Took some time off from LRH.com but trying to make more posts these days. Anyway, last year i decided i wanted to get back to my roots and pick up the old revolvers for big game hunting, from 1992 to 2002, pretty much all i hunted with were big bore revolvers or specialty single shot handcannons. In fact, true story, it was a custom XP-100 that i had another builder make for me that actually made me decide to start building firearms professionally because what i ordered was NOT what was delivered. Anyway, thats a different post.
i decided i wanted to get back into big game handgun hunting last year so practiced all summer with my old ruger super blackhawk in 44 mag and also a TC encore in 338 win mag with a 16" barrel. That was more for back up. Got real practiced up with the 44 and was very comfortable out to 125 yards with it shooting some stiff handloads using the 240 gr speed deep curl bonded HP. Wont say the speed i was driving them to, only that its good it was in the big Ruger!
over the season i had had several encounters with quality deer but never would sneak inside my self imposed 150 yard limit. Could have easily hammered one with the Encore but wanted to use the 44 mag.
finally on one late november cold morning, a very nice four year old i had named rhe G3 buck wondered through the pasture looking for a girlfriend. Called him this because he had very long G3 tines. Ranged him at 120 yards and he ran another 10-15 yards and stopped to lip curl. Took the appropriate hold and let the Ruger bark. On impact the buck was flattened which did surprise me a bit as i had taken several deer past 100 yards with this revolver and never had i seen that result. However, the buck struggled, regained his feed and ran 75 yards before slowing up and laying down. Was a bit nervous, now he was well out of my 44 comfort zone and again, did not want to spoil the hunt by ending it with the encore. Watched him for 2-3 minutes and his head slowly dropped and he rolled over. Gave him a good hour just in case, no worries it was 10 degrees if i remember correctly and walked out to him.
nothing quite like walking up to a good buck you just took with a handgun. Similar to archery hunting but in my opinion, handgun hunting is even more of a challenge then modern archery hunting.
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one of my better handgun bucks and very happy to have been able to take him. Late story but since its been a while i wanted to share. The 240 gr DC bullet by the way entered just behind the inside shoulder and exited just clipping the offside shoulder. Not really sure why the buck dropped to the shot but punched both lungs and exited so did a great job at what was surely , somewhat reduced impact velocity and energy. The lungs showed good damage throughout entire wound channel. Could have eaten right up to entrance and exit wounds, typical of results past 100 yards with this class revolver.
was great to get another opportunity with my old Ruger. Hopefully more to come in the future. Past 20 years have been spent promoting my custom rifles hunting all over the country but need to get back to more of this as well. Good for my soul!
