Hunting (Ground)

Wild about it? No - A fan of it? It has it good sides and bad sides. I have always hunted elevated from a tree.

Being native to Mississippi River bottom terrain, hunting off the ground was something I would ever give any thought to. Last night I hunted from the ground and all I can say is that it does have some advantages to it. But likewise it does have some draw back.

Currently I am hunting a mammoth of a buck. Last night he showed up a hour after I departed from the area. Judging from my trail camera I am within 30 yards of him and two other good bucks that frequent this area on a regular bases. When I scan the view from my scope while sitting on my Turkey hunting stool. I have to really pick my shot very carefully. Slipping a bullet thru the trees do offer a challenge.

Handgun hunting is quite challenging. Not everybody can do this with success. This is part of the reason why I think that "Pistol Hunters" doesn't get any love from the hunting industry.

Again, it was definitely to late to shoot or have a fair chance of harvesting either of the 3. The light dissipates very quick when you're on the ground. It would have been too late and I couldn't see out of my scope which does sparks another edgy discussion to surface - Pistol Scopes.

I guess this could be another great discussion piece during the off season. We now have only 2 companies that offer offer pistol hunters some decent selections. And with likewise saying, maybe that will be only just a matter of time.

If it gives you a better chance of killing a big buck, stay at it.

Burris and Leupold are about the only choices at this time in true long eye relief pistol scopes.

I have pistol hunted for years. I have also refined my equipment a lot over the years. I have refined my stands to be handgun friendly. At one time I liked to slip around in the woods on foot. Now days I pretty much only hunt from elevated stands.
I have no trouble letting a buck go if the shot is questionable. I believe you are correct about no handgun hunting support because handgun hunting takes some serious dedication to be successful. One exercise I do at the Range is to start off my rest pointed down range. I will get on the rest and pick up the target like I would in my stand. I will normally burn up hundreds of rounds of 22 LR through my Super 14 Contender before season. Shooting Scoped Contenders for almost thirty years I forget getting on target with a handgun scope does not come natural to most hunters.

Bob R

Thank you for the information Mr. Roach. This is why I love this site. It's a wealth of knowledge and that you communicate with people who are hunters. I have a super 14 .22 LR barrel that is still in the box. I will definitely put one of my Burris scopes on top of it and practice during the off months! Again Thank you Sir

Funny you should mention hunting from a treestand; I'm the opposite. Growing up, the farm I hunt had few good trees to put stands in the locations I wanted, so I've almost always used ground blinds. The trees were selectively cut for timber, taking away the good tall, straight trees and leaving the little, young, and scrawny ones. I think they've gotten big enough now that there's a good selection, but I'm too stubborn to change.

The majority of my hunting experience, whether handgun or rifle, has been from some sort of elevated position. We have tower/stand mounted box blinds and several tripods with shooting rails that we attach a "skirt" to in order to conceal the bulk of our body. Even when going from the box to a tripod, you have to be so much more aware/cautious of your movement. I find it much more challenging and rewarding when I sit in a tripod and have animals come within feet of the base, while I'm only 12 to 15 feet above them. Back in the spring we had a very powerful storm pass through and damage one of our elevated box blinds. The tower was undamaged, but the plywood constructed house was pretty dilapidated and beyond repair. I decided to purchase a premade ground box blind from Texas Hunter Products locally and mount it to our existing tower. I ran out of time for the project and decided to use it on the ground in the same location as the old one. The first thing I and my son noticed was that we were now eye level with our quarry, and that if they detected movement it was a "white flag", "snort level" event. By design the blind has one clear and one solid sliding panel for each window opening allowing you to move them in such a way as to keep you from being silhouetted. It is definitely more challenging on the ground than up in the air regardless of your weapon choice.

I'm just curious if anyone regularly uses a handgun for whitetail hunting. If so, what do you use specifically -- make and model, barrel length, scope or irons, and bullet? I found some recommendations on this outdoor site . I'm considering giving it a try and wonder what people have used successfully.

Sam, you could say I use a handgun regularly for whitetail hunting. Last one I killed with a rifle was 1977. Since then it's been 100% handguns for whitetails, AK, western hunting and Africa.
I use an enormous # of handguns from 6mm AI to .416 Taylor for whitetails. My #1 gun is a XP in 6.5/.284. Killed over 500 with it out to 500+ yards. Best whitetail bullets seem to be Nosler BTs, Sierra Game Kings. Many others will work, but these seem to be the most consistent- soft, expand well, and accurate.
As of last week my whitetail handgun total is 2512, so you could say I've killed a few.

We're almost exclusively on the ground over in the Hill Country. Most elevated blinds were always thought of as "bow stands". The cedar's so thick where I hunt that I'd rather be on the ground. Most of my hunting is spot and stalk, but I do post up in a ground blind occasionally.

Of course, do what works for you!

Yes.
Do you want to hunt deer with a revolver or a single-shot pistol?

I use an Encore with a 15" .30-06 barrel for all of my deer hunting. My load is a new one. It is a 130 gr Barnes TSX. Have yet to get a deer with it but I like the way it shoots. I use a Simmons 4X scope.

I don't think you can go wrong with an Encore.

45 Colt is my favorite caliber. Can load it light enough that my wife or new shooters can shoot it very comfortably, or I can load it heavy enough to take moose. My personal favorite of all the handguns I've ever had was a custom build by Jack Huntington on a Ruger Super Blackhawk. Barrel lengths of 5 to 6 inches are probably most common. Iron sights.

That being said, don't overlook the XP100 platform, or other single shot pistols. Mine is by far the most accurate handgun of any caliber I have ever owned. It is chambered in 284, sports a Leupold VX3i FFP 6.5-20x50 LRP scope with a CCH reticle (Only scope I will EVER use for the rest of my life.), and I'd put it up against most people's rifles. I always tell people, if my life depended on one shot, at any distance out to 1000 yards, I'd take my pistol. And that's no lie. If you go to Wy-shot in June, learn how to use this platform and what it is capable of, you won't use anything else in the near future. I only have one revolver now, thanks to Wy-shot. And it's a Ruger Single Six that I use on the trap line!

For now my go to pistol for any range I might shot is my CVA Scout in 6.5 Creedmoor shooting Winchester Deer Season 125 grain factory load
It sports a 2.5 x 8 Weaver handgun scope and I added a brake.

I don't know how many deer with handguns. Never kept up but in the 100s. It is just natural for me to pick up a handgun and head to the woods. I use revolvers, autos and single shots. They all work.