My first deer taken with my S&W 460XVR.

It was the last day of my deer hunting and I wanted a buck.

Turkey at 200 yards...with a handgun!! I admit that my methods of turkey hunting may be a little different when compared against the norm, but I sure do have fun!!! There is nothing like sitting along a hedgerow as a sniper with shooting gear ready to rock’n’roll and glassing for distant feathered targets.

Perhaps I watched too many cowboy movies in my youth but shooting a silver bullet in a single action revolver makes me smile. There isn't much call for real cowboys anymore but not to be denied, I began hunting with handguns more than 25 years ago and have lost count of how many big-game animals I've taken with pistols and revolvers. When it comes to big-bore, straight-walled cartridges, I have come to prefer a jacketed, expanding bullet when hunting all but the very largest game. One reason for this is that jacketed bullet technology has come such a long way in the last decade.

At the shot the javelina dropped out of sight, and I saw the rest of the herd scatter. I called to my brother to follow me up to the top of the embankment...

"Antelope!" I yelled as my dad quickly spun to look in the direction I was glassing...

23.0grs of H-110 going off at sunset does not help your night vision....

It's easy to get caught up in the hype and read too much, it's better to get out there and do it.

Handgunning for Elk with a TC Contender in 375JDJ and Gerry's custom 16" Enocre 375 Holland and Holland Magnum!

Hunting a monster four-horn ram at a hunting ranch is a great thing in itself, but it also allows you to test equipment before going out hunting in the real woods. Given the lack of free-ranging monsters of this kind, if you want a four-horned wallhanger this is about the only way to get it...

Hunting with a revolver is a fantastic challenge and I couldn’t have been more excited to try out the new Smith & Wesson Model 57 on a feral hog hunt at the Drop Tine Ranch in Pearsall, Texas. I don’t know if it’s just their feisty attitudes I find entertaining or whether they stir some ancient ancestral hunting instinct, but I find hogs addictively fun to pursue with a handgun.

I`am an OK shot with a handgun,not great but I get by.Thats why when I make a great shot I keep my mouth shut.

The time was almost 10 years ago, September 1999, and the goal was to take a Shiras, bull moose using my Freedom Arms 454 Casull. After four days of nothing, I thought I`ed be going home without a moose.

I wanted to compare terminal ballistics between cast versus jacketed bullets in .475 on a some large boar.

In ancient times, hunting was considered as a necessity and one of the essential activities for human survival. However, with the passing time that is in the recent years, hunting expeditions are no more considered as a necessity, but mere sport activity. To pursue this sport activity one needs to have a clear understanding on the right hunting equipment to use.

Gregg hunts a mule deer buck in open country with a Freedom Arms revolver in .500 Wyoming Express. How can he get close enough to use a revolver fitted with a Red Dot sight? And how will that big .500 slug perform? You will like the surprise ending.

If you want to get good at shooting from field positions, you have to practice. One of the least expensive and most convenient ways to practice is with air pistols, which can be shot in many venues where firearms are forbidden and which cost only 1-3 cents per shot. In addition, the SteadyAim Harness makes an excellent platform for shooting in the field.

Stop! If you are ready for a hunting adventure, you will need to take into account several items before starting your trip. First, you must check your hunting equipment to find out if you have packed all the essential tools and gear. If you notice that you have forgotten something, it is advisable to revise these ten tips before for buying hunting gear.

Deer hunting is an activity in which deer are pursued and killed. It began as early as 7000 BC. There are different varieties of deer, which are hunted. People choose the variety they want and go for it. Hunters may stalk the deer by following the signs and trails of the deer, or waiting where deer are likely to travel or by flushing deer towards a line of hunters. They may even use dogs to drive the deer out of their bedding place to a place where the a hunter can get a shot.

There is nothing better for a city boy to do on a cold winter weekend then to hunt for boar. The temperatures hovered in the low 20's but we were undeterred and had a great hunt taking boar, a corsican, and a black Hawaiian ram.

Gregg’s Model 83 shown with Red Dot Sight mounted. The loaded rounds with the corresponding bullets below them are left to right: 350 grain Hornady XTP/MAG, 370 grain WFNGC, 400 grain Keith type, and 440 grain WFNGC.

Information on a stolen Freedom Arms gun

When I decided to become a handgun hunter I found out that that was the easy part,making the commitment to a simple purpose.The next part of the process was difficult,caliber choice.I had shot several different calibers,and proceeded to read about every reasonable option to a hunter.There are multiple options available.In the beginning I suggest that you pick a caliber and stick with it for a while.At least until you are comfortable.The folks on this great website allowed me to pick their brains,for which I am thankful.There is someone on here that owns,shoots,or has shot about every caliber known to man.And they will honestly answer every question you have,Thanks to you all.

I had been dreaming of an Exotic hunt in Texas for quit some time. So, after a couple years of rat-hole’n some folding money, I had enough saved up to go on my first Texas hunt.

As I topped the saddle, maybe a thousand feet or so above timberline, I immediately knew I’d screwed up. Maybe there was too little oxygen getting to my brain at 12,000 ft. or something, but whatever the reason, I’d silhouetted myself momentarily, and of course, when hunting, momentarily is often long enough.

I crouched down then, put the binoc. to my eyes, and quickly realized my worst fears. About 500 yds. to my right a 3/4 curl bighorn ram was staring a hole right through me.

The joining together of two classic American shooting icons, the Remington XP-100 and the .300 Savage.

A classic is a high quality firearm that's no longer in production, at least in its original configuration. Classic handguns will always be popular and they can often be purchased in excellent condition. Many of us who have seen a number of seasons come and go still have dreams of Colt's Match Target Woodsman, Diamondback revolvers, High Standard's "The Victor", a S&W 22 Kit Gun or vintage Model 41. As these guns in pristine condition become increasingly difficult to acquire, the prices have followed the demand and you'll often pay over $2,000 for guns in 98-100 percent condition. Once you've handled and shot one of them, you'll only begin to understand the pistol smith's art and with one look at Colt's Royal Blue finish, you'll understand.

Buffalo Creek is a ten mile by five mile ranch 100 miles northwest of San Antonio in the hill country of Leaky, Texas (the Texans call them hills while I consider them small mountains). The dirt roads cover about 10%% of the operation while the rest has to covered by foot. The elk herd that inhabits the ranch has been there for sixteen years giving rise to good quality bulls of which I only saw two. On the first day we spotted a nice bull at sundown as he drank from a pond near the lodge; he was gone within 10 seconds.

Member Matt Rosamilia sent this note along with the picture and I thought I would share it with the rest of the members and visitors here at Handgun Hunter Magazine. Matt's experience on his first handgun deer is much like the passion the rest of us experience who enjoy this sport so much.

A little over 20 years ago I was resting my Thompson Center Contender chambered in 222 Remington on the top of my hunting buddy's little Volkswagen Super Beetle with some homemade sandbags, preparing to make a shot on a prairie dog. It was a 10 inch barrel and I was using the 2.5 power scope that came with the barrel. Long shots were impossible given the low magnification, but in spite of that several dogs fell that day at just under 200 yards. That created a desire for greater magnification to be more precise in the field and on the bench. Even though I wanted more magnification, I was not able to think outside of the box and consider rifle scopes. Once I did, my long range handgunning aspirations became realized by using rifle scopes on specialty handguns.

Hunters who are new to handgun hunting often struggle with holding the gun steady. Part of the issue, for those used to shooting rifles, is the appearance of being much more steady with the long guns and their mind is telling them this won't work — don't shoot. The other part of the problem is simply a matter of learning what shooting positions do work best for the handgun hunter. To be ready for any situation you should practice each of these shooting positions and their variations. If you master them all you'll be a great field shot and your friends will wonder how you do it.

Handgun'n for Spring Turkey, could this be the most challenging hunting sport? Try it this coming spring and you decide.

If you read part one (Case Prep) and have made it this far, you know I have a matched and prepped set of cases that are ready for the next step in the reloading process. In this part we’ll discuss reloading data, component selection, and components assembly. It is now time to select the components that will make up our test rounds. The key to selecting components for successful reloads is having access to good reloading data. There is plenty of reloading data offered on the Internet from the major component manufacturing firms as well as individuals that have websites of their own. This is all fine and dandy, but in my opinion nothing will ever replace a good current edition hardcopy, reloading manual. The manual you select should depend on the bullet you plan to shoot or what is available in your area.

At that moment I realized this was now turning into a handgun affair

First of all, this handgun is a prototype. Second, having never met Bob Baker I had no expectations other than I knew he has always made a quality/accurate product. My old FA 454 was extremely accurate and always reliable. I sold it out of a need for funds, but I kept the brass & dies in hopes of someday getting another one. Spending time with Bob this past week caused me to appreciate the man behind the product. He is a no-nonsense kind of a man, who is thoughtful, and is not going to make promises about a product that is not ready to go to production yet. He does not talk over your head and I never saw him trying to “sell” his product. He was more interested in what people had to say about those who were handling and shooting it. When it came to LR shooting with it... read more.

"The hardest thing for me to get used to was how very long the daylight hours were".

My best handgunned whitetail buck to date was taken with the 6.8 SPC — a fine little deer cartridge!

With one complete season under my belt with hunting only with a handgun, and one buck down, I was eager to get out and try my new anniversary present.

A clean miss on my first attempt at handgun hunting and I was hooked. It took another year, lots of practice, and some misfortune on my father's part, but I finally got my first buck with a handgun.

My good friend, John, knows about my extreme weakness for Contender goodies and he exploits it every chance he gets. This time a friend of John’s was transitioning his collection from a few Thompson/ Center Contender barrels over to an Encore based assortment. One of the barrels he was parting with was a Super 16 Contender barrel chambered in 45-70 Government. John heard me talking of getting a 45-70 barrel for some time, but I never really looked into it seriously. John is also very good at tempting me into getting additional barrels. While talking on the phone he mentioned that the 45-70 barrel was sitting in his gun safe waiting for a new home. Before the phone call ended, I was making plans to visit him a few days later to get my new barrel. Along with the barrel, I got a forearm, grip, several boxes of Remington factory ammo, and Bushnell scope.

I bought my first .172 caliber rifle in June of 1999. It was a Remington Classic Model 700 chambered for the only factory .172" caliber available, the .17 Remington. Ever since that time, I have been a true small bore fanatic! As any true varmint does, as soon as (or even before in my case) having one project finished another one is already in the works. As this is being written, I'm having a .17 Ackley Hornet built on a Martini Cadet action. But while waiting on this one I needed something else to do. Also being a fan of the T/C Encore line up I figured this would be a good platform to base my next small caliber from.

I have been reloading my own ammunition for about six years. The first cartridge that I rolled my own for was the ever-popular .44 Magnum. That summer several hundred rounds of this caliber were processed through a RCBS press. Through reading reloading manuals and articles in shooting magazines, I learned how to keep my cases trimmed, sized, and chamfered.

James Swidryk reflects on his time spent with Bill Grover at the YO Ranch. Texas Longhorn Arms produced some fine and very unique guns over the years. Perhaps the most sought after is the #5 Improved version Grover styled after Elmer Keith's #5 revolver.

Ed and Deena Folmar go after axis deer at Indianhead ranch in Texas. Indianhead boasts the finest fair-chase hunting experience in Texas. Rated in the Top 3 Exotic Game Ranches of Texas, Indianhead Ranch offers over 25 species roaming free on 10,000 acres of fence-free land.

After several days and stalks, the Professional Hunter (PH) and I, were able to leopard crawl inside a small herd of fifty animals to see if I could let the air out of a huge old bull with my pistol. Myself, the PH, and the trackers had been following three very large bulls over the course of several water holes and other herds. They seemed to wander in and out of the herds and be by themselves throughout the evening and mornings. We just couldn't catch up to them.

Handgun Hunter Magazine announces the launch of a new digital interactive format. The new digital format will feature some of the most respected and well-known outdoor writers and handgun hunters from across the country including J. Wayne Fears, Mark Hampton, John Taffin, Larry Weishuhn, Dick Williams and others.

A run down of the member organized handgun shoots and competitions. Some are more formal than others but they're all great fun.

Ernest and Marita met us at the local airport and the gun case and baggage were cleared and we were on our way to camp. This camp was different from 2005’s camp as Ernest had a designed a more rustic experience, in suite showers and toilets but tent walls and a thatched roof protecting the hard floors. It was quite exciting when the local pride of lions paid a visit. My main purpose of this hunt was for an old lioness. Deena wanted an nyala bull if time allowed. The pride of lions that my lioness was part of had made a kill on a cow cape buffalo 4 days earlier and that was where we started our hunt.

Most of the hunting I do is backpack hunting in wilderness areas between 8,000 and 13,000 feet elevation. Whether bivy hunting or hunting out of a spike camp my gear does not vary too much. This is what I carry for deer and elk hunts. Even when I go in for a day hunt for marmots or big game, I carry all of this but cut the food back to a two day supply.

For those not familiar with it, the Shooting Hunting Outdoor Trade show or SHOT show is the premier event for manufacturers, buyers, and the media in the hunting and shooting market, including not only sporting goods, but police and military as well. I was only able to attend the show for two of the four days but there were a few products that I just had to have a look at including the new mini red-dot sight base from Freedom Arms (FA). One of the reasons FA never made a base like this before is that no one was making a small red-dot that would hold up on the .454.

I love hunting boar...I`ve been quoted in the past as saying "that God put boar on this planet to be handgun hunted" or "if told I had to choose only one animal to hunt...it would be wild boar". I`ve taken my share using handguns in 357-41- and 44mag- 45Colt- 454- 460S&W and a few with a 270Win. rifle. However, most of these animals were feral hogs and not the true strain of boar found in the Black forest of Germany or those from Poland or the Chechnya Republic. That all changed when I recently had the opportunity to hunt at the Double Boar Ranch located in west-central Pennsylvania. This is a brand new operation put together by longtime hunters Andy Krantz and Dion Magestro. They were fed up with the quality of the animals that were listed as "pure Russian boar" at different preserves throughout the country. They contacted Two Rivers Outdoor Club of Illinois who specialize in the rasing of purebred wild boar and put together an excellent line of breeding stock. I know I am making this sound much easier then it was because they also had built a hunting lodge that rivals the top lodges of South Africa.

LAS VEGAS -- Executives from America's leading firearms and ammunition manufacturers gathered this evening at the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show to mark an important milestone in the firearms and ammunition industry's longstanding support of wildlife conservation. Manufacturers have since 1991 contributed more than $3 billion dollars to fund wildlife conservation through the payment of a federal excise tax on the sale of their products. The excise tax is a primary source of wildlife conservation funding in the United States. Since the inception of the excise tax in 1937, more than $5 billion dollars has been collected.