Most memorable hand gun hunts

Like to hear what fellow handgun hunters most memorable hunts with a handgun where/are.

Mine were and still are hunting with my son and his "admiration" of his old dad harvesting game with a short gun.

For sure, AK, my Muzzleloader Bull Elk hunt (see home page: Home Page ) ranks among the top ones for me.

Each whitetail buck handgun harvest is memorable for me because they hang on my den wall (except for one) and I look up at them all the time and recount the hunt. Ain't nuthin' like it!

My very first "successful" hunt.

My South African handgun safari was a childhood dream come true. 6 great animals in 9 days of hunting. The greatest memory of the trip was the long stalk and wait to bag my Kudu bull. That day tested all of my hunting and shooting skills. The hunt ended with a perfectly placed shot at 190 yards from my Contender 358 JDJ.

http://www.handgunhunt.com/promo/members...yd%20Plantation

Opening day of the 2016 modern gun season was mine. I didn't tag a deer but I had several deer and a few shooter bucks around me. All the while listening to a wood duck roost about 50 yards away from me.

I ended up passing on a buck that I later regretted. He was in the shadows before I could see his headgear but you could put a saddle on him.

Laying out if an small bowl of virgin P dogs with my contender and 17 hmr barrel and spending the next hour and we'll over a hundred rounds educating then.
Not really a hunt, but lots of fun.

My most memorable handgun hunt was my first deer kill with a handgun, I was using a scoped 10" Contender barrel in 7mmTCU.

I'd have to say the 11 Point I took with the G20 last year. On the ground with a Glock at 35 yards ... won't forget that one.

My next hunt....................

My first Bull Elk with my Encore in 460 s&w

Ive had alot but mine would be my eldest sons first handgun hunt. He went after blackbear in the gila in new mexico. We ran bears for 6 straight days. I was just physically wrecked. We happened to hunt the week of the first deluge of rain after a summer of fires. We got on an average of two bears per day. Most very long chases. Longest was 14 miles per gos and it was hell in that terrain. In the last two hours of light on the last day we got
On one last track. We ran and ran due to the failing light. He used is superior conditioning (he was a nationally ranked boxer) to keep up with the guides so who is an absolute mountain goat and took his bear in the last 10 minutes of light on a steep ravine with an iron sighted bfr 454 and shot a cagey old bear that didnt ever tree! He made a perfect one shot kill that just rolled the bear in between dogs fighting the bear off hand in failing light at 50 yards after a chase that lasted just over 9 miles in steep terrain, in the rain, in failing light at 14 years of age. I crested the ridge just in time to see the bear rolling down the ravine. Best of all we got in on video!

About a decade ago I took a good friend and handgun skeptic hunting with me on my families property in North Central Texas. We sat different stands the first morning and I was determined to show off what a 30-30 contender could do. The first lot of does that came through had several good looking meat deer in it. I spent about 20 minutes watching them browse about 70 yards away through my 2x8 leupold, without ever getting a shot. Finally I decide that an opportunity on a single doe is impossible in this situation and spend another 10 minutes waiting for the perfect two fer. It never worked out, the doe ran off all at once and I'm left, arms shaking from being extended in the cold for that long, even with a rest I was whooped. Just about the time I started feeling sorry for myself a goofy looking spike started making his way out of the brush about 140 yards in front of me, heading towards the spot where the doe had been browsing just a few minutes before. In less than a minute he is happily munching on acorns, periodically stopping to twist his head back and around to scratch his back with his one abnormally long spike. He turned broadside looking into a field to my left, and I hastily threw my gun on the rest, centered the cross hairs on his chest, still shaking. I took one deep breath, closed both my eyes, flinched, pulled the grip of the gun down a little as I pulled the trigger, pretty much failed at making a decent shot in every possible way. When I finally opened my eyes to face my embarrasment, the spike was laying in a compact pile inches from where he was standing when I attempted my shot. I just sat there confused for a few minutes. My eyes had been closed when the gun went off, deer was still there, i couldn't figure it out. Curiosity got the best of me and I got up to see for myself what had happened. As I approached the downed spike I quickly saw that I had missed the body altogether and the round had entered the deers chin and exited the top of his head, between the spikes. While I was flinching and and jerking the trigger with my eyes closed, he had started scratching his back with his spike and even though the bullet missed it's mark by 15 or 20 inches, the unlucky rascal had moved his head right into its path. And what's more the only obvious explanation for that kind of gun shot wound, was that I had snuck up on this deer and executed it like a ninja assasin. Needless to say my buddy was both shocked and impressed. I skipped telling him the part of the story where I spent half an hour not shooting deer before botching a shot and only bagging that spike by accident. I just sort of down played the whole thing, said something about practicing a lot, just planned to leave him impressed with my deer assassination skills. I didn't admit it was an accident for another 5 years, when I started getting asked about the incident by mutual hunting buddies. I'm convinced no accident has ever contributed more to a my reputation as a hunter, handgun or otherwise.

A picture says it all

.416 Taylor Encore, full charge, stopped at 12 yards

Nice....Very nice...
Talk about a close call to meeting our Maker.

It would be my first New Hampshire moose hunt. Dad and I shared the success. A nice bull at 125 yards with my TC Contender Super 16 in 45-70 .

My 1st handgun big game was a small doe with my Glock 40MOS. It was my first handgun kill and regretfully was my last hunt with my brother. He was diagnosed with terminal cancer shortly after the hunt and won't make it till next deer season.

Hold fast to the memories my friend. They will help you in the days that seem dark.

Since you said hunts, the many rabbits I shot in my youth with my H&R 999 Sportsman and stainless Single Six are always special.

For big game, my first kill was a nice buck (156 inches) with my Encore 44. Never forget taking him.



My last big game with a handgun was my first black bear taken with a handgun. My other 6 were with rifles. I took this with a Super Redhawk in 480. I had customized and with my own hand loads. It is also one I wont forget.

That's one of the best stories I've read here.

For me, it was the day I killed my first deer with a handgun. I'll never forget the light drizzle of rain, the doe that just would not present me a good shot, the first sight of those massive antlers moving behind some brush, or when the owner of those antlers stepped broadside out. I can and always will still feel the Pachmayr grips in my hand, and I very well remember the slow trigger squeeze, the explosion of the gun going off, and the whole pop-up blind lurching forward from the gases exiting the muzzlebrake. Most importantly, the sight of that buck lunging forward and collapsing even while the recoil was still forcing the Encore backwards and upwards in my hands will stick with me forever. That, and the satisfaction of finally accomplishing something I had wanted to do since I first started hunting.

Full story here: Got my first handgun buck this morning!

My big 5 point I shot on my uncle's farm in 2014.

My Argentina water buffalo hunt was pretty memorable in its totality.

My most memorable handgun hunt doesn't stand out for any game I killed but rather the looks of astonishment on the faces of my fellow longtime companions at deer camp when I showed up with only the shortgun for the first time. I heard it all, "why would you want to handicap yourself" and "where is your real deer gun", etc. I did manage to take a nice doe at about 110 yards with the 7-30 Waters Contender that season and silence the doubters, ha.