have to be within 25 yards or so, but that's where most of my shots are anyway.
 
peetzkilla

You may find that you have a little more horse power than you think. I would hesitate to go up to 75 yds. with a 357 mag. That is provided you are comfortable shooting at that range. Go forth and slay the brown demon my freind.
 
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