Hunting with a handgun

[Marshall 357]

I have been thinking about deer hunting with a handgun this year. Been thinking about getting another 686 4''. What do you use? What do you think? Info please!

 

[OKFC05]

I use an 8" 686 with 2X Leupold for our 100# does at relatively short range.

For those big Michigan bucks, I would want a .44 Mag with long barrel.

 

[29Wheelgunner]

Some state have restrictions on barrel length and ammunition energy levels. Check your states hunting laws. I know at one time in Georgia it was 6" barrel minimum and 500 ft lbs of energy at a certain yardage.

 

[Hofstet]

I've had many successful deer hunts with my Colt Anaconda 8" fitted with a red dot sight and using Cor-Bon 240 Grain Jacketed Hollow Points.
A 629, or Redhawk would also be a good choice IMO. I prefer a stainless model because of the inclimate weather we typically have in Northern Michigan mid to late November.

 

[Beaver]

I would use my 29-3, 8 3/8, shooting 250 SWC with 20gr of 2400, sighted dead on at 50 yards.

 

[m657]

I used to hunt with my IHMSA handgun.....an XP100 chambered in FL308....

 

[n4zov]

My choice would be a M-57 8" or my M-629 6" both loaded with a good handloaded hollow point.

More important than what gun you use is how well you shoot it!

 

[westkybanded]

I've taken deer with .357 magnum,.44 special, .44 magnum, 44-40, and .41 magnum. I'd echo what everybody else said already, but I have gravitated toward a keith-style bullet in stead of a hollow point. I want holes on both sides of an animal, and you don't always get the best pennetration out of a hollowpoint.

 

[kennyb]

i have taken several wild boar and a 4-horn ram with my model 500 pc...more then adequate for the task

 

[mstuhr]

.44

Hi Marshall,
Most everyone is giving you good advice on the larger calibers.
I know many have taken deer with the .357.
My first was shot with a .38 and a couple after w/ .357 but one that I knew was hit hard and close with a .357 left the scene with out a blood trail and I'm certain it died out of sight somewhere.
I never had to worry about a bloodtrail after one would leave the scene with a hole plum through him from a long Colt or .44 mag. I like a cast semi wad bullet over a hollow point too.
Good luck
Mike

 

[VMFA314]

Hand gunning deer

Dispatched a doe one year with my Python. It made the mistake of standing under my postable tree stand. I think I singed the hair on top of her head.
Could have dropped a rope around her head, wooohoo!

 

[David LaPell]

I did use a Ruger Blackhawk .41 Magnum, but this year i finally got my Model 29-2 4-inch which I really want to take a deer with, I also have a Ruger Blackhawk .44 Magnum Flat Top that is also very accurate. Here in the Adirondacks, shots are around 25-50 yards on average anyway.

 

[fat tom]

I've been using a Model 29-2 8 3/8" bbl for years. Open sights. A 240gr HP is very unforgiving.
f.t.

 

[cmort666]

The last couple of years, I've taken my 6" 29-2 hunting in rural Missouri. I'm more comfortable with the .44 than with my 6" 27-2.

 

[Frank237]

I've taken deer , antelope and elk with the .41 mag, .44 Spcl, .44 mag and a .45 Colt with +P loads. All but the antelope were taken with Keith style lead slugs. Even on the elk you seldom find the slugs. They sail right through giving you a nice double lunged trail to follow.

I've posted this many times before...but learn from my mistake... Be very careful of whats BEHIND your quarry as the big slugs can penetrate through the intended quarry into victim #2 very easily. DON'T ask how I know.

LOTS of fun hunting with a handgun. A real challenge with an iron sighted pistol.

FN in MT

 

[Frizzman]

In my state any handgun used to hunt big game has to be .35 or larger and produce at least 350 ft/lbs of muzzle energy. I have mainly used a stainless Dan Wesson .44 Magnum with the 8" barrel installed and a Burris pistol scope. I usually carry it in a nylon vertical shoulder holster. I like having hands free when moving through heavy brush and steep terrain in the mountains where I hunt most of the time. I use a good 240 gr. JHP and it does the job pretty well. I prefer handgun hunting to hunting with rifle or shotgun.

 

[tom turner]

I've taken lots of deer with .44 Magnum handguns. My latest, which is now a couple of decades old, is my hand's down favorite . . . a 6" Model 29-5 with the "Endurance" package that's now standard.

After shooting lots of deer, I've abandoned the fast 200 grain, and yes, even the 240 grain Hollow Points.

Since switching to flat nose, hard-cast lead bullets everything I've shot for years has gone straight down . . . or not run far. Those that run have massive blood trails, for a heavy, flat nosed bullet blows right through with massive knock-down power too.

No more lost deer . . . like one shot with my old Thompson Contender and a 240 grain Hornaday XTP hollow point in 1998. Distance? Right below my stand . . . maybe ten feet! Another hunter on our club harvested that fat doe in a foot plot two weeks later and didn't know it had been shot . . . until my XTP bullet fell on the ground when he skinned it out! It hit bone immediately, mushroomed harmlessly and didn't penetrate at all. A real weird thing to see indeed.

Nope, make mine a hard-cast Keith style bullet running fast. It will blow through a deer end-to-end they say, at 500 yards.

I'm decidedly partial to the fast Federal "Castcore" 300 grain hunting ammo (shown below). Supremely accurate . . . totally reliable and effective.

T.

 

[Sven]

I use a Ruger Super Redhawk .44 mag loaded with WMN 300 gr. LBT DCG bullets seated long and 22.5 gr H-110. After missing a nice 8 pointer a few years ago at 70 yards with open sights, I mounted a B&L 2X scope and gave it to my gunsmith for a good trigger job. Haven't carried it for a couple years, but plan to this deer season.

I think the 300 grain bullets are overkill (if there's such a thing) for deer and plan to go back to a 250 gr. WFN.

 

[Pop's2]

I have used my .357 with 158 gr bullets with good results on white tail and mule deer out to 50 yds. Model 19 6'' with Aimpoint. Carry in a nylon shoulder rig.

 

[45/70 marlin]

I use various S&W 41 magnums.I use handloads with a 255 grain cast bullet with a gas check.Have also had good results with the 357 magnum using 185 grain cast bullets.