Has anyone went from hunting with long guns to hunting with handguns? I bagged a deer last season with a 629 for the first time.Since then Ive been putting together a Encore pistol for the next season. Ive got it together , havent had any range time with it yet but she's ready. Now Im thinking of getting another handgun for deer hunting too. To me handgun hunting is more on the lines of bow hunting , its more of a challenge which to me adds to the sport of hunting. Im just curious if anyone else has went from long gun to handgun hunting and why?

WELCOME to the world of handgun hunting.

I went to handguns about thirty some years ago for the greater challenge. Started on rock chucks and prairie dogs, then antelope then deer and in 1987 I killed my first bull elk with a handgun. That said, I still own several good rifles. And when the chips are stacked against me: as in hunting hides for money, I go to one of my coyote rifles, usually in 22-250 or sometimes a .223. Indeed, once I called in and killed three prime coyotes with my Remington 788 22-250 that later sold for $60 each, so I claim that I made "$180 IN ABOUT 30 SECONDS!" I do not believe I could have done that with a SS Pistol. I am not saying that I haven't killed a bunch of coyotes with handguns (heck, I did get a double on 'yotes with my Contender .223 one fine day) just that at heart I am a HUNTER and I will hunt with whatever weapon I can, especially if it will increase my days afield, HUNTING.

Last year I killed a Pope and Young bull elk with my old Oneida bow. I also hunted deer with my handguns (didn't score) and killed several coyotes with rifles.

I have killed antelope, deer and elk with scoped rifles, scoped single shot pistols, iron sighted revolvers, and scoped revolvers.


I DON'T DISCRIMINATE! I HAVE THE HEART OF A HUNTER!

Hunt with what you love, as long as you love hunting!

I went to hand guns for the challenge also. Hunted with rifles all my life. Im down to two long guns and still aquiring pistols. all of mine are single shot really makes you think before pulling trigger. just like a bow. Good luck with your change over better hide you visa card though. When you start shooting longer ranges and hitting its PERFECT is the only feeling I can think of that would fit.

Im with Gregg on this one. I put in for a bull tag this year and if I draw it I can say with certainty that I will have a very hard time deciding what to take. I love shooting my contender. And with my handloads I can shoot it better at a 100 yards than I have ever done with a rifle. But when it comes to a hunting situation such as elk ( which are my passion for hunting and also my nemisess) a rifle may give me that extra comfort level. Now I dont kill trophy class but have never not filled my deer tag with both bows and rifles so I will definately be chasing them with the pistol. And if I get a few deer and hogs with the pistol then I may have the confidence I need to chase the tuffer stuff. I will add that I have never hunted elk with anything but a bow and have only hunted with a rifle for deer for the last three years. I have taken a few deer with the bow whenever I had a tag. I am just at the point that I dont care the size, I just want to put an elk down.

I would venture to say that most of us started hunting with rifles and now don't remember even how to hold one -- LOL! For a long time I did both, but nowadays, unless I really have to, I don't use a long gun any more. What's the challenge in shooting a deer with a scoped rifle from a stand under 100 yards?

I dont say much here because IM NOT a purist of any kind and feel a bit "out of my ilk" so to speak.

WAS a traditional bowhunter purist but hunted with long guns of black powder here in IN to get more hunting in. Tags are not good for more than one weapon to a point.

I had a short session with short guns for a few years during firearm season when I was tagged out with bow tags. Took some nice deer with a M29, a Python and several with Contenders years back.

NOW I went to specialty handguns to GET the range I want to be able to hunt away from other hunters whom are in the thicker covers that are so heavily hunted and out into areas where I can see considerably further......without a herd of orange hats around me. That is NOT something I can do with a rifle here due to caliber limitations in such which pretty much keep ranges under 150 yards, again, IMO.

That said, the CHALLENGE of longer range hunting with a pistol has me pretty excited and has me back into reloading again. Something I gave up when the varmint hunting lost its appeal, at least as much appeal for me.

Still have varmint rifles off and on but they never seem to get shot much. lol

Regardless if a shorter range wheel gun shooter or longer range specialty pistol shooter, each has different challenges and those challenges are what draw us to them.

Neither is better nor worse......IMO. No such beast and no point comparing so I like both but am more excited about the MOA on order than anything Ive had coming or bought in decades.

STILL love my oh so close traditional bowhunting but.......this is gonna be FUN!

Its just nice to have all these choices,heck I'm a big sring piston air rifle advocate along with all my pistols and a few rifles!

Sorry guys I can't spell,that should of been "spring" piston air rifle advocate.

I grew up with rifles. Used rifles exclusively until the early 90s. Following my first handgun hunt, I have not hunted with a rifle since. Still have several rifles, occasionally use one on a varmit, but hunt only with handguns.

Like SKR I have spent most of my hunting hours in the last 15yrs with a long bow in my hand. Probably 75%. Of the remaining 25% probably 23% was handgun.
My shoulders are giving me trouble now days so starting this year I think the bow is going to stay in the closet, & if it weren't for ONE little problem, I would be hunting 100% with my 480 SRH.



Here's my problem...


That little problem is my Marlin Guide Gun in 450 Marlin. It has a DRC lever & trigger, XS ghost ring peep sights, XS scout mount, & Burris 2.75x scout scope. I LOVE that little gun! It's the only long gun I enjoy shooting or have any emotional attachment to. She needs, no DESERVES some bloody field time!

[quote=SKR]
"... hunted with long guns of black powder here in IN to get more hunting in..."

Precisely! In years where I don't draw my tag for a firearms season where I can use my handguns, I have been known to opt for a left-over muzzle-loader tag. At least that way I get to hunt. This has paid off for me several times.



Again, I do not discriminate. I love my handguns but also I love to HUNT. If you love to hunt, don't mind the critics as long as you are legal and ethical. You have heard this:
"A bad day of hunting is better than a good day at work."

Sure, handgun hunting is my favorite way to hunt with firearms, but I am not going to pass up a chance to hunt just because I may have to use a different weapon. It is sure nice to live in America and have choices.

What to use has always been a hard decision for me. I shoot long guns every month at ranges out to 1000 yards in F Class and Sniper Matches. I like shooting rifles. I have a nice traditional .54 muzzleloader I like to shoot and hunt with. I mostly shoot it at rendezvous I attend. I have had Contenders for around 20 years, and I like shooting and hunting with them. I have a couple nice custom recurve bows I like to shoot and hunt with. And recently I have added a couple Super Redhawks to my inventory.
I am now retired so I have more time at my disposal or at least I should have more time to shoot and hunt.
The problem is so few tags, and limited freezer space.
The main goal of handgun hunting is adding to the challenge of the hunt.
THE CHALLENGE O METER
(Least Challenge to Most Difficult)

Scoped High Power Rifle
Muzzle Loader (Scoped Modern Wonder)
Open sight centerfire rifle
Muzzle Loader Traditional
Single Shot Pistol Scoped
Revolver Scoped or Red Dot
Revolver open sight
Compound Bow
Traditional Bow
Spear

Some of the above catagories are almost too close to call. Say modern scoped muzzleloader and a high power rifle with open sights, or open sighted revolver and a compound bow.

We have hi teched archery to the point that very few hunt small game with a bow anymore with arrows at $12 each and made of graphite. Gone for most are the days when you would shoot a rabbit with a wood shaft with a Judo Point, or shoot at a squirrel with a Flu Flu, or stump shooting with a blunt.

Then we have the modern muzzleloader. It is about as traditional or primitive as a bolt action rifle. We have almost 100% ignition with primers, pellets for powder, sabbeted bullets, and scopes. It would be more of a challenge to kill a deer with my open sight 303 Savage 1899 leveraction rifle than a modern muzzleloader.

In the end it is all about personal challenge, and the quality of the experiance you had.

I have a pretty good old buck I killed with my 30-06 Browning a few years ago mounted on the wall in the dining room. No real big deal to me. Now if I had been hunting with my 480 Ruger and downed him at 50 yards, that would have been a much better experiance. If I had taken him with my Dale Dye Trails End Recurve with a wooden arrow I built myself using a 3 blade Rothhair Snuffer I had sharpened that would have been even better. It is all about the experiance, and the personal satisfaction of the hunt.
This is why most of us have gravitated to the handgun to hunt with.

Yes, I used rifles and shotguns when I was younger and could not use a handgun. When I was able to own a handgun I got my first revolver and took 2 deer in the fall. I was hooked!! That feeling of taking game with a tool that needs more mastery than a rifle was great. Over time I traded all my rifles for handguns and have never looked back. If the trophy of a lifetime stepped out of the brush and I took it with a rifle I would feel slighted in a way. Now if a trophy of a lifetime stepped out and I missed it with a handgun I would not feel bad at all. I hunted with my weapon of choice under my terms. But if I connect and put meat in the freezer and a trophy on the wall I would feel totally satisfied!!!

But that's just me and that don't make it right.

Tig and Bob make good points that I agree with.

If it comes to TROPHY, Id much rather take one with my 67 Super Kodiak, next choice would be a handgun, but would still take it with a long gun (but doubt Ill be hunting with one soon).

HOW one is taken DOES effect the personal satisfaction, at least to me and most I know here.

This is contrary to the ever growing, unstopable "horn porn" people that have one goal. Shoot the biggest best one they can the fastest and easiest way possible.

NOT quoting this for a confrontation. Gave up on those long ago, but tis a "sore spot" to me in the hunting world that to SOME, "success" is measured in inches of antlers alone.

NOTHING wrong with hunting for that trophy animal. Most of us do but we also have some personal limitations that simply provides us with more precious memories of hunts, quite often which include NO antlers, yet remain in our minds and memories as truely great times!!

Ive NO doubt Ill have "better luck" at a really good one with my incoming MOA, should I do my part. It's MAIN purpose is to fill the freezers in my home and my two son's homes.

Probably am creating a less favorable rep here by saying so but, while I would take GREAT pride in a real wallhanger with my MOA, it will take second place to the same taken at 12 yards from a ground blind with my aging recurve.

Like so many things, time simply asks one to stop and wonder just how many seasons one will have. This is being made CRYSTAL clear with cancer in a family member that makes one sit back and say;

"Hey, old timer, what do you have left and what do you wish to do about those precious few seasons?" I simply needed to step things up, expand things and do it in a way I could get away from the "crowds" and have the time of my life out doing what I love to do. HUNT.

While I HAVE enjoyed hunting with a pistol before, this year's "switch" to concentrating on hunting with one in firearm season is a change from my "normal" super hard hunting during early archery.

I agree with the bulk here. It's about "the hunt" more than anything and expanding our horizons to enable more time afield are first and foremost, and without sounding like a "game hog" Ive found that once again, like I was as a young man, "filling my tags" has regained ground in priority, even if the reason's have changed.

The two weeks of firearm season will have few days Im not out hunting the bulk of the day. Nine deer eating mouths in a family of one (me) deer hunter /deer butcherer dictates ye old "if it's brown it's down" attitude be reinstated to a point.

Always thought it would have been "neat" to live in a time where you needed to hunt to eat. DAng............almost there here lately LOL.

End of story is I am REALLY looking forward to future years hunting with this MOA but my recurve will be in use out of pure love of it all.


SORRY IF I HIJACKED THINGS..........in a mood lately with family issues and facing my own mortality.

God Bless.

No worries brother. We all need a dose of mortality now and then. Keeps us focused on the true prize.

I'm making the transition. For years I carried my SBH 44mag as backup here in Alaska while rifle hunting with the thought/hopes of getting a shot at a moose with it. Tonight I'm headed out to hunt blackbear and the rifle will stay at home. I'm using the 45 Colt SBH Bisley Hunter with a 2x scope and packing the 4" Redhawk as backup. Much easier to see a target with a scope with my eyes. I'll do the same moose hunting this september. But, my favorite hunting is Dall Sheep hunting which, for me is a 10 day trek into the Alaska wilderness anywhere from 5-20 miles one way and then head up. It's a lot of work just getting in to sheep country and finding a full curl ram and getting within rife range. Let alone getting within 45 Colt handgun range. I'll probably pack my Kimber 325wsm for sheep hunting. The closest I've ever been to a legal ram was 165 yds. I shot one at a little over 400 with no way to get closer. But, I definitely am considering it. If I can get good out to 100yds I just might go for it this year. I've got a 265gr LFN mould that casts some nice boolits that should fly pretty good with a healthy charge of H110. I found a mineral lick last year and I think I could just sit and hunt over it for 5 or 6 days and maybe get a shot at one. Or spot and stalk wearing whites.

Perfect! I totally agree, it is in the field hunting that we want to experience and love the most, and kill, no kill, or trophy kill, it is what makes our fires hot.

VERY NICE Bulls for "second choice," Gregg. Having read a lot of your stuff, I know that these were not "gimmees" and that ypou worked hard for them. Trophy or not. That is what it si all about! Keep it up, bro.

I'll shoot just about anything with anything. I got into handguns because I'm a cowboy at heart which is why I'm partial to singl actions and they are so much easier to carry. I love the t/c's and X frames I had but they are getting to close to the weight of a rifle. I enjoy hunting with them but really not much more than with my rifles. I enjoy shooting anything but especially any well built weapon. My Henry 22 rifle is one of my favorites because it has the smoothest action I've ever felt but I love my big bolt guns and I sorely miss my Ruger #1 in 458 Lott but the neck and shoulder dictated I get rid of it. I probably love lever guns over anything except my single actions but I wouldn't and haven't hesitated a bit to take one hunting if the conditions dictate. I have some nice bolt guns and will be aquiring another nice one shortly that I look forward to drawing blood with. If it were all about the challenge to me I'd go back to shooting my recurve which I still enjoy but for me it is purely the practical nature of easy packing and the aesthetic value of a fine looking single action. If the world came to an end and I had to run the two guns that would go with me would be my 454 with 45 colt ammo and my 8 shot 45-70 and round ball molds because in a pinch either can be loaded with black powder and round balls seated by hand.

Good call. For me at this point it would be the 454/45 Colt levergun and one or two of my 45 colt wheel guns, SBH or RH....The levergun, the original assault weapon

I would list it this way:

Scoped High Power Rifle
Muzzle Loader (Scoped Modern Wonder)
Open sight centerfire rifle
Single Shot Pistol Scoped
Revolver Scoped or Red Dot
Muzzle Loader Traditional
Revolver open sight
Compound Bow
Traditional Bow
Spear


Great elk!

It is all about the challenge and the satisfaction of the hunt.

My most memorable hunt. I was bowhunting and had a big buck come in from behind me. I heard him step on a limb. I looked and spotted him about 50 yards out walking straight to me. I decided to stay seated and let him get by before I moved. He walked under my tree, stopped and looked up right at me. He knew he had messed up, and I knew that I had messed up. I was trying to be quiet, and was almost hyperventilating. Every time I would breath his sides would trimble. After a short period of time he went slowly into reverse and backed up from the tree, and turned and slowly walked away. I stood up and was to weak to pull my bow back. I never shot an arrow on that hunt, however it is my best hunting memory to date.

Memory number 2. I was hunting with a buddy on government ground adjoining his dads place. They had a rule to stay where you were supposed to be until noon, unless you killed something. I went to a clear cut area I remembered, and found it more grown up than I had remembered it. I determined it to be a waste of my time, but I was committed to this spot. I sat on a stump waiting for my wasted morning to pass. I had been setting their about 15 minutes when a big buck walked by me from behind about 40 yards to my left. I let him get by a fair amount and stood up to see him. He was walking in an old rutted logging trail which made him even shorter in the brush. By the time I got the scope turned down, and got in a good off hand firing position sling supported, he was almost 100 yards off with only his head and neck showing. I fired striking him in the neck. Down he went. The old 30-06 made a cloud like a muzzleloader probably due to a combination of temperature and humidity. As I walked up on the buck he managed to get up and took off down hill at a dead run. I realized that with the cloud infront of the gun after firing I would only get one shot. I could not get on him going down hill. I told myself he would either slow down going up hill at the bottom, or follow the trail to the right. We swept around the corner to the right presenting me with a side shot. I was leading him a little and shot him perfect behind the front leg at 200 yards at a dead run. These 2 shots were my best to deer hunting shots ever and on the same deer.

It is all about the challenge and the satisfaction of the hunt.

My most memorable hunt. I was bowhunting and had a big buck come in from behind me. I heard him step on a limb. I looked and spotted him about 50 yards out walking straight to me. I decided to stay seated and let him get by before I moved. He walked under my tree, stopped and looked up right at me. He knew he had messed up, and I knew that I had messed up. I was trying to be quiet, and was almost hyperventilating. Every time I would breath his sides would trimble. After a short period of time he went slowly into reverse and backed up from the tree, and turned and slowly walked away. I stood up and was to weak to pull my bow back. I never shot an arrow on that hunt, however it is my best hunting memory to date.

Memory number 2. I was hunting with a buddy on government ground adjoining his dads place. They had a rule to stay where you were supposed to be until noon, unless you killed something. I went to a clear cut area I remembered, and found it more grown up than I had remembered it. I determined it to be a waste of my time, but I was committed to this spot. I sat on a stump waiting for my wasted morning to pass. I had been setting their about 15 minutes when a big buck walked by me from behind about 40 yards to my left. I let him get by a fair amount and stood up to see him. He was walking in an old rutted logging trail which made him even shorter in the brush. By the time I got the scope turned down, and got in a good off hand firing position sling supported, he was almost 100 yards off with only his head and neck showing. I fired striking him in the neck. Down he went. The old 30-06 made a cloud like a muzzleloader probably due to a combination of temperature and humidity. As I walked up on the buck he managed to get up and took off down hill at a dead run. I realized that with the cloud infront of the gun after firing I would only get one shot. I could not get on him going down hill. I told myself he would either slow down going up hill at the bottom, or follow the trail to the right. He swept around the corner to the right presenting me with a side shot. I was leading him a little and shot him perfect behind the front leg at 200 yards at a dead run. These 2 shots were my best two deer hunting shots ever and on the same deer.

Man you gotta love this site ! After reading all of the responses I realized I love the hunt not nessesarily meat in the freezer but the actual hunt it self. I think thats why I love using my bow instead of a gun. Im thinking on those cold days when your body doesnt want to function then a pistol would be in order. But it is nice to wake up and wonder whats going to the woods today.I just put together a Encore 243 pistol cause in the state of Indiana they dont allow you to hunt deer with a 243 rifle, now Im working on a 44 mag Contender. Something else to confuse a hunting trip,but you gotta love it.

Don't worry asquires, this group will help you choose which gun to take...just ask!

I hunt with a handgun because that's what is legal and that is what works the best for me. I don't thrash through the woods trying to keep up with a group of neophytes worrying more about "where we gonna meet up" than whether their "gun" is sighted in. For the past twenty years my shotgun hasn't left the house, I've bought new rifles(I like single shots) and I've bought new pistols, but when it comes around deer season, the 35 rem contender with the 4x redfield is my go-to-meat-cleaver. Charlies with the fireball and squirrels and rabbits with the Kimber- and paper and steel and rocks with whatever I'm shootin' today. Got enough gunpowder and lead to keep 'em all fed - but I've got 'em and that makes me the winner!-

A2, I think I`am in the minority here because I started out punching paper targets with handguns and was invited to go along on a deer hunt but I did not own any rifles or shotguns. My friend said there was no problem as we would be hunting in Pennsylvania and it was legal to hunt with a handgun. I finally used a rifle to take my 13th whitetail.Pretty easy compared to a revolver....

When I turned 18 years old I got my cousin to sign for a Ruger SBH stainless .44mag.. I started hunting deer and all sorts of vermin with it for several years before I purchased a center fire rifle. Then I sold the rifle after a year or so and started buying T/C's and XP's and other Ruger revolvers. That was 27 years and alot of handguns ago. I have used a few rifles on hunts in Canada and took all sorts of big game in Alaska including Dall sheep with longguns. I thought I would need the long range reach for hunting in AK, but the longest shot I took was at the sheep and it was a easy pistol shot @ 175yds. I've bow and muzzleloader hunted a good bit here in KY, but hunt mostly with my handguns. I will say, the few animals I've taken with long guns, has made me feel like I was cheating.

This past Whitetail season I took my 30th deer with the old Ruger SBH. It's still my favorite hunting partner.

Ive grown up around avid rifle hunters. Im the only hunter in my entire large family to handgun hunt as well as bow. I use a recurve bow during the bow season. During the general season it is a Contender 30-30 or SBH 44. The only rifle I own is my grandmothers old Winchester 88 in a .243 which is a keepsake. I just like to hunt the hard way. For me it is how I hunt, not what I kill. I have no problem not filling a tag.

As long as you enjoy the hunt, it does not matter what you use. It is all a personal preference.
I have been a bow hunter all my life and also a muzzle loader hunter but have swung to the revolver in gun season long ago. I have never been a trophy hunter and prefer good meat first of all.
I just love the revolver more, even a single shot does not make me feel I am using less then a rifle.
Just go hunting first with whatever you like.