Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting A Blacktail And a 4in. 629.

Our 4 day "Late Buck" hunt started at 6:50 this mornin'. I had scouted several areas these last few days and found only a spike and a doe........in 3 days of scouting! Blacktails in these parts are more than a bit shy and the forests more thick and dark than not.

I headed to the snowline and reached it about 7:00 am. I decided to only carry my 629 'cuz the furthest I could see in any direction was a bit less than 100 yards......and not in many places. I've always wanted to take a buck or bull with this handgun and spent a great deal of time on load development. I use Beartooth 300gr. WFNHCGC'd bullets ahead of some H110.........1,200+ fps. It is a very accurate load.

Having left my 25-06 in the truck, I felt much lighter , but a bit out of place without any long gun. That quickly ended when I spotted a deer at a lasered 65 yards starin' at me, facin' me dead on. It was a few minutes before 8am and just enough light was breakin' through the trees, just enough to throw a bit of light to the forest floor. I quickly employed my Geovids, determined that it was in fact a 2X2 as he had now turned broadside to me, ranged it at 65 yards and assumed the steadiest off hand I could muster in such a short period of time.

The buck didn't bolt, but rather he was trying the "you don't see me" tactic......unfortunately for him. He gingerly stepped behind several trees and could have very easily taken off directly away and I never would have had a shot, nor likely seen any part of him. But he moved from right to left and i had already hoped he would do that as I had already trained my sights on a small opening between a large stump and a larger tree. He walked right into my chosen shooting lane and I squeezed off a shot, with his mid shoulder being my intended target. He slightly rear up at the shot and came down on his face and front knees. This was all quite a vivid picture as there was about 3-4 inches of fresh snow on the ground and this scene was taking place as if it was in HD. He went through a few moments of the typical death throes and then expired as I was about to apply a mercy shot.

The bullet had entered his left shoulder and exited his right shoulder in almost exactly the same place, albeit, vice versa. The exit wound was identical to the entrance wound, as was to be expected. The hardness of these bullets is somewhere around 21........about as hard as they come (I use this one load due to our high populations of bear). When guttin' him out, I was taken by the fact that my last 3 bulls wound channels and results were almost exactly like that of these 300gr. HC bullets. Those 3 bulls were all taken with a 300WSM and 180gr. TSX's. No blood lost meat, wound channels reflecting little, if any, deflections, no bullets recovered and very dead animals.........

As always (the last 6 years anyway), either my son's or my first deer of the year goes to a disabled neighbor of ours. He enjoys venison so much, but cannot go afield. Makes the hunt and any successes that we may have, all that much more fun.

No pics, sorry. I was alone on this hunt. My son has been waaaay too busy as of late, primarily due to the high winds we've been having these last several days. Some landscaping work has been compromised by this pretty severe weather and he needed to deal with those issues. Priorities......a good thing. He will be working all weekend as well, so it looks like this is the end of the big game season for us. I've no regrets as to the quality of our hunts or our time together, but nonetheless, I hate to say goodbye to another season.

Thanks for lettin' me share and I hope that all yours hunts were just as memorable.

Nicely done! I've taken some game with my old 44 and it's always been very satisfying.

Dober

magnumb;
What a very cool story. Thanks so much for sharing it with us.

As a Canuck, you can only guess how much I�d give to hunt legally with a revolver. That is just too cool.

I�ll send along a tip of the hat for sharing your deer with your disabled neighbor as well. Very classy thing to do, but then I�d expect that of you. Well done sir!

Thanks again and congratulations on the revolver shot buck.
Dwayne

Thanks Dober, I could see this becoming a bit of a passion.......

If nothing else, it was surely a major departure from the much more comfortable cheek weld of a rifle. I'm pretty confident in my use of handguns and wouldn't attempt that which I have little or no confidence, but having said that, I must admit there was a bit of a "whew" when I could see that I'd hit him hard.

I can see why "it's always a bit satisfying".......big time.

Dwayne......I hate to say it, but it was a blast.....pun intended......

There have been years where, after taking my buck or bull with a rifle, I thought, "why didn't I try to get closer and take him with my .44"......? Now, I wish a had, very much so.

Kind of fun to intentionally limit yourself like that. Makes such experiences more interesting, if not an outright challenge.

I wish and hope that someday you also will have the same opportunities, Dwayne. Whether or not success accompanies such rights/priveleges, it's the being able to make that choice of one's weapon for that day which truly is the icing on the cake.

My best to you and yours........

Great story. Congrat's on your success which in my book is measured more in the time afield than the size of the critter. I never took a deer with my 629 but took 3 nice russian boar's with it. Thank's for sharing you story..

Are you insulting magnumb?
He started the hunt at 6:50 and shot the deer at 8:00. How much is his 70 minutes worth, if success is measured in time?

Good for you, magnumb. It's always extra fun to take them with the short stuff.

Congratulations, Man!
Sounds like you had a good time, and earned a trophy. Good on you for looking out for a neighbor.

Congrats, handgun hunting is a thrill....once you let go of the insecurities of feeling you need a rifle, and get closer to the game you realize it's not too difficult...if you have practiced.

Great job.

Good story, and thank you for extending my season!

jim

How bout some pics for those of us who are jeallous, but happy for you. Nice job.

Joseph

Thanks for all the kind comments. It was a very fun hunt and finally an opportunity to do what I've always wanted to do.

Sorry about the lack of pics, but as I said in my intial post, I was alone and when alone, I generally don't take pics. I get pretty focused on taking care of the animal and then gettin' it out of the hills. I also like pics with the shooter/hunter in them so we have a face with a "name"....not that it's necessary or in some substantial way better, just the way I like to do it.

The story and pics I posted with my son and I with our bull a few weeks ago is an example. Just helps to put all the pieces together.....for me anyway.

Again, sorry for no pics, but the being alone situation, at least for me, doesn't lend itself to pics quite as well or easily.

Thanks again for your comments.............

In the FWIW dept. - I received a couple PM's from 2 concerned members about the "gifting" part of my thread. They both were rightly concerned given the fact that I wasn't very clear in my description of how the deer was or has been gifted these last 6 or so years. I didn't feel it necessary to go into the "who owned or bought the tag" stuff. In hindsight, I probably should have. My bad.......

The deer I or my son gifts to this gentleman is on OUR tags, purchased by us, with no financial considerations nor named connections whatsoever, to our friend. My less than clear explanation obviously led others perhaps to believe that I was huntin' on our disabled friends tag......this wasn't and has never been the case.

But as was pointed out to me, when gifting as such, the gift giver needs to write a short note to the gifting effect and include all pertinent hunting info (tag #, date of kill and whatever else might ward off suspicion). Other states might have completely different regulations, but WA state does have these in place......FWIW.

Thanks to both of the concerned and thoughtful members as I was unaware of the "note" part.

Thanks again.

Way to go on several levels, Magnumb!

That had to be cool. I've only killed a few deer with iron sights on a rifle, but I'll never forget any of them; the visuals are amazing. With a handgun it must be doubly so.

Thanks for the story, and congrats!

-jeff

I never tire of handgun hunting stories.

Very nice.

Excellent!


I am going to try for one with my 629 Mountain Gun this season.

Thanks Jeff.......I wouldn't have known what I was missin' had I not drug myself away from my rig while hesitantly leavin' my trusty 'ole 25-06 inside....... Also, had that buck not been in the right place and the right time, I would have completely missed out on this opportunity. Sometimes, somethings just come together, whether more luck than not. As they say about luck.......I'm all for it........

My first buck and bull were with an Argentine Mauser, open sights (Williams) as well. Heck, back in those days, scopes weren't all the rage they are today.

But neither are my eyes.......laughin'.....sort of.

Well, I'll do my part in trying to keep your attention, if and when I ever get the chance again......

It was fun for me, but to many here, I'm sure it's old hat.

A new experience.....always a good thing.

Best of luck in doing so. I established my limit at 75 yards with this particular handgun, so I felt quite comfortable at 65 yards.

Most deer, taken with rifle (I'm told by many of the gun rags), are taken at 70 yards or less. Makes sense and I've taken a bundle at that range and closer.

I'm sure that you and your Mountain Gun will make short work of any deer, given the opportunity.

Best of luck Bc74 and let us know how it goes, even if it doesn't. There's always a story to be told......

Congratulations on the buck! A great write-up of the hunt too, thanks.

Not the same thing, but I was asked to finish a wounded mulie that had been spined this year by a rifle hunter. At about 20 yards I drew the 629 and put two factory loaded Federal AE 240 JHP's through the chest, ending things quickly. Bullets both exited, and apparently expanded well. I like this handgun stuff.

Perhaps one of these days I'll just hunt with the handgun. Stories like yours make me want to try it!