My pathetic attempt to harvest a deer with my pistola!

[osprey]

I have always wanted to try and kill a deer with my SW 629 44 mag pistol. Well I tried this season and failed miserably. I was setting up my treestand mid day making all kinds of racket. I heard a twig pop and look up to see a forkhorn blacktail looking at me at 20-25yds. I thought what the hell, this is the perfect opportunity for the sixgun. I carefully drew from the holster and cocked the hammer as he slowing worked his way parallel to me behind a bush. He cleared and I took careful aim behind his shoulder and squeezed. He did a funny hop and trotted off. I could not tell if it was a hit from his reaction. I spent the next couple hours analyzing the crime scene for blood and bodies and found neither. The trail he left on was easy to follow and within 50 yds he appeared to start just slowly walking away at a normal gait with nary a drop of blood. I finally came to the realization I had somehow wiffed. I went back to where he was standing when I shot and did find some very small limbs and grass that could have been hit before the deer. It would have been so close to him it should not have mattered. I evidently just blew it! I ended up finishing putting stand up and harvesting a nice mature 4x3 buck with my .458 socom an hour before shooting hours were up. The next day the forky turned up on my trail cam alive and well not 10 yds from where I shot at him the day before. I have decided some more target work before season with my old 629 is in order! Here is a pic of my nemesis. I will see you next year buddy!

Read More

 

[red442joe]

LOLz
Thanks for sharing.

Joe

 

[BaggerRyder]

I've done almost the same thing. Although first shot was my shot gun. That deer was dead. Watched him walk off like he was dead. Didn't follow up while he was walking away,
Went back to the shot, looked for blood cuz new gun, never shot a deer with a shotgun, curiosity, but found none. Followed his trail, nothing. Saw a buck, doe and fawn about 70 yrds, pulled out scoped .454 and started to ready against a tree and the buck walked down into ferns and vanished.
No trace, no blood, no nothing. Grid searched for about 3 hrs. Never a drop from that first shot. 3 hrs covered a lot of ground. My story differs cuz I didn't fill my tag that year.
Next year found a dead head in the area. Might have been the same buck. Not sure.
Sometimes they do strange things when shot at.
Congrats on filling your tag and identifying your target buck for next year. He'll be a dandy.

 

[orygun]

Somewhere I have a similar picture of a similar forkie turning and walking away after the round in my rifle didn't fire...

One reason i still use my rifle has a lot to do with the scope that's on top of it. I missed out on a really nice buck because I couldn't see the sights on my 30-30. I don't think it would be any better with a handgun.

 

[orygun]

Then there's the time I was shooting at a trotting Spike elk and musta shot right between his legs. I was so paranoid about having hit him that I didn't take a chance on shooting another spike that was standing there looking at me...
The first deer I ever shot disappeared in the fog and mist from the water on the trees after I shot. Then a deer ran off, circling to my right. I was sure of my shot and held up on taking another shot. When i walked over, yup. There was a dead deer with a lot less points than I had seen. Apparently both bucks were in line and I saw both antlers superimposed, looking like more than he had!

Nobody said this was easy.

 

[CastleRocker]

I hunted exclusively with handguns for a lot of years. Despite what you see in the movies, a 44 RM is not a lot of gun. Will it do the job? Of course it will. I put 13 Blacktail and 2 elk in the freezer with mine over the years. Did any of those animals get "knocked down"? Nope, they did not. My Dad always told me, "get 'em on the ground, and keep them on the ground". I've told all my kids that, and when my Grandchildren get old enough, I'll tell them too. Be sure of the shot, if it doesn't go down, then shoot it again. If it gets back up, shoot it again. In nearly 50 years of hunting, (dang that makes me sound old!), I have never lost an animal.

 

[Sxsnuf]

Sounds like a successful outcome. Congratulations!

 

[dhunti]

Missed shot, but lesson learned well. Next year's revenge awaits the forkhorn!

 

[Thebeard89]

Nice looking deer. Better luck next year.