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.

Thanks! These are WFN I am shooting.

You shoot them where you want to and I will do the same.....

Well, damn. That's interesting.

Wouldn't have thought that WFN would do that.

Congrats on your buck!

My first two years handgun hunting was with a Freedom Arms 83 357. My experience says there are better calibers.

Nice shooting! Appreciate the insight on the bullet performance you encountered. Makes me feel better about picking up my Ruger Redhawk in 45 Colt. I'm not a dedicated handgun hunter, but always carry a sidearm when I'm out hunting with a rifle or accompanying others, but usually one of my .357's, or a 9mm semi-auto. When Ruger started making the 4" Redhawk in 45 Colt, it reminded me a little of the old "Mountain Gun" I used to see (and long for) in the magazines in the same chambering. I picked one up and am currently developing a load for the 255gr Keith SWC. I drew handgun javelina for the spring and will carry this. I just need to learn to shoot like you now. Well done!

Cool story

Congrats on that fine looking muley and also on the shooting. 75 yards and 65 yards are getting out there for a revolver.

I have been a wee bit disappointed in some of the handgun shot critters that I have taken. One that sticks in my mind is a 2x3 young mule deer buck at around 40 yards with a SigP 226 in a .40 pushing a 180g cast slug at 1164fps over a chronograph. Hit him mid ribs but he still ran uphill another 120 yards before I could finish him at 25 yards.

I'm thinking like you about upgrade the power factor for this handgun hunting stuff. Next time out it's my Old Vaquero 44Mag on the hip.

Congrats, that's a fine deer with a fine handgun! I'm hunting Kansas this year with my S&W 686 hoping for my 1st handgun deer.

Well, I have an rcbs 200gr mold that might be the ticket for the .357 in the future. I am going to get a Lee 310 44 mold and mill off the shank portion where the gas check seats. This should get the weight down to 275gr or so. That should be the ticket in the 44spl. Will do the same thing with the 300gr .452 for a 45lc. I will let everyone know what the weights end up being and will offer a service to mill the gas check portion off to make a lighter plain base bullet or ream that section to make a heavier plain base bullet.

I own the Lee 310 (and the Lee version of the RCBS 35 cal 200). I may be interested in both of the milled versions of the 310 in 44 cal from you.

Since I've begun powder coating, I find less and less use for gas checks. The most accurate 357 loads that I plink with shoot the Lee 125 fp (which casts at 130 in my alloy) water quenched and powder coated at full 357 pressure and speed.

I got a little off topic there. When I get around to milling mine, see what they weigh each way, and work up some loads, I will start a thread with a report on my findings.

Thanks. As I said, I am interested in said findings.

Great shooting.

dla is a fugking idiot. Pay no mind.

So says the forum gun fondler.

Congrats, nice deer and open sights is impressive. Bought a 6" GP100 .357 a few years ago and sighted with 158 grain Hornady HP to use on white tails, but have yet to hunt with it. This thread is giving me some inspiration. I'm thinking of setting up in pine thickets where traffic seems to be common and just sit on the ground. Again congrats and nice follow up.

first congrats on a real nice mule deer buck!
and yeah, my brother-in-law has used a 357 mag marlin carbine too deer hunt for decades,
its lethal if the shots well placed as you found out, but Im rather sure the extra barrel length helps velocity


my brother-in laws hunted deer and hogs for many years with his, loads a 158 grain jacketed or 170 grain hard cast over a stiff load of BLUE DOT OR H110 POWDER
he prefers the 170 hard cast nei bullet,
having the skill to do so with a hand gun at 60-70 yards is impressive and far from common,
http://www.handloads.com/loaddata/d...ype=Handgun&Order=Powder&Source=

http://www.neihandtools.com/catalog/index.html