by Larry “Mr.Whitetail” Weishuhn
I grew up watching western movies. The statement “My heroes have always been cowboys!” has long run true with me. I was enthralled with the “six-shooters” packed by my early silver-screen western heroes. They created within me a desire to learn about handguns and hunt with them. About that same time, I started reading stories by Al Goerg who built his own single-shot handguns and Hal Swiggett who hunted with revolvers and single-shots.
Growing up, while in grade and middle school I occasionally got to shoot my uncle’s handguns. Truly special times. I finally seriously started hunting with a handgun after I graduated from high school with a couple of Harrington & Richardson .22 revolvers which belonged to my father-in-law, E.V. “Ed” Potter, who spent most of his adult life in law enforcement. My wife, Mary Anne and I got married a year out of high school. With those revolvers, I primarily hunted rabbits, squirrels and snakes. When deer season arrived I borrowed my father-in-law’s .45 ACP, a Remington Model 1911. Shortly thereafter I was introduced to Ruger Super Blackhawk single-action and Smith & Wesson’s double-action revolvers. When not attending classes at Texas A&M University, I often served as a special deputy to the Chief of Police in Columbus, Texas. This before law enforcement personnel were required to be certified.
During that time, I hunted briefly with .357 Rem Mag revolvers, a Ruger Blackhawk or a Smith & Wesson Model 29. Then I was introduced to Thompson/Center’s Contender single-shot handguns.
Fast forward several years, having left the employment of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department as a wildlife biologist, I went on staff with SHOOTING TIMES magazine and the then HANDGUNNING magazine as the hunting editor. During those years I hunted with a wide variety of revolvers, single-shots, and bolt action handguns. I left that staff position to take over the PR/Media for Thompson/Center Arms. I was there for several years. When the company sold, I moved on to serving as a Brand Ambassador for Ruger, where I joined Kelly (Glenn) Kimbrough. I worked with Ruger for numerous years.
Throughout all those years I was doing considerable writing, hosting and co-hosting many different outdoor television shows. What all this meant, or means is I spent a lot of time shooting and hunting with handguns.
Now many years later, I still enjoy doing so, plus introducing others into handgun hunting. These days I frequently hear, “Because of you, I bought a handgun and started hunting with it.” Such statements truly make me proud!
Before going any farther, I personally think hunting handguns are single and double action revolvers, single-shots and bolt-actions. I view semi-autos primarily to be used as personal protection. There are those who will disagree with me, and that’s OK with me.
I have three favorite handguns starting with my T/C Encore chambered in .30-06 which was one of the first to come off of their assembly line after I introduced the handgun on the cover and a story in SHOOTING TIMES many years ago; the second is my single-action Ruger Super Blackhawk Hunter in .44 Mag; my third is the once I am shooting currently Taurus’ double-action .454 Casull Raging Hunter. All three are superbly accurate! I have used all three to take a lot of different game.
The difference between single-action and double-action revolvers is with a single-action one has to cock the hammer before being able to pull the trigger. With a double-action one can either pull the trigger which cocks the hammer and then shoots or once can cock the hammer and then shoot.
When it comes to hunting rounds, I tend to believe those start with the .44 Magnum. There are some who hunt with a .357 Mag and it certainly is capable of killing a deer, but I view it as an expert’s caliber/round. Should you decide to hunt with one, spend much time to become extremely accurate with it, know a deer’s anatomy, and essentially know the gun and round’s capabilities and yours with it. That latter statement is true for not only the .357 Mag but any other round and firearm.
I have recently been shooting both a .454 Casull Taurus Raging Hunter, as well as the .460 S&W Mag. The beauty of both is with the .454 Casull I can shoot .45 Colt ammo in the same chamber (often referred to as the .45 Long Colt). The .45 Colt is a much “milder” round referring to recoil and “loudness”. With the .460 S&W Mag I can also shoot .454 Casull as well as .45 Colt in the same chamber as well, making that particular handgun extremely versatile.
Frankly there is nothing on Earth that cannot be dispatched with either the .454 Casull or .460 S&W round with proper shot placement and ammunition. I too have taken deer with a .45 Colt, but realize most ammo for the .45 Colt is loaded way down just in case those rounds are shot through the older black powder guns.
There are three ways, when it comes to aiming, to shoot handguns. One is with factory equipped open or iron-sights, using a red dot sight, or if possible mounting a long-eye-relief scope. I have shot and hunted with handguns employing all three sight systems. Unfortunately, my eyes are not the best when it comes to shooting open-sights. Thus, years ago I gravitated to long-eye-relief variable scopes. I have used numerous brands but keep coming back to those built by Simmons and Thompson/Center before the turn of the last century. These are still the best to be found. A good place to find these scopes is at gun shows and possibly pawn shops or internet sites.
The third option is a red dot sight which are described in terms of MOA, meaning “minute of angle” i.e., one-minute of angle covers one-inch at one-hundred yards. Thus, a 3-MOA red dot sight, the dot covers 3-inches at 100-yards. The beauty of most red dot sights, particularly the Stealth Vision (www.stealthvision.com) 3-MOA, is that I can control the intensity of the dot. In poor light conditions I turn it way down. In bright light conditions I increase the intensity. Another advantage to the red dots sight is fast target acquisition.
The choice of which to use is totally up to you, the shooter. My .44 Mag Raging Hunter (www.taurususa.com) currently wears a 3 MOA Stealth Vision red dot sight, whereas my .454 Casull Raging Hunter wears a 2.5-7×28 Thompson/Center long-eye-relief scope. Because I know my limitation with either, I restrict shooting at animals to 75-yards with my .44 Mag, and 125-yards with my .454 Casull.
Taurus Raging Hunters, the handguns I hunt with, have an integral picatinny rail which makes mounting either long-eye-relief scopes or red dot sights quick and easy. They also have an integral muzzle brake which greatly reduces the felt recoil.
One of the other things I really like about both my Taurus .44 Mag and .454 Casull is their superb accuracy, shooting extremely tight groups at 75 and 100-yards, less than 2 ½-inch, 6 and 5 shots groups respectively. The .44 Mag cylinder holds 6-shots and the .454 Casull holds 5-shots.
I learned a long time ago that with a handgun, just as with a rifle, the bullet goes where the barrel is pointed when the trigger is pulled. I also learned I shoot much more accurately from a good rest than I do shooting free-hand or off-hand. When hunting I always have a rest handy, be it a natural rest, or set of bi-pod or tri-pod shooting sticks.
Another very important thing to remember is NEVER allow your hand or fingers to be forward to the trigger. With the larger caliber handgun rounds there is considerable “blow out” where cylinder meets the barrel when gunpowder ignites, which can badly burn or even remove digits from your hand!
In addressing ammo to use when hunting with handguns, and specifically the .44 Mag and/or .454 Casull, I will tell you my Taurus handguns and most every other brand handgun I have ever shot in those two rounds, shoot Hornady more accurately than any other ammo on the market. Both the revolvers mentioned prefer Hornady Custom 240-grain XTP and I love the terminal performance. I’ve also had good success with Hornady Handgun Hunter loads with the FTX bullets. However, my Taurus revolvers shoot the XTP bullets a bit more accurately.
Hunting with a handgun really is not that different from hunting with a firearm or for that matter a bow or crossbow. Somewhat like “sticks and strings,” handguns have a limited range. Most always, shots should be limited to 100-yards or less, depending upon the shooter’s capabilities. That said, I like shooting steel at long range with both my .44 Mag and .454 Casull Taurus Raging Hunters. On the Becker Bottom Ranch in northeast Texas we have a 500-yard steel “gong”. I have hit that target numerous times over the past couple of years with my handguns. However, I would never consider shooting at an animal anywhere near that far away.
Handguns can add a perceived challenge to hunting, be it for whitetail deer or wild hogs! I have never been big on bowhunting. However, I have long been big on handgun hunting. I love the aroma of freshly burned gunpowder, especially when it’s helped me take a deer, wild hog, or for that matter anything with four feet with hair, horns, antlers, claws and/or sharp teeth.
If you have not yet tried hunting with a handgun, it’s high time you did. You’ll later thank me for suggesting it to you!
