Any handgun hunters here?
 

Hey guys, new member here. I hope y'all tolerate me. ;)

Anyway, I was just wondering, how many of you here have ever hunted whitetail with a handgun? Revolver, single shot, semi-auto, specialty pistol, it doesn't matter what kind.

Yep Taurus Raging Bull .454 with the 8 3/8 barrel will put a deer in the dirt with a quickness. NEVER, EVER, EVER shoot the dang thing without ear pro though. Shot a deer forgot to put pro on in the heat of the moment ears rang for 3 days. Lucky I didn't seriously hurt myself.

I hear ya. :D

No matter what I'm shooting, I always have hearing protection, even in the woods. It's sometimes inconvenient, but I'll take my hearing over a lack of convenience any day.

Welcome to the HNI forum. Looking back through the decades I wish I had taken that advice. Too much shooting and running power equipment without any ear protection. Back then nobody thought much about it. I can still hear a deer coming even through the constant ringing.

Welcome to HNI and a double X2 on CI's comments! I have used a Ruger Super Redhawk in .44 Mag. I have not had much luck with it, but I am still experimenting with different optics set-ups. I am at the point of going to just "open sights!"

I take out a T/C Contender in 7mmTCU once in awhile. It has "untracked" several deer.

T/C Contender also, 30-30. Shot a 141 gross buck with it, once.

Yep, I do occasionally. Haven't taken one with it yet though.
-Jake

yes i love handgun hunting iv'e been successful at taking quite a few whitetail with handguns. freedom arms .454,.45 win mag same gun,10mm and a .45 acp and i just bought a para usa ls elite hunter which i haven't even shot yet that will be my next gun of choice for deer and some hogs. welcome aboard by the way!!

Welcome.I have a Traditions Vortek 50 cal muzzleloader pistol that I smoked a doe with a couple years ago.It is a lot of fun and the pathched round ball put the smack down on her.

Harvested a few several years ago with a TC contender in 35 rem. My dads cousin gave me a Taurus 500 S&W with the stipulation that I shoot a deer with it so it looks like I will be hunting with it next year

Cool, I have ever hunted by a handgun, will try this season.

Thanks for the warm welcome. :)

Great! Good luck this season.

Went through a fairly long phase of hangun hunting to supplement my archery tactics (getting close) as back in the dark ages (when I was young) seeing 50 or so deer pretty much every outing was common so rifle hunting, while great for just getting meat, was a bit of a bore. Back when I started doing it, .44mag was still a fairly new cartridge and me and the old man decided to give the S&W model 29 a spin. Now the old man was a HUGE Colt fan as was I so this was a bit of a step for him. He also loved Rugers but he didn't know about the Ruger Blackhawk that Sturm had put out. I dropped many deer with that old 29 and quite a number of hogs over the years. After about 3 or 4 years I ran across the Blackhawk and fell absolutely in love with both the feel as well as the design so I bought 2!! One for the old man and one for me. Still have them both. Now with old man eyes I have to glass all my hunting rigs since irons are just too fuzzy to shoot accurately anymore. Kinda takes the intent of getting close out of the mix since with glass a 100 yard shot is pretty easy with my .44mags, .454cas, .500S&W's I just don't do it all that much anymore. Gettin old sucks!!

I usually take a doe or two with a revolver every year. I always carry one during the gun season in IL.
I’m thinking about only carrying it this year and leaving the slug gun in the truck. I usually opt for the slug gun if big horns show up.
I’ve taken a couple 2 ½ year olds, but maybe this year I can improve on that. .44 mag, .454 Casull, .45LC and the .50 are the choices I have, all have taken deer.
Ruger and Smiths are my weapons of choice.

bb

Yep. I use my Lone Eagle in 44 Mag and my Smith XVR in .460 Have yet to shoot any more than once or loose one!!!

"that works" nice deer !

I definitely have room for improvement.

Good shootin, guys. Nice bucks!
Here is one I shot with the 30-30 T/C.

Welcome to Huntingnet TN Lone Wolf. I have hunted with a T/C encore, Redhawk, and now a Super Redhawk. All chambered in 44 mag too.

Yup...
 

I always want to be able to call myself a rifleman, but if I'm anything, it's a handgunner.

I've taken deer with revolvers, bolt action specialty pistols, break action pistols, muzzle loading pistols, cap & ball revolvers, and semiauto pistols. Took my first deer with a handgun about 25yrs ago, a Smith in .357mag. The rest is history.

I'm still working on completing my "ideal deer hunting revolver" in time for this season, a Ruger Redhawk in .357/44 B&D under a Leupold 2.5-8x. Working on some semi-ortho grips for it right now, and working on my 250yrd groups for this fall.