you guys with deer pic's posted with pistol.... what range did you take those successful shots? rested or off-hand shots? what caliber of course?

thanks,

 

i have no pics....but my deer were all between 30-40 yds. One was off rail of deer stand as rest...other was braced against a tree while stalking. Both were shoulder shots and deer made one hop and dropped on both accounts. One was with .44mag and other was .45.

 

In my first pic, the one with two deer, one was shot at about 15 yds, the other at about 45 yds. They were taken from a tree stand within 20 mins. from each other. The pistol is a Freedom Arms .454 Casull. It's funny, the deer at 15 yds. was close enough to hear the hammer click (but I guess not close enough to pinpoint where it came from).

In my second pic, that deer was also taken from a tree stand at ~ 35 yds. off-hand. The pistol is a Ruger Super Blackhawk Bisley Hunter (.44 mag).

For deer, I prefer a jacketed hollow-point or soft point over a hard cast bullet. I just don't think you need the kind of penetration casts will give you for deer. In my 454, I load 300 grain Speer Gold Dot HP's and in the .44 I shoot 240 grain Gold Dots.

 

I just breezed over the replies, and it all seems to be pretty good advice. I just can't believe I'm the ONLY one here that shoots a Taurus Raging Bull, chambered in .454. It's the blued version with an 8 3/8" bbl. With just about ANY ammo I'm comfortable out to 100 yards. For killin' a deer anyway, I'll never win a national match at Camp Perry mind you.

Now, I'll say this. In the 2 years I've been haulin' my 'bull to the woods to slay deer, I've yet to get one! I think it's the smell of the Bull that scares off the deer! Or at least that's the story I'm stickin' with!

Good luck!

ETA. I carry my 'Bull on a dropleg style holster. When hunting with buddies it's a Hoot for me to show up in the mornin' without a 4 foot long over-scoped rifle ready to head into the woods and then hear the new guys say, "Hey man, Don't forget your rifle!"

 

Yeah, I've gotten an elk with my 45-70 handgun, but haven't gotten a deer with a pistol. When I used to hunt deer, we generally went muzzle loader (54 cal).

A buddy of mine killed an elk cleanly with a 44 desert eagle, with some 300 grain xtp hornadys I'd loaded. For deer, though, I think I'd also opt for something in a jacketed 240 grain.

 

The Taurus Raging Bull is a fine weapon....lot of TRADITION and PRECONCEIVED thoughts in the pistol fraternity...more so in the SA crowd but can find in double action as well.

Best advice is to go with enough gun....go with enough gun that you can shoot accurately.....go with enough gun that you can shoot accurately and have fun while doing it.

 

Yeah..... my 1929-vintage Winchester 1894 in 30.30 for small stuff and my brush/saddle gun. My sported 1917 Enfield in 30.06 with that little 4x on top of the see-thru mounts and Williams wide-aperture open sights for anything bigger and further out than about 100 yards.

Much fun as a revolver or pistol is, I still don't have enough wrist and grip to shoot big bore handguns well..... and I HATE shooting badly! When it absolutely, positively must be nailed, give me my rifles any day.

 

get a contender you have a lot more caliber choices a 44 is nice nut dosent compare to a 30.30 0r 308 my dad and i both have custom contenders chaimbered in 309 jdj it shoots a 444 marlin rifle case necked down to .30 cal if you can hold its deadly at 300 yards and well at 50 you can just imagine

 

get a contender you have a lot more caliber choices a 44 is nice nut dosent compare to a 30.30 0r 308 my dad and i both have custom contenders chaimbered in 309 jdj it shoots a 444 marlin rifle case necked down to .30 cal if you can hold its deadly at 300 yards and well at 50 you can just imagine

 

get a contender you have a lot more caliber choices a 44 is nice nut dosent compare to a 30.30 0r 308 my dad and i both have custom contenders chaimbered in 309 jdj it shoots a 444 marlin rifle case necked down to .30 cal if you can hold its deadly at 300 yards and well at 50 you can just imagine

 

alright here it is. i've already got hogue grips and have lightened the trigger pull, and i haven't even shot it yet!

 

oh, wait, i forgot the picture.

 

Nice. After you shoot it, let me know how you like those grips.

 

i like those grips much better than the factory grips, factory grips felt too small and seemed to make the gun harder to hold steady. this is a great shooting gun, though. recoil feels like a mild .357, maybe even a .45, I shot 100 rounds of .44 and would have shot a 100 more if i had brought that many.

 

Looks good!!!! I have those same grips on my 5 1/2 super blackhawk. Best thing I ever did.

Went from being miserable with stiff 240 grain loads and stock grips to shooting 300 grain loads no sweat.

The grips make that much of a difference.