Post by Burnston on Nov 28, 2019 17:40:32 GMT -5
Hope all are enjoying their holiday, hopefully with family and friends.
Before dinner I spent some time in the rainy woods. Everything being wet made a good woods stalking opportunity so I left my blind and went looking for the big one. I ended up finding this guy with his eight points and decided he was the one. He's the fist buck I've taken with a handgun, a S&W m21 .44spl, loaded with 7.7gr Unique under a 260gr 429421. I clumsily jumped him twice, and ended up within 68 yards of him, at which point I let him have it. I've been working with this pistol and its iron sights and this load for over two years at various ranges before allowing myself to take it out after whitetail. Garza, Powers, and Grashorn have all had their hands on it, and it exists as the one pistol I've shot and carried more than any other I own.
Twenty eight months of practice was time well spent, and after today, I plan to put a lot more time in. I hit him in the boiler room, and shattered (wasted) a shoulder. There was no exit wound, but my bullet rested just beneath the skin on this far side bruising all the meat. I was satisfied with my elevation, but I was about two inches farther back than I intended. You deer hunters know that it could have gone a lot worse with that kind of mistake; thankfully it did not and there was no suffering.
My hunting rig of choice is a vintage Safariland 101, which is older than me. My budget does not quite allow the beautiful shoulder/chest rigs you professionals use, and this was a more than adequate alternative. It fits well under my duck jacket, and allows perfect ease of movement while walking through the woods.
One thing I know for sure, gleaned from my first exclusive handgun hunt; there is no such thing as too much practice, both for the sake of the shooter and the animal. I hope this is the first of many.
Before dinner I spent some time in the rainy woods. Everything being wet made a good woods stalking opportunity so I left my blind and went looking for the big one. I ended up finding this guy with his eight points and decided he was the one. He's the fist buck I've taken with a handgun, a S&W m21 .44spl, loaded with 7.7gr Unique under a 260gr 429421. I clumsily jumped him twice, and ended up within 68 yards of him, at which point I let him have it. I've been working with this pistol and its iron sights and this load for over two years at various ranges before allowing myself to take it out after whitetail. Garza, Powers, and Grashorn have all had their hands on it, and it exists as the one pistol I've shot and carried more than any other I own.
Twenty eight months of practice was time well spent, and after today, I plan to put a lot more time in. I hit him in the boiler room, and shattered (wasted) a shoulder. There was no exit wound, but my bullet rested just beneath the skin on this far side bruising all the meat. I was satisfied with my elevation, but I was about two inches farther back than I intended. You deer hunters know that it could have gone a lot worse with that kind of mistake; thankfully it did not and there was no suffering.
My hunting rig of choice is a vintage Safariland 101, which is older than me. My budget does not quite allow the beautiful shoulder/chest rigs you professionals use, and this was a more than adequate alternative. It fits well under my duck jacket, and allows perfect ease of movement while walking through the woods.
One thing I know for sure, gleaned from my first exclusive handgun hunt; there is no such thing as too much practice, both for the sake of the shooter and the animal. I hope this is the first of many.