I'm sure my first ever handgun kill was probably a ground squirrel or a chipmunk, can't remember. First big game kill was a whitetail buck in Idaho a couple years ago. There is a pic in my photos. 6" GP100 357, 158 XTP HP @ 1500 fps. Recovered bullet up in the neck after 16-ish inches of penetration, XTP still weighed 141 grains.


Eric

Mine was a squirrel. Its nothing big and amazing but it did start my hunting hobby. I miss doing my outdoor hobbies like metal detecting. I cant wait for the pandemic to die down.

I have been trying to remember and I still ain't sure.
Probably a rabbit in the the late 70s. I do remember my first handgun deer and first handgun hog but they weren't my first kills.

2008. Last drive out of the field on the last hunt of the last weekend of the season. Just before we left the field I saw and got a shot off on a 1.5 year old mule deer buck at 60 yards with a Smith & Wesson Classic 629 with a 5" barrel. Used Federal lead free ammunition. Maybe about 220 grains. Hit the deer mid-body. This was my first time shooting at big game with a pistol and I wasn't really certain how this would play out, so I held for mid-body, but in the lungs. The hammer fell and the deer dropped like it had been struck by lightening and never got up. It's body slid down the hill toward me until it was stopped by a tree. Bullet did not exit the off-side. It was a very young, small buck.

My first was a dinky East Texas whitetail with my 14? Encore in 270 JDJ. Ranged 185 yards with a 130 gr Partition at 2850 fps.

My first big game with a handgun was a muley spike buck with a T/C Encore in .30/06. I love that gun!! Load was a Nosler Ballistic Tip. Range 100 yards or so. Hit him once through the chest and had a blood trail that was impossible to miss.

This was a turning point in me becoming a handgun hunter. I had 3 rifles. Gave one to each daughter and kept one for nostalgia. Thought I would probably never hunt with a rifle again. This was at least 5 or 6 years ago. Hunted one time since with a rifle.

Rat, right between the eyes, with a Crosman Pump pistol in .17.

My first was a pig with a rear grip SP I built in .458 SOCOM. Went on to kill a whitetail, axis, and elk that year.

Small black bear four years ago on my western mountain property. 40 yards with my Stealth Hunter 629 .44 magnum. 240 grain softpoint commercial load. Usually use my hard cast 255 grain polycoated bullets but not that evening sit

Excellent!

Late 90s at deer camp, mid day everyone came back to camp for lunch, my dad let me take his scoped Ruger mark 2 down to the creek to look for squirrels. Shot a little grey squirrel and been hooked on handgun hunting since.