Ruger Blackhawk Deer Hunt

[Bear Claw Chris]

Took my first Buck with my 45 Colt Blackhawk last weekend!!!

Where I hit him!

 

[jimbo1096]

Congratulations Chris! What distance and what bullet did you use? Factory ammo or handload?
Always wanted to do that but no chance so far.
Good pictures too and a very nice deer!
What part of the country are you hunting?

 

[gunman42782]

Nice buck!

 

[captainkirk]

Nice deer. From your first photo, I figured you slipped up on him and pistol whipped him here:

captainkirk

 

[Tommy Kelly]

how far did he run before dying. I killed one several years ago with my 500 S&W with the same shot placement you have shown. My deer ran 50 yds before going down. Not what I expected at all. I thought it would be a bang flop deal but the deer ran 50 yds. Upon cleaning I was very impressed with the dammage internally and struck the oposite shoulder dead center and destroyed it. Great bullet performance but still didn't put the deer down at the shot. I haven't had a deer take a step with a rifle in years after the shot but the handgun is a whole different deal. Everyone I talk to says they run after the shot with a handgun. I figure to put the bullet square into the shoulder on my next deer with a handgun and try to push jagged bone through the deer and see how this works.

 

[Bear Claw Chris]

Congratulations Chris! What distance and what bullet did you use? Factory ammo or handload?
Always wanted to do that but no chance so far.
Good pictures too and a very nice deer!
What part of the country are you hunting?

I live in downstate Illinois, I hit him with a Cor-Bon 200gr JHP from about 25-30 feet from the blind.

 

[steveinaz]

NICE!!

 

[Bear Claw Chris]

how far did he run before dying.

Total about 140 yards give or take. He ran up a small hill and over a ridge, and we lost sight of him.

It was a looong night for me , because I shot him late and he ran onto an adjoining property, that had 4 guys staying in a rented cabin to hunt on that property. By the time we got permission to cross over to look for him, it was almost dark and once it got dark, we couldn't find him. We had thought he ran to the right over the ridge. The 4 guys hunting that property told us they would keep an eye out for him in the morning when they went out to their stands, and one of them found him first as soon as it was daylight and called us.

He had gone left over the ridge and ran right down the treeline, crossed over a shallow dry creek and dropped just at the tree line.

 

[Jayhawkhuntclub]

Congratulations! Nice shot and nice deer!

 

[Scott]

Congratulations! Yours is bigger than mine :wink: Mine dropped instantly but I put one directly through his heart from between 30 & 40 yards away. Probably just luck, but I wonder about the age-old argument about hollow points causing more internal damage vs. solid lead blasting straight through (I used 255gr LSWC). I'm NOT questioning your choice of ammo or trying to start anything, just pure speculation. Glad you found him!

 

[Stoots]

Congratulations Chris!

 

[NorEaster]

Nice Buck!
That's one to be proud of as a first!

 

[White Falcon]

Very nice!

 

[Bear Claw Chris]

I wonder about the age-old argument about hollow points causing more internal damage vs. solid lead blasting straight through (I used 255gr LSWC). I'm NOT questioning your choice of ammo or trying to start anything, just pure speculation. Glad you found him!

No worries, I'm questioning it myself. It broke 2 ribs and passed through the right lung and turned in to the stomach, then stopped.

If I continue to handgun hunt, I am pretty sure I'm moving up to a .44 magnum, as I am not totally satisfied with even hot .45 colt here.

Deer went down, but not as quickly as I would have liked.

(Plus I have wanted a stainless Super Blackhawk for awhile anyway)

 

[Thumbcocker]

Glad you scored. Gald the coyotes left him alone. We had nothing but wind and warm in my piece of southern Illinois.

 

[Bear Claw Chris]

Glad you scored. Gald the coyotes left him alone. We had nothing but wind and warm in my piece of southern Illinois.

We did to, especially Friday, the wind was just really high.

I was kinda surprised that Coyotes didn't either, as there are a lot of them in the area. I wonder if it was because they found the gut pile from a button buck my nephew shot earlier that day and went for it, plus the 4 guys that found mine had all shot and dressed deer, so there were several gut piles in the area.

 

[Tommy Kelly]

Chris you have the right gun with the 45 colt. You might need to change bullets to get better results. Try a cast lead load with a wide meplat bullet they will punch thru both sides of a deer with ease and take whatever that gets in front of them through also. That's what I am going for now the only thing I will do different is shoot for bone instead of behind the shoulder shoot for the shoulder. This will break up bone and drive it through also. Should result in quicker kills and less running after the shot.

 

[contender]

First,, huge congrats on getting the deer with a handgun. It's fun to be here & see how many folks try handgun hunting after seeing others be sucessful.
Now,, as to deer going down quickly,, rifles vs handguns,, etc.
There are a lot of factors to consider to achieve a very rapid, drop in the tracks kill. And even then,, it's never a guarantee. The 44 mag,, 45 Colt,, 357 mag,, 357 maxi,, 41 mag,, & others can & will achieve drop in the tracks kills a lot,, and you can also have deer run a bit before dropping. Using a rifle is NOT a guarantee of the instant kills either.
It's the bullet selection/design, velocity, shot placement, bullet travel angle, coupled with the physical state the deer is in when shot. Calm & relaxed, vs alert & stressed.
I've killed a LOT of deer with a handgun,, and I chose things that fill the bill to give me an instant, drop in the tracks kill. You have to study things,, and be willing to adopt the things necessary to do the same for you.
PS; Last year,, we had 4 elk in Idaho drop to handguns. Three of those dropped right there. One hunter was using a 41 Mag, another a 45 Colt, and the third was a 7x30 Waters. The 4th elk was shot a few more times with a 44 mag. Closest shot was 73 yds,, and the longest was 156 yds. Bullets were either hand cast SWC's with a wide meplate,, or jacketed.
What I'm alluding to is this; The 45 Colt,, or the 44 mag will easily give you totally reliable kills,, but nothing guarantees a drop in the tracks evertime. Also,, on the same elk hunt,, we had our 5th hunter using a Ruger No 1 in 30-06,, and his elk run w/o showing sign of a hit. It was several hundred yds away when found.
No guarantees in hunting. I'd never feel undergunned with a 45 Colt while deer hunting.

 

[Bear Claw Chris]

Thanks guys, but your not helping my "but I need something bigger for deer hunting" excuse for buying a .44 stainless blackhawk!!!

 

[mattsbox99]

Good work, but I agree with you, a .44 Mag stoked with some of Marshall's 290 grain LFN-GC really will do the trick!

http://beartoothbullets.com/bulletselect/index.htm