Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Handgun muley

Got him this morning with my 4" gp100 with 180gr cast and wc820. First shot was at 75yds and I center punched his shoulder. I expected him to fold at the shot but he ran off with an obviously broken shoulder. I gave it a few minutes And took up the trail expecting to find him piled up a short distance later. To my surprise, when I created a ridge he was bedded in a draw about 50yds from the shot. He was still very much alive and bolted as soon As he saw me! I let him get out of sight and made a big loop to get out in front of the direction he was headed. Slowly working my way back up the creek where he had gone, I heard him bump again. I gave it a few minutes and inched forward. I finally spotted him bedded just off the creek bed and worked into position for the finisher. The shot was about 65 yds and I placed the bullet well behind the right shoulder to angle into the vitals. At the shot he reared up out of his bed and fell straight over backwards. That one had done the trick. On the skinning rack I found that my first shot had in fact center punched the shoulder, but thats where to good news ends! After penetrating the shoulder blade, the bullet turned almost straight down and went into the brisket without exiting. IT NEVER PENETRATED INTO THE CHEST CAVITY! certainly not what I expected and it was an utter disappointment. On the bright side, the finished shot went through a couple feet of deer in a straight line but it too did not exit. Both bullets we're recovered under the hide. I have killed a ton of game with my .357's in the past but I am loosing faith. I believe I will start carrying my gp100 44spl....

Not sure how I got the pics to attach last time?

Partner I went through that whole process 45 years ago. Of course this was in the days when the 357 was thought to be at its best with 125 grain bullets and I learned a hard lesson on a white-tail at about the same distance you shot yours. I went to 44 and 45 after that never look back. I'm not knocking the 357 but you can't argue with a bigger deeper hole.

Glad you got that muley. Kudos for hanging in there until it was finished.

Great job. A handgun deer is a darn good feat to accomplish.
Congrats.

far out

Very nice. I agree that a larger caliber would probably be better, I switched to mainly the .44 Special but have used a 45 Colt on a couple. With either caliber, bullets usually plow straight ahead.

I've never killed a deer with a handgun, but that's a dandy buck right there.....Good job!

I'm glad you stuck it out and tagged him - good job!
In the future, I would recommend that you take "bow hunting" shots. In my opinion, whacking shoulders just wastes meat.

I respect your opinion, however, I have bowhunted with selfbows for many years and shot placement is entirely dependent on the weapon! I believe in breaking down the shoulders with a gun since you get the running gear and the vitals....

Awesome

And a180 hardcast from a 357 ain’t gonna waste any meat wherever you hit them

Terrific hunt, and effort.

Congrats on the good shooting.

Looks like he likes to have his picture taken LOL.

Nice deer.

Congrats on your buck. Very nice, especially with the GP100.

Terminal ballistics are interesting. I would have thought those 180s would sail on through. Do you know what kind of velocity they were starting at?

I am surprised as well. 180's are a good bullet. Should have seriously penetrated. Have you shot others with this round or is this the first? How did the others perform?

Every Whitetail not Muley my FIL ever DRT'd with a .357 was a few spine shots just south of the head ( As much as I hate the SOB since I was 16 years old he can shoot). I always carry a .44 Mag 3" S&W sidearm myself . Nice buck and nice shooting.

Pretty buck, congratulations. Good job on the follow up!

I don't believe I have ever chronoed these but they are being pushed as hard as I can in the 4" barrel.

And I respectfully disagree.

Even when hunting with a rifle, bowhunting shots are the best - by far. They kill quickly and ruin less meat.
But back to handguns, you are using a low powered hole poker. Better by far to poke a hole through both lungs than to try to break down the running gear. If you had double-lunged him you would've found him bled out likely within 50yds and you could eat the shoulders.

I kill with my bow. I can kill farther with my rifle. I aim at the same spot. Both the bullet and the broadhead make a mess of the same vitals. Rifle shot critters drop faster than arrow hit ones, in my experience. But neither go very far.

I think breaking shoulders should be applied to bitey-scratchy game.

That's a beautiful buck Willicd, I'm wondering if the bullet was a roundnose or a flatpoint.

Roundnose solid bullets can sometimes turn after impact but I don't remember having a wide flat nose or long flat nose turn.

Congrats!

When I was on a five day elk hunt in the Colorado Rockies I had several of those stand and stare at me from within fifty yards, like they were posing for me. It was like they knew I didn't have any tags for them.

Same thing happened in Idaho when I only had Elk tags, but that time it was bull moose posing for me within easy range.