MY FIRST DEER WITH A HANDGUN, AND MY BIGGEST BUCK EVER!!

Got this one with my .480 Ruger SRH with factory ammo up in NH. He weighed in at 205#, and has 12 points if you include one that got broken off short in a fight! He came in to a Primus can doe bleat call. Took the shot at about 20 yards as he quartered by at a fast walk. He jammed on the brakes and crouched slightly just as I fired, so the bullet hit a bit high on the shoulder. It shattered the shoulder, clipped the spine, and lodged under the hide on the far side. The bullet core did separate from the jacket, but both ended up together up against the hide. The deer took one step and went down. He thrashed a bit so I fired a finishing shot. Then came the 4 hour drag back a mile and a half to the car!! (I was hunting alone).

The photos are in a Yahoo photo album open to the public, but I can't seem to get an image link to work. So, here is the link below to view the pictures. (Unless someone can tell me how to get a Yahoo album photo to show up embedded in my post)

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/llowell/detail?.dir=/d032&.dnm=ad4b.jpg&.src=ph

YEEEEEHAAAAA!!!

Larry

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Why lug a rifle when you can do it all with a pistol!

congratulations that is a very nice handgun trophy.

ohhhhh...the drag ....i woulda passed out

a 4 wheeler would be handy, but i hate those things runnin all over the place when i'm hunting. i'm afraid some of them will give hunters a bad name with some land owners, and make our access even more difficult to get. sure would come in handy on that 1 1/2 mile drag though.

Nice buck I have yet to take a big buck with a handgun have taken a few with my bow though. Way to go!!! Are you going to mount him..? Sure is a nice handgun trophy.

Awesome deer!!

What an animal. That is a definite buck of a lifetime. It makes that drag all the sweater. Congrats.

Congratulations, that is a great Buck and a great way to have taken him. Good work

I'm suprised the .480 did not fully penetrate from only 20 yards. I have yet to remove/recover any kind of a slug from a handgun harvested deer...I've used as small as a 6.5 T/CU (90gr Speer TNT) up to the .444 Marlin. I'm not hunting small deer either.

Just thinking out loud......

Magnificent buck! Trophy of a lifetime taken with a handgun. Congrats!

welcome to the site,and congrats on that buck ,that is a AWESOME DEER...jim257

I am envious of and happy for you. That is an awesome deer. Dragging a trophy like that over a mile and a half would have been worth it. Congratulations.

Larry, Congratulations on the handgunned deer. I took my biggest deer 3 years ago with a handgun. I still remember that hunt fondly and you will too. Again Congratulations.

That's one heck of a deer Larry. I know you are extremely proud of it and I'm proud for you. Hope you have alot more success this season.

WOW!! That is a monster! Congrats. We don't get deer that size around here. If there are I've never seen them. That would make an excellent mount. Now that you've started at the top( first handgun deer = trophy ) where will you go from here?

I'm a little suprised too that the bullet was still in the deer. I have taken 3 deer with the 480 Ruger and have not yet recovered a bullet. I shot a doe quartering away, the bullet broke a rib going in crossed both lungs, broke a rib going out of the chest and made a mess of the off shoulder.

PS; Welcome to the board, glad you are posting.

That is definitely a buck to be proud of - he has very good mass and tine length. I'm not too surprised the bullet didn't exit if it hit the spine. That bunch of bones can soak up more lead than any of the rest based on my experience.

Congratulations on that big buck! Wow, now that's a "wall-hanger" rack. And to think a nice size buck where I hunt generally only tops out at about 150lbs. My biggest buck is still with the rifle but I'm looking to change that someday. :Congratulations again!

Way to go Man!!! That's a fine deer. Congrats!!

Son-of-a-gun LarryL, what a whopper. It's just like the ones you see on TV! I've never seen anything like that in the woods, much less killed one. Were you nervous toting that handgun? Just for a moment, I know you wished you'd brought that rifle. I killed my first hadgun deer earlier this year, and the first thought in my mind was "Where's my rifle?" I'm sure that I'll soon outgrow that rifle handicap though.

Keep hunting with the short guns and good luck.

Congrats Larry!

Nice buck. Hopefully there's plenty more to come.

Rugernut

That's one fine whitetail!!! Man, I know you are excited. Heck.....I'm excited for ya!! Love to see the photos and hear them stories. Wish you more luck for the rest of your season. Keep us informed.

Nice Buck! Congratulations!!!

LarryL, that's it, your banned from this site due to excessive bragging.... ha ha.

Sweet deer!! I'm jealous, I've yet to get a White Tail with a handgun! Nice going!!!

Very nice!

I was surprised that the bullet did not exit, and that the core separated from the jacket. However, it did plow through the shoulder blade and the spine, and that's a lot of bone on a big deer like this. I guess I can't complain. The deer took one step and dropped. He thrashed a bit, but was not going anywhere. Another time, I'll thow my little .32 in my pocket with solids in it. My finish off shot to the neck with the big .480 bullet messed up the neck roast a bit. A little .32 FMJ would have worked just fine without all the mess.