When asked what was my favorite hunt I usually answer that it was the last one I was on with memories still fresh in my mind.
However, a hunt I often think of took place in 2006 at the YO Ranch in south Texas in the company of other handgunners, on this SCI sponsered event. After missing two shots on a red sheep I felt that my scope had to be readjusted on my FA`s 454 and my guide agreed to take me to the range the next day. The following morning found us in the 4-wheel scouting for rams before sun-up when as my luck would have it we ran into a group of 4 aoudad rams with the largest being the last. The big ram was ranged at exactly 100yds.I did not want to risk a shot with my 454 and was asked if I wanted to borrow a Reeder custom Blackhawk Hunter in .41 GNR. I quickly found out that the load was a 170gr JHP at 1600 FPS topped with a Burris 2X that was dead on at 50yds.....
Here I was with a handgun I never fired,aimed a most beautiful animal, with 3 of my peers watching every move I made.I put the crosshair on the top of the back, in-line with the front leg, and pulled the trigger ever so lightly....at the shot the 4 rams took off to the left with the last one pouring blood that could be seen from the 100yds. I walked up and finished it with a 22mag to the head and was the first of our group to draw blood.
Everyone was relived....Later that day at the range I found that there was nothing wrong with the scope on my gun except for the way I shot it....What was your memorable hunt???

That sounds like a great hunt James. My most memorable hunt was a doe antelope hunt last year. It was the first time my son came along on a big game hunt. I was fortunate enough to take a doe with him along. Its a hunt that we will both always remember.

A close runner up would have to be hunting in NW Montana with my dad back in 1983 when he took a big 4X4 mulie. My dad was about 20 feet ahead of me when he suddenly stopped. He kept raising his binoculars examining a tangle of roots at the base of a blown down tree about 20 yards in front of him. From my angle, all I could see was a big set of antlers just in front of the blow down. From my dads angle the buck blended into the roots of the tree. All I kept thinking was "SHOOT!...SHOOT!". After what seemed like an eternity he raised his 03A3 and fired. The antlers fell from my view into the mass of roots. The buck was an old mulie who had probably sat hidden in that same spot as hunters passed for many seasons. It is the largest deer my dad has ever taken and one of my favorite hunting memories.

Gosh I don't think I can narrow it down to one. There are the hunts where I watched my children kill their first deer. My heart was pounding just like I was taking aim a trophy buck. Then there was the time my dad and I were hunting together; we both ended up still-hunting through the same stand of pines and I saw him up ahead of me. He never knew I was there until I put my hand on his shoulder. Scared the beegeezes out of him.

A few years ago I pushed a great buck out to my son who was waiting at the end of the drainage with a rifle he forgot to load. Africa. Years of summer-time groundhog hunts with my dad and uncle. Dove hunting when they descended on the fields by the thousands. Having a gobbler I was working see something move (Me) and instead of running he flies and almost lands right on me, I guess he thought I was the hen. I shot 3 times at that bird and never touched him. Lots of great memories; thanks for starting this thread James.

James,
Hard not to think of a handgun hunt when visiting this site. And even harder to think of a handgun hunt without thinking of my 2007 Kentucky bull elk hunt. Something about a bull elk at 7 yards and a 44 mag. makes it hard to forget!
http://www.huntingpictures.net/photo/014168

My favorite handgun hunt was a 300 lb plus wild hog in Oklahoma at 15 ft with a Ruger 10 inch 357 max. 

I guess as of late it was watching my 12 year old daughter take her first charlie. I'm not sure who was more excited.



Then again the first deer with a handgun back in 1991 was really cool. 60+ yard shot with an open sighted Dan Wesson revolver in 357 Max. Best part was I harvested the deer in front of a "non" beliver.

Wow. That is a tough question. Oddly enough my most memorable hunt was not the harvesting of my first deer or my first handgun kill. It goes back much further than that. Goes back to a time when life was simplier and the biggest problem an 8 year old boy had was not getting so cold as to be seen by the squirrels while hunting with my grandpa. I would always spend time with he and my grandmother during the time I was on Christmas break from school. He would take me squirrel hunting every morning or evening. I had a single shot bolt action 410 shotgun. We would sit under a big sweet gum tree and watch the oak trees for movement. When the sun started coming up we would enjoy shooting a couple squirrels and then going home to clean our harvest for grandma to cook for lunch. He taught me to respect nature and thank God for what he gave us.
Seems so long ago, actually it was 35+ years. I can still taste the fresh squirrel with gravy, rice and biscuits. Those meals tasted so good and those times so cherished.
I can't go hunting with grandpa any longer, but I have the great memories. For those of you who have children, take then hunting, fishing and be heavily involved in their lives. They will have memories they will cherish forever.
James, thanks for starting this thread.

Naming one “best hunt” is a hard task. As I’m sure most have a big buck story, or a first handgun harvest tale, when we consider all the days in the field and try to emerge with just one as a most prized memory, it’s hard not to think back to those joyful days when the game seemed to be more plentiful and the weather just perfect. You all know the days I’m talking about. We were much younger and didn’t have all the fancy gear and nice handguns that we are blessed with today. Often some of our best hunting buddies, that are no longer with us come to mind. Our grandfathers, great uncles and fathers in some cases. Those truly were the days…

While thinking of all those old days in the field, they almost seem surreal now. One such outing comes to mind. A cold morning in late November, that I’ll never forget. Mid duck season in Oklahoma and all the usual suspects were there. We walked in the dark for what seemed like a mile to our favorite spot. We called it “the swamp”. The water was frozen and it was my turn to break ice. So I broke my way out about 25 feet, swinging the small axe that we always used, trying not to get wet. After dispersing and rearranging the decoys several times until everyone agreed that they were just right, we nestled into the old cattail blind. We were running early as usual so a lot of coffee was being downed, not for the caffeine but rather the defrosting effects. Daylight seemed to roll in slow that morning and the sky was thick with fog. I could hear the birds whistling over our heads long before I could make them out. I was as anxious as I can remember ever being, wishing the legal shooting time would hurry up and arrive. I’ll never forget the first TAKE EM that bellowed from my big brothers deep voice. The ducks were so plentiful that morning I remember thinking how unreal it seemed. They poured out of the sky like pennies from heaven. My old brown lab was so excited he was shaking in the blind. The ducks folded and dropped to the water like acorns after a hard freeze and it wasn’t long before my big bro said we had our 3 limits. I was only 14 back then and if I’m honest I would like to go back to those days. Life sure was easier and my only worry was oversleeping my alarm clock and missing one of those unforgettable mornings…

Great stories guys, and a great post.

Well my most memorable hunt didn't involve me shooting at all.

Rather it was my youngest daughter. It was Nicole's senior year in high school. It was a miserable day, cold and South Dakota's famous wind was blowing like 30 MPH. We decided to venture to a different place to hunt, and upon arriving in this location I noticed a Willow Thicket on a meadow. The funny thing about this particular willow thicket was it was like two thickets in one, seperated by a lane that angled through the middle about 15 feet wide.

We parked my pickup in the lane in the middle of the willows and just sat there. In front of us about 50 yards east of the willows was a strip of cattails that was about 100 yards across and then it lead into another meadow on the other side. There was a tractor trail that lead through the cattails connecting the two meadows.

I told Nicole that we'd sit in the pickup and wait to see what developed. At sunset we hadn't seen any movement and I just said to Nicole "let's sneak out of the pickup and sit in the shadows of the willows" when a nice Doe appeared off to our left about 200 yards out.

As we started to sneak out of the pickup I spotted another doe immediately in front of us not 20 yards away. I motioned for Nicole to FREEZE (and she did just that, I don't think she was even breathing).

Well after what seemed like an eternity the doe wandered off towards the feeding doe, and Nicole made her way out of the pickup.

We snuck to the edge of the willows and I got the Super 14 .30-30 Ackley Improved Contender up on the rest. I then got Nicole in position behind the Contender. I whispered to her "when you are ready I'll cock the hammer and all you have to do is put the crosshair behind the shoulder, midway top to bottom and touch the trigger". Nicole couldn't find the deer in the field of view with the 2x7x Burris set on 4x, so I turned it down to 2x. That did the trick and Nicole was on the doe. I then slowly turned it back up to 4x and asked Nicole if she had everything lined up. When she nodded she had, as I was cocking the hammer for her I whispered "now this thing is going to kick a little but it aint bad".

I should have never said that last part as when the Contender roared the Deer just lifted their heads with a look like what was that. I quickly reloaded the Contender and again got Nicole back on target. This time I whispered "the kick wasn't that bad now was it, just hold dead center behind the shoulder and touch it off". I was barely done telling Nicole that when the Contender roared again, I heard the bullet strike it's mark and saw the Doe crumble, never moving.

Yep Nicole put the second shot right were it was supposed to be, and the 125gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip did it's deed. I wouldn't have been any prouder if I had just shot a world record Buck.

Larry

OK here we go I think the best hunt I had was on 12/30/1990 I had bought a Super 14 Contender the year before and had not started hand loading yet so I was shootong 150gr Remington Core-Loc ammo through the 30-30. I worked at a sporting goods store in Tuscaloosa AL and the boss asked me if I would like to go to his deer lease the next day. I quickly said yes. So when I showed up the next morning with the T/C he was a little concerned. In his mind if you did not have a 300 WBY Mag with a 3-12 Ziess you did not have enough hardware. I told him if it was brown it was down I had it covered. He still thought that I was not going to hit @#%$ with that dog gone pistol thing single shot dodad. So when we got to the lease I set up in a small ground blind on a clearing where deer had been moving. It was not long before a 3 point buck crossed the clearing I put the T/C up and at 55 yds I touched one off. Bam! the deer was hit and ran off. Just minutes after a small buck came out 85 yds in the clearing I had a permit for a second deer on this lease. So I put it in the cross hair and touched another round off. Bam! fell in its tracks. So at this point I left the blind and went looking for the 3 point I found him dead a few yards in the woods. I drug both deer back to the truck and put them on that huge front rack of the Ford truck I sat down in the seat and took a nap. A little after dark I awoke to the boss opening the door and the comment of "Well I guess you can kill a deer with that dodad." Here is the link to the photo.

http://www.handgunhunt.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=1043&limit=recent

Gary if you can put it in the post that would be cool

My most favorite hunt, that's easy. My son and I were sitting in a swamp in the low country of South Carolina. It was about 8 degrees. The deer sounded like ice picks on the frozen water. The look on my sons face as he watched his first deer drop with one shot. Priceless!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Doug

You would think a “rocked scientist” would be able to figure this one out. LOL!