This is a great thread and discussion.
I am a novice handgunner...lots of training with semi-autos and defensive classes and pretty decent in that realm.
Learning the ropes with six-guns and shooting at distances that seem way out there for handguns. That said, I have not killed any big game with a handgun, just a handful of grouse and ground squirrels with a .22. Forums like this, the Single Action forums and the Alaska Outdoors forums are a treasure. It is like going to graduate school to learn to shoot and shoot well.

I have arguably put more lead downrange in the last couple of years because I want to learn to be a great handgun shooter, and someday hunter.

With regards to record books and record keeping. I have a great black bear taken way back in the North Cascades with my best hunting partner. 10 miles, off trail, every scrap meat and the hide/head/paws came out on our backs in one trip. I have a great mountain lion I took in N Idaho with a guide with great hounds. Both are high in the books, but not entered. My wife and I have a dozen plains game critters from S Africa, all "make book" and the paperwork is in a folder, none are entered. That said, I do believe the SCI record book in particular serves a couple of valuable functions. 1) It is one of the most, if not the most complete record of game, habitat and changing populations over time that we have. 2) If a hunter does decide to enter an animal, the fees charged go back into the foundation side of SCI to continue to fund the conservation, education and humanitarian missions of SCI at home and abroad.

Finally, as evidenced in this very thread, it is so very easy for us to decide "our way of hunting" is best and that those who go off in a different direction somehow don't fit our idea of what a hunter is. If we are going to save our hunting heritage and be able to enjoy it ourselves and pass the heritage on, we'd best all get on the same page. Those who want to end hunting are very good at creating divides. So whether we hunt at home, out west, internationally; with handguns, rifles, muzzleloaders, archery tackle; we are all hunters. We all treasure the land and the game. We love our chosen tools and the time it takes to master them.

So, hats off to the hunters. Fall is here and it's time to go outdoors and pursue our passion. Enjoy the fall and embrace all who hear the call to hunt.

Randy
Life Member: SCI, NRA
Past President SCI-Central Washington Chapter