Gary thanks i thought about not posting that.

What I was trying to say somewhat unsuccessfully is it is easier to group with a compound bow and accessories at 50 yrds than it is with an iron sighted revolver,I have owned and shot a 475L bfr and it was an excellent gun and not particularly brutal to shoot at all,what was brutal with the 475 was the price of brass and bullets.I assume a 475 L 400 gr speer and max load of H110 would be a big bore,tho it didnt kill my deer any deader than a 44 270 gr deepcurl.I hunt whitetail or muleys depending on what tag I draw,have hunted praire goats,no shot,black bear in Minn. and going hog hunting in AR this May,no Rhino or grizzleys tho.

Dave, you are right buddy! I misread your post. Sorry man.

As far as missing and crippling goes, I think that is the dirty little secret of bowhunting and for that matter shotguns with buckshot. I know a lot of deer are killed with both but how many are wounded is a lot higher than we would like to think. I have nothing against either method but it certainly isn't what you see


Gary,

I fully agree! I bow hunt also. And any day of the week,you can turn on a program and watch a half a dozen bad shots from various bowhunting shows.

Let me say first, as bow hunting is concerned, darned right shooting with a compound is easier to group at fifty yards. Really there is no distractions, unless the string keeps hitting your forearm and the noise isn't any concern. We all know the guy at the local pub who hardly if ever shoots but brags he can kill a fly at 300 yds. These are not handgun hunters! If or when we teach [or try to get them involved] our children or wives to shoot we don't start them with true bigbores or they would rapidly lose interest. I have to also agree bigbore isn't for everyone. You have to take steps to big bore handguns and actually train for them. Back early on when I was in the Marines, kids [18-20yr olds] that had never shot a weapon actually became some of the best shooters because they were trained properly and got comfortable with the weapon. Isn't that what we all would like the show to represent and peak there enthusiasm to try the sport? If we want to lessen slob hunters shouldn't we educate people to what a slob hunter is?

i'd agree but trad hunting with a bow is the hardest imho.

Tradmark, I agree traditional bow is very hard. I might have used a bad example. I don't want to take anything away from the sport. I was just trying to say when using large bore you have to deal with all the distractions to be successful such as noise levels and heavy recoil.

Oh yeah i agree. I just differentiate bw wheelcannons and actual bows. Teo totally different sports. I pretty much think if ya can kill an elephant reliably with it. Its a big bore. Imho. That said. I think the industry has grown and judging by the sci convention i went to this weekend. I talked to sooooo many hunters that are very experienced that had no idea that you could hunt large game effectively with a handgun. The word is just not out. When asked how my 454 recoils i respond...not bad my daughter shoots it. That older really skinny lady that makes that fancy jewelry over there uses a 454 to kill most of the big 5. You can too. Then we talk over how to get into it. Why on gods green earth would i portray it as something only a he man or a sadist can do. Not much of a way to build a sport. Very few of us have superhuman abilities. I dont see that it takes a professional fighter, pro football player or strongman competitor to shoot these guns. Like i said, my 105 lb daughter is doing it as we speak. We need to bill it as such. In reality it takes some dedication, a touch of knowledge and a love of shooting. Thats alot of guys out there that fit that bill and would love to participate and would love to watch a show. Ive got 3 kids and 3 friends handgun hunting along with a brother and 3 cousins going. Not one has a gun that cost over a grand but they love it.

I say we do the video

l prefer nothing over a 44Mag. lt has killed and can still kill the Big Five.. l remember Larry Kelley killing them ALL with his ported 44mag SBH and his homemade bronze bullets back in the late 70's...l also remember Col DB Wesson killing ALL the Big Game,including Brown Bear, in North America with his S&W 357 Magnum in 1935 when it was first introduced. His ammo was a gas Checked 158grain lead semi Wadcutter..

l know the big CALIBERS have their place and its fine with me to let anyone shoot their choice.. l just dont see one in my future

Having shot Cape buffalo I can tell you for certain that I would not shoot one with a 44 Magnum and would think it ill advised for elephant and rhino too. Lion & leopard - ok but you better be sure of your shot.

If this handgun hunting show becomes a reality I think the first episode or two should go towards educating the public about handgun effectiveness, their limitations and their versatility. What works, what is truly needed, and what the myths are about handgun hunting. I love living in the south & on a working farm, but I live in an area where every hunter has a "seben" mag and thinks that Dirty Harry's 44 is the biggest, baddest pistol on earth. I agree with Tradmark about pistol recoil. My little 5'2 wife, weighing 105 pounds or so can shoot a 44 mag all day & has just about all she wants from my 376 Steyr pistol. If she can handle handgun recoil, anyone can.

What if someone put together a webshow instead? Or do you think we'd be better off posting our own homemade videos to the hunting/shooting video forum?

I don't think a webshow would serve much of a purpose beyond our own entertainment and the production costs would be similar in time, energy, etc. to a TV show if you expected to get sponsors.

If the players at the Outdoor Channel can't get a TV show sponsored then who can?

I wonder what the Sportman Channel would charge to produce a show? My guess is it would be about the same as the Outdoor Channel, and likely with less viewership. Come to think of it, even if the costs were half that, which is still a decent amount of money, you'd still have to worry about a lack of sponsors.

If only Ted Nugent or Michael Waddell would take up handgun hunting exclusively.

X2.

I have at least one gun on me at all times, except when I am in the oilfield. And that is only because it would cost me my job if I was caught with one out there. But as soon as I get home, it goes back on the belt, and I always feel a sense of, "Whew!! Glad that's over." Other than going to oilfield locations, I refuse to leave the house without them.

The NRA channel has a lot of info on concealed and open carry. Wonder if there would be a chance the NRA would get involved with a handgun hunting show? I say "handgun hunting show" because I don't think a show using only the big bores would further our cause. Why not include all handgun hunting, and show that it is 10 times as much fun to do small game hunting with a .22 pistol as opposed to a shotgun?? If we limit the show to big bores only, I think we shoot ourselves in the foot (pardon the pun), and are automatically limiting those that would have participated had it shown something with less recoil that most people can handle. If we encourage people to just get started, they can choose to move on to big bores or not.

At least they would be using a handgun, which I think should be our main goal to keep "our kind" from dying off. Even if it is only 2 out of 10 that start small and move on to big bores, that is at least 2 more than we had, and the other 8 are still using handguns!

Forget them, I want to see Melissa Bachman host the show. Ratings would be through the roof!

I have to think the program definitely would have to include educating people. At my local gun club, people that I seldom see there think .357 mag is a big bore capable of destroying just about anything. Do any of you have a homemade hunting video that can be posted to this forum for friendly critique?

I can remember when I was sixteen or so I rented the same VHS tape from my local video store over and over. It was and is the only handgun only tape I ever saw. I haven't been a dedicated handgun only hunter but that video influenced me into the sport. I guess I am saying I agree and would like to see a main stream hunting show. I also know that it will be a hard sell.

I believe the reason you do not see handgun hunting on TV is first money. In my opinion the money is not there because there is no special handgun seasons. We hunt in the regular firearms season. In Louisiana and mississippi we have a primitive weapon season for what used to be muzzleloaders. Then they allowed in-lines. Everybody bought in-lines. Then scopes were allowed mad rush to store for scopes. Then 45-70 crack barrel rifles were primitive and the handi-rifles flew off the shelves here. If we had special handgun seasons that extended the hunting season we would see a surge in handgun season. That would bring money to the table then interest from television. The downfall is people hear pistol or handgun they think crack head druggy with his semi auto. Not Dirty Harry cleaning the streets anymore.

DeerDad's 100% right. We are a relatively small group of hunters required to hunt during seasons in which less challenging methods are legal. The average joe isn't going to take up a more challenging method of hunting if it doesn't give him more time to hunt. If they would create handgun only seasons of appreciable length, we'd be in business. Unfortunately, I don't see that happening any time soon.

I remember Larry Weishuhn had a show years ago where he hunted with what i think was the original contenders. I remember it was the first time i saw a 45/410 in action. TC spends a lot on pitching their lines through outdoor programing, you would think they would be true to the line that put them on the map. Fact is they probably ran the numbers and they get a better return on programing the other lines.

The focus is on tactical rifles due to the current political atmosphere. Since the big name handgun manufacturers also produce tactical rifles, and there's a greater demand for tactical rifles than hunting handguns, handguns are going to be passed over by most of the firearm media.

Whenever I have seen Larry Weishuhn he used an encore 30-06 for whitetail. Basically big money determines what we will see on TV. I guess that is the answer to my original post. I will still enjoy my handgun hunting! BOTTOM LINE!!!!

Larry is with Ruger now so you won't see him with the T/C stuff any more.

If you look at your local gun shop you will see the Glock, Sigs and Kimbers all out in the front. To look at a hunting handgun you will probably have to go to the last shelve in the back.. I have seen a couple of shows with handgun hunting mostly mountain lions and such. I am a novice and just got my 454 ready for next deer season here in Indiana. SRH with Ultra DOT.

Mad Dog,,,,good choice. You will enjoy I am sure.