First buck of 2020 (pic added)

First buck of 2020 was also my first with a single shot pistol. Been watching a few nice bucks on my trail camera and yesterday I had an opportunity at one. Not the biggest I've seen this year but a nice nine point. He was about 60yds and quartering toward me. At the shot, he ran off like he hadn't even been hit. The blood trail showed bits of lung tissue so I knew he was going down. I trailed him across my property, where I saw him run across the neighboring tract and into the next. This morning I went looking for him again and finally found him in the creek bed. My shot was a bit low and missed the heart, so that's why he ran about 300yds from where I hit him. Glad I found him but putting the bullet a few inches higher would've ended with a cleaner result. It does look like the bullet performed well, showing signs of expansion where it exited.




The pistol I used is a T/C Contender in 7mmTCU. I've been threatening to go down this rabbit hole since I was a kid but never pulled the trigger until this year. I found a nice one with a Leupold 2x mounted on an octagon .22LR barrel. Added a 7mmTCU barrel and mounted a Burris 4x. So far I haven't been able to find a real accurate load but decided it was accurate enough with H322 and a Nosler 120gr ballistic tip. Here it is in its original form.

CONGRATULATIONS Craig! Be careful

Might be too late! I bid on another barrel last night.

nice buck! way to stay with it to recover him.. my 7mm tcu loved the old 120 gr Hornady SSP bullets. shot a 14" barrel and 2-6 redfield scope

CONGRATS ON A NICE BUCK. AS POPULAR AS THE 7MM TCU WAS IN IHMSA MATCHES IT HARDLY EVER GOT REPORTED AS BEING USED TO HUNT DEER WITH.

IF ANY ONE IS INTERESTED, I HAVE A NEW HAMPSHIRE TC 15 INCH CUSTOM SHOP 7MM TCU ENCORE BARREL, PLUS A BUNCH OF FIRE FORMED BRASS, AND MAYBE SOME DIES. GOT THE STUFF BUT NEVER USED IT. PM IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO KNOW MORE.

Congrats on your first SS pistol kill!
Everyone makes a bad shot.
I am glad you were able to recover him.
What chambering are you looking at next?

Congratulations! This will cost you in more guns, scopes, reloading equipment, etc.!

Congrats - well done!

Good one, Craig!

Awesome! Huge congrats!

Congratulations! Doing it with a single shoot handgun just makes it so much sweeter.

Congrats and way to go on staying with the blood trail! The 120 grain Nosler B-T should be just fine with TCU velocities. Barrels are like Pokemon - gotta catch'em all. Well I'm trying too!

CONGRATULATIONS!🎈🎉🎊

Thanks guys!

I definitely want to get a 6.5TCU and/or JDJ. Also a 7-30. I always wanted a Hornet but don't really have anything to use it for.

KNOCK `em dead Craig.....

I have killed mule deer with the 6.5 TCU years ago.
In a Contender, I would prefer the 6.5 JDJ or Bullberry for deer.
Can't go wrong with the 7x30 Waters or the 30-30AI either.

Job well done!

I would recommend a 30-30AI first and the 7-30 second. The 6.5 JDJ uses 225 Winchester brass which can be a little hard to locate. I went with the 6.5x30JDJ back in the 1990's knowing 30-30 brass would always be easier to find than 225. No regrets on my choice at the time, and I have been totally happy with the 6.5x30JDJ.

Nice deer by the way.

Barrels are not the only expense. I picked up a blued Encore action a while back for my SS MGM 223 barrel (all I could locate at the time). I am trading the blued action back in tomorrow on a SS Pro Hunter, and buying a second SS Pro Hunter action for my 260 Rem barrel. I just sent Tony an e-mail to start building me another 11" Forend for the Encore barrel with no forend.

Now all I will really need is one more Blued G2 Frame, and another Tony's Forend to go with it. I will then have all complete handguns so no barrel swapping will be required.
It has took me 30 years to get to this point, so you have some time to make choices. Contenders, G2's and Encores are hard to beat. I even have a CVA single shot pistol or two.

I just thought I would be done. I will need Amber to make a couple more cases. It never ends

Nice buck. Good job following up and recovering him.

It's much more impressive from the front than the side. That was just the only pic I could get at the time. Here it is all cleaned up, in record time, especially for me. Also finished the one from last year and that's more my speed.

Congratulations on a nice Buck

Nice buck!

That buck's got character and that's always my main criteria when I hunt, too. Congrats on your buck!

I have a 10" bull 7TCU barrel I hunted with years ago but never got a shot at anything. Maybe I'll dust it off...

Love the euro mount!

Awesome buck, and great job on the skull!

Congratulations

Went back to our other property, where I do most of my hunting a couple more times and struck out on the rest of the season. I wanted a doe or two for the meat but had a fall right after getting this buck and hurt my knee. That had a huge effect on the rest of the season. The buck above was shot on the property I live on. I had been watching three really nice bucks on my trail cams and he was the nicest. Another was a perfectly symmetrical six point and that is not something seen often around here. I found him dead at the edge of the road Monday morning, hit by a truck, the day after the season closed. I tested some 120gr Gold Dots out of the 6.5Grendel AR15 on it postmortem and managed to salvage the head and tail. He made a really nice euro mount. The good news is that the third buck, an eight point, was spotted this morning while I refilled my coffee cup. So if a poacher or vehicle doesn't get him, he ought to be really nice next year!