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I think it was ScottT who posted on the old forum about his 2006 season and taking an sheep sorta thing with his 44Spl SA. I was impressed, gettin' close to game is always a neat thing.
Griff,
SASS/CMSA #93
NRA Patron
GUSA #93
There is a fine line between hobby & obsession! AND... I'm over it!!
No I ain't ready, but let's do it anyway!
Yeah, difinitly mid-life crisis. I have done the same thing. Last year I hunted deer with my Ruger Accusport Bisley 45. Got a nice Doe at about 30 yards. What a blast. This year I bought a Ruger Accusport Bisley in 357 mag. Scooted past Cabela's today and picked up some 180 Gr Buffalo Bore Heavy 357 Mags for it. Will try it out on this years deer hunt.
I've done it, and still do. I don't do as much smallgame hunting as I used to, but I use a revolver at least 25% of the time I deer hunt. It's a different experience from regular rifle hunting, for sure -- more like bowhunting, with the emphasis on getting in close and placing the shot just so. I get a great deal of satisfaction from it.
We once lived where it was easier to keep a pistol in our apartment than a long gun (we didn't trust the maint guys - there had been many odd reports of theft at that complex). I therefore hunted with a 6-1/2" Model 29 S&W for almost two years. Never got a shot at a deer that season but did kill other small game (rabbits and such).
My good friend Darren (not his brother, or his other brother Darren) shoots several deer every year with his .44 mag. Super Redhawk. Says it kills 'em DRT.
I use to hunt exclusively with a ruger redhawk in .44mag and a ruger 22, then I used a TC contender pistol in various calibers for my hunting. I added a single shot 12 gauge for dove and quail. Life was simpler then but not as fun. I think you will enjoy your new babies in the field. I personally am looking forward to using my .22/22 mag Freedom arms and .45lc Freedom arms next season. We should get out together next season too!!!! that would be kewl.
Mike Johnson,
"Only those who will risk going too far, can possibly find out how far one can go." T.S. Eliot
I generally squirrel hunt with .22 LR pistols/revolvers. I have hunted deer with revolvers. The thing is, I like doing something different now and then. Heck, I've hunted groundhog with a spear (hint, don't cast a shadow on the hole and be PERFECTLY still). My advice is that this isn't a job, do what THRILLS you.
Sincerely,
Hobie
"We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best that we find in our travels is an honest friend." Robert Louis Stevenson
I'm not sure it would be considered a midlife crisis! I started hunting in 1978 at the ripe old age of 19 with a pistol! A 6"Python to be exact. 25 years later I started taking up Leverguns more, though I still hunt with pistols. Starting out with a 357 and then moving on to a 44 when my emphasis moved onto elk. Used T/C's a bit, but my love has always been 44's and cast bullets.
Many MANY 1,000's of pounds of deer, elk, bear, grouse, bunnies and assorted other game fed my family until the kids left the house I NEVER lost a single head of game to a big bore pistol with a cast bullet. Ever. In all my years I lost one deer to a 30-06 with a 150gr factory round.
Now days I tend to hunt with peep sighted leverguns and still pack a pistol with me. While I always enjoyed driving a cast bullets through the rib of a deer, elk or bear, it's still kinda neat to pull it out to lop the head off a grouse on a deer hunt with a levergun!
Jeff
Last edited by Jeff Pitts on Wed Mar 05, 2008 10:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I'm about fifty fifty when I hunt. I have an expensive 357 Weatherby and a Bushmaster Predator, but I take a Colt SAA most of the time for everything from deer to coyotes and Hogs. I can't explain it other than it is just more of a thrill and challenge.
1 5x5 bull elk with a 44 mag Super Redhawk (300 gr XTP), 1 4x4 mulie with a 45 LC Ruger Bisley Vaquero (335 gr CP), 1 antelope doe 45 LC Ruger Bisley Vaquero (265 Cast Performance).
During antelope season I usually take a box of shells out with my pistol for one day and return with no shells and no antelope.
I get to play a lot with my guns. Some days are open sight lever gun days, some are scoped levergun days, some are revolver days. Most of it is aimed at fun and not always killing. When I get serious about that part it's time for the rifles.
Unless you are taking chances which could result in harm to you or others, then it probably isn't really a mid-life crisis. Sounds like you have just found another way to have fun and stock the freezer at the same time to me.
D. Brian Casady
Quid Llatine Dictum Sit, Altum Viditur.
Advanced is being able to do the basics while your leg is on fire---Bill Jeans
Don't ever take a fence down until you know why it was put up---Robert Frost
When I tire of carrying a rifle, I switch off to my .454 Ruger Super Redhawk with a small, old, 1" Tasco Red Dot in the issue rings.
I've only taken two deer with it, over the years I've had it - both well under my self-imposed 100 yard handgun shooting limit.
Both were taken from a rail/rest, in a treestand.
Bang, flop. Bang, flop. As sure as the Sun comes up.
I try to mix it up. One year with a handgun only, another with a muzzleloader, one with shotgun slugs, another with a bow. I never found I like one so much more than the others to stick with it exclusively. Now I mix it up as my mood dictates.
One thing is for sure - with each different choice you learn new techniques and become a better hunter and marksman. Best of luck on your adventure!
Its not really a mid-life thing. Its just that you want to do something different. Around 1990 I put the '86 away and preceeded to kill a few deer with a 4" 1950 Target 44 Spl. and a Model 29. In the late nineties I just stopped killing deer. No reason, just lost interest in the challenge. I still will take an elk but always with a rifle. I carry a SA Colt as an extra but seldom take it out of the shoulder holster. Hunted small game like squirrels, etc with an OM Ruger SS. Very pleasant but lost interest in that too.
Anymore my guns get shot at steel, rocks or an occasional fox, crow or elk.--------Sixgun
jd45 wrote:Sixgun, I'm sure you can eat the elk,..........some folks'd say you can eat the crow,too. jd45
JD45, My son who lives in Colorado gets to eat the elk and as far as crow is, well, yes, I've eaten lots of "crow" in my life. Every day at work, the bossman feeds me all kinds of it. I'd love to pop him one time as this guy is a real worm. Then I'd lose my carry permit so........back to eating crow------------------------Sixgun
- I am learning to shoot a scoped rifle!