Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Wild Cat Taken with my S&W Hamilton Bowen Modified .327 Magnum Revolver

Hello Greg & MOGC
I did not take them as such. You did not attack me Nor Call me Ignorant, our responses were all in Good fun as I viewed it. I really wondered if the old grain scale may have been off, so that is why I followed up and showed mine on a REAL scale not in hand with my Bow-Wow standing by. The scale shown with my Cat on it is Dead Nuts OnI use it and compare it to my Doctor's digital scale all the time. I have no reason to Lie or Nothing to prove. I have never hunted them before and to me it was the shot of a lifetime with a revolver and I was just trying to share my Joy of taking such a Gorgeous animal, but there always has to be one, and winning and argument is meaning less to me. I have it headed to be mounted and will savor the remembrance of that hunt till I take my last breath of air no matter who tries to piss all over my Harvest...I would like to thank all that responded Kindly and to those that really know me here, Ya'll Know down deep what this meant to me taking it with one of my Favorite S&W's...Thegeneral.

Hey Steve
That was a Monster. His Winter coat makes him Look Huge and the Hunter was no Light weight him self. Thanks for sharing the Link...Thegeneral.

General, I've never killed one that weighed even as much as 40 pounds, nor have I killed one with a handgun, so you're up on me in those departments. Congrat's again...

Hello
I sent my Hunting story and Pictures to the Editor of American Handgunner magazine today. I got a response back from the editor Roy Huntington. He has agreed to try and get it in a future issue of the magazine. Here is a copy and paste version of his response to me. I hope this makes the .327 Magnum cartridge Famous and stimulates many sales of it for those of us that Love the 32's..





An interesting story, and congratulations are definitely in order. A nice shot, a nice revolver and a nice cat, indeed!
If I have room, I may be able to run a picture and a paragraph in my Insider column. I'll see, and let you know.
Thanks for reaching out and for the pics. I'll follow-up with you when I know if I have the room.
Adios,
Roy H.



Roy Huntington
Editor, American Handgunner Magazine
www.americanhandgunner.com


CHECK OUT OUR NEW ON-LINE DIGITAL EDITIONS
AT WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM!

Nice going General! I never felt much excitement over the .327 magnum cartridge, but after seeing that nice BCA conversion of yours...

I've got to say, you disappoint me. You're the last one I'd expect to carry a rifle into the deer woods.

Hello cra1948
Where I Hunt many of my shots for Deer would not be possible with a revolver. They are way too far and the Brush cover is Far to thick for most revolver Bullets to get to the deer. I had with me my Marlin in .35 Rem. Caliber, but never got off a shot. I will be returning this Friday to attempt to Hunt Deer there again, and hope the elimination of this Perdator will allow Deer to come back into the area again for the taking. If one get's close enough, I will try not to disapoint you, and will take it with my .327 Magnum, Now, That would be premium taking the Cat & a Buck with the New Federal .327 magnum all within the same season...Thegeneral.

Congrats on a great cat General. I hope to add one to my wall one day as well. I too like the .327, but being a single action fan, I would want it in a Ruger Blackhawk configuration.

Now, about deer hunting with the rifle. Ever think of getting a Thompson Center Encore in handgun configuration? This way you can continue to hunt with a handgun, just with rifle cartridges and velocities. I think you might enjoy it.

Hello Robster
I had one of the Thompson Super 14's when they first came out if memory serves me correctly Early to Mid 1980's time span. I Purchased it slightly used and it was in .35 REM Caliber. I equipped it with a 4-X Leupold scope and factory Mounts. I fired it about 10 Times sighting it in and all was well. I went into the woods on Opening morning if Deer season expecting to take a Huge 12 Point Buck I had been watching in my Hunting area Prior to the season opening.At 7:15 the huge buck showed up and was coming in close.


I raised my Thompson put his chest in the cross hairs and squeezed off a shot to Hear CLICK... No Bang. It mis-Fired on Factory ammo. I was sick to my stomach as I watched the trophy of a life time disappear into the hard woods out of sight. I went home and called Thompson. They told me that they had a head space issue with the .35 Remington round and paid to have my barrel shipped back to them to be repaired.



When it returned I took it to the range to test fire it. on the 10th round it Mis-Fired again. I fired it working through the rest of a 20 round box and it mis-Fired Three more times while doing so. I called Thompson again and they told me to return it again and paid the freight.They sent me a brand new barrel for my Super-14 Frame and I was Impressed as I Bought it used and they hadn't charged me one Penny along the way.


I shot it about 50 times that following summer killing several woodchucks with it without Incident. That Fall I returned to the range just before Deer season to fire it some more. I had a brand new Box of remington and Winchester ammo to shoot in it. All went well with The Remington ammo till shot Four and it Mis-Fired. I then placed the Winchester rounds in it and after several attempts I could not get it to fire any of the Winchester ammo , and what I did try in it I Noticed it Barely left a small dent in the primers. I took it back to the shop I bought it from , and traded it off for a S&W .44 Magnum that I Killed a Fine 8 Point buck with that season and have not had a Thompson Center fire Pistol since...In Conclusion, Don't take this as a Personal Slam towards Thompson Center Fire Pistol's. When mine worked it was deadly accurate. After Loosing a Lifetime Mount with it, due to it's On going malfunction, it enraged me to the Point of getting rid of it. I did have a .223 Barrel with it that I shot a Pile of woodchgucks with, but that .35 Rem. Caliber was an issue and after getting rid of it, I have had several others tell me that had that caliber that they Too have had Mis-Fire issues with them in their Thompsons, I assume a Manufacturing Flaw on head space. I took an Interest in Classic S&W's and the rest was History. I still some day would Love to Own one of the now discontined Savage striker Pistols or a Remington XP Pistol should I find a caliber that enlightens me...Thegeneral

Really beautiful cat general. Nice job and have a happy Thanksgiving.


Travis

Indeed, very nice and done with a handgun, congrats they are beautiful animals and you will be glad you did a full mount.

Sorry to hear about your bad experience with a T/C. I have been fortunate and gotten quite a few deer as well as numerous rabbits with the 12" .410 barrel while hunting rabbits with my beagles. What caliber you looking for in the other configurations. I know there are two for sale at the local Gander Mt.

Still a nice bob you got. make sure you show us the pics. of the mount you get.

Rob

Hello Rob
I am not looking that Hard at the Moment for any single shot pistols. I am still trying to fill a few holes in my S&W collection and the last Few are hard to find and very expensive when you do find them.I havent given what Caliber I would want in one of them a Thought. Someday one will Pop up in front of me that Tickles my Fancy...Thegeneral.

Hell Travis
Thank You pal. I hope your Thanksgiving went well, Mine was great and tha Taking of the Cat made it real special...Thegeneral.

Hello
I finally got my Wild Cat Mount back yesterday after a 10 Month wait. I had asked the Taxidermist to mount him in a Full action Pose of attack mode. I will eventually add a large Fox squirrel or Rabbit between his paws when I find the right donor. The Taxidermist shared with me that this was the largest Wild Cat he had ever seen or mounted being 41-1/2" in length, and feels it may very well be a Tennessee State record due to it's size Proportion. He said that he had in the past mounted well over 200 cats from all over the United states, but this one was the biggest that he had ever seen or mounted. He had to order Two-forms to mount him on due to his size. He also commented on his eye color as he said most that he had mounted in the past were more brown in color and these eyes were custom ordered from England as they are of much higher quality than those offered in the United states and they seem to follow you across the room. The Mount adjusts up or down by taking down Two 1/2" Nuts located under the base, and there is Two 3/8" steel rods inside the Mold to stiffen the Pose. He will reside in our living room on a custom built corner shelf

Very nice General. Thanks for sharing it.

Yes, very nice.

What is the story on these wild cats? Are they simply feral domestic cats after many generations of natural selection? Or, are they a species of which I am not familiar.

Your mount looks like it might be crossbred with a bobcat, though I do not know if that is a possible cross.

It's a Bobcat.

Hello Idaho_shooter
I have seen one other Bobcat Taken in East Tennessee and their facial Features are exact. They lack the Black ear tuff's seen on other Bobcats in different geographical location's and lack the under chin Hair tuffs seen on other cats. They ear's seem to be close haired much like Cougar or Mountain Lion's features. There has been Mountain Lions in the area of where I hunt and one was indeed harvested back in 1971 {See The quoted statement below}. I have last weekend come across Tracks from what I determined as a mountain lion less than 100 yard's from where I took this Bobcat. They were 3---3-1/2" diameter being much too large for any Bobcat.





The wife's owner of the property we hunt shared with me that the next door farmer had Two Calf's killed and dragged off less than two weeks ago, only leaving the Hair behind from the Calves and the bodies or remains were never found. I will be placing game camera to Attempt to get some action Poses of this Mountain Lion soon, and hope to see him during Deer season. My friend that owns this land saw the Mountain Lion late last summer after he dropped a wood chuck 75 Yard off his back yard. He tried to go out side to get a better look at it, but it made him and Bolted. Two weeks after the close of deer season I went back down there for a social visit and saw the very same Cat less than a mile from his house in a Hay lot. I can only hope to come across it this deer season as it too will Join my Bobcat Mount...Thegeneral.



Evidence of individual mountain lions in our southern Cumberland Plateau study area include a mountain lion shot by a hunter in 1971 in Bledsoe County, Tennessee and
mountain lion tracks confirmed by Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Wildlife Officer in 1997 in Marion County, Tennessee (Simms 1997).

Thanks,

We have quite a few bobcats around here. But I have never seen one except in photos.

Those photos do appear a bit different from your cat. That and the fact that you seemed to shoot the animal as a predator class made me wonder if it was not a bobcat.

Around here bobcats may be taken with trapping permits, but the population is carefully monitored and protected as "spotted cats".

Nice mount.....congrats again on a great experience.