Okay, maybe I am weird, but only accurate guns hold much interest for me, even pocket guns. Lately I have been fascinated with using concealed carry guns for hunting. What peaked my interest was the recent legalization of air guns for deer hunting here in MI. They are throwing pellets of 357 cal from 750 to 950 fps and 45 cal to 800 fps, which is attainable by many concealed carry handguns. Also, reading some old books and historically, many cartridges were considered perfectly acceptable for deer and bear hunting that are considered rather weak by today's standards, and I doubt the deer are any tougher.

I have already killed several squirrels with a 3" S&W M317 and a 2 1/2" M19, and killed a couple deer with a 4" M629 Mountain Revolver. Now looking for the next challenges, have been surprised by the accuracy of several pocket guns. Shot a stainless Walther PPK that belongs to a friend and was surprised when it produced a nice 1 1/2" group at 25 yards, though the issue sights were very difficult to see. Shot a 3" S&W M36, that would easily hold 2" groups at 25 yards. Tried a Kimber Pro-Carry 1911 that shot a very satisfying 1" group at 25 yards. Was even surprised by a Kel-Tec 3AT with a laser sight that produced a 2 1/2" group at 25 yards, though the factory open sights were too small to be able to repeat that without the laser.

Am thinking about using the 2 1/2" M19 with 170 gr SWC's over a moderate charge of 2400 to chase deer within 50 yards. Would like to get them going around 1000 fps and be able to stay in 4" at 50 yards before attempting this. Don't want to use a load that will tax the capabilities of the K-frame too much because they are not getting any easier to find lately.

What have you done with concealed carry guns? Have you ever hunted with them? Which ones have you been surprised by or think would be a worthy piece to take afield?

We were hunting in a shotgun zone in southern MN. It is also legal to harvest deer with a handgun statewide regardless of zone. On my hip was a .45 Colt OM Ruger Blackhawk with a 7-1/2" barrel and in my pack was a Charter Arms Bulldog sporting a 3" barrel. There was also a Mossberg 500 loaded with slugs at hand. I was sitting on the ground in a natural 'pinch point' which has been very successful in the past.

Along about 11am there was some noise coming up on my left; no snow but plenty of leaves. I took up the shotgun and tried to stealthily get turned in the correct direction. When I finally got maneuvered around I find a yearling eyeing me with intense curiosity, bobbing his head and pawing at the ground a bit. I didn't want that particular deer but waited to see if he was alone.

After about 15 minutes with no other action, I very obviously put down the shotgun and started to talk to this young-un. I told him I didn't really want to blast him with a slug at the 15 or so yards separating us and that he should run along and send back his big brother. This only made him more curious and he moved in a bit and bobbed his head some more trying to figure out what this noisy lump in the woods was.

Another 15 minutes passes and I tell him, "If you stay there long enough for me to get my pistol out of my pack, I will shoot you with that." So I made a bit of a show of dragging my pack up close, running the zippers open and digging out the little Bulldog. All the while, he's bobbing around and wondering just what is going on. Well, I got the pistol out and cocked it and had a nice easy broadside shot at maybe 12 yards or so. At the shot, he took off and ran down the bit of draw I was on and up the far side; showing no signs of any distress whatsoever.

I waited a few more minutes and got up to see if I could find any blood or hair, still shaking my head over the whole affair. There was no sign of this deer being hit. What I did find though was a 2-1/2" sapling with a nicely center-punched, 44 caliber hole in the near side and no exit. In my concentration on the sights, I had failed to see any intervening obstacles.

I dug out the slug and had a good laugh.

....in my state, one cannot hunt game animals with a handgun with less than a 4" barrel. That being said, I have used a variety of carry guns (particularly 2 1/2" and 3" revolvers) to hunt varmints and found it an excellent way to get some practice and hone my marksmanship skills with the little guns.

There are limitations regarding caliber and such for handguns, but here in the north the only limitations are the same as for rifles, that it cannot be a rimfire during the regular firearm season.

Went out one bitter cold morning with 2' of snow on the ground and more coming down. Took my old 30-06 and the Mountain Revolver loaded them in the truck and headed out with my Dad and Uncle.

When we got to the parking spot and started gearing up, I discovered I had forgot to pick up ammo for the rifle. It was getting light and I had the revolver, which I had killed several squirrels with that fall, all with head shots. Unfortunately, all I had was light loads with 8 gr. Unique under 240 SWC BB casts, but that is what the squirrels fell to, so it was sighted in for them.

Hustled through the snow to a spot where I knew the deer crossed a river, but had never hunted before, and sat down in a little clump of saplings. Not 5 minutes later a very respectable buck, at least an 8 point, came down the ridge a stopped 10 yards in front of me.

It was still too dark to make out the black sights against his hide, so I lined up the sights against the snow in front of him, drifted the gun back over his shoulder and touched it off. At the shot there was a shower of snow out of at least one sapling that was hit between us.

The buck showed no reaction to the shot, casually turned around and sauntered partially back up the ridge, stopping behind a jack pine and looked back at me from about 40 yards.

I did not know whether he was hit or not, or maybe wounded, so decided there was little to lose by taking another shot. Did the same routine of lining up the sights in the snow in front of him, sliding back and touching it off. This time a lot of snow came down from the Jack Pine in front of his shoulder that I tried to miss.

This time he did not stick around and trotted off downstream toward another crossing. I waited a short time for things to get brighter, then got up to look for hair or blood before it got buried by the falling snow.

After going back and forth over his path for an hour and finding no evidence of a hit, I found where the second slug had hit dead center in the pine and did not exit. In between where he and I had been at the first shot, I found one sapling cut off and a graze mark on another. I had not seen either of them in the dim light just before taking the shot.

Later that day I saw him tied to the top of a car that belonged to some guys hunting the other side of the river, as they drove out at lunch time. I never heard any shots from that direction and have always wondered if....

Same here. We also have minimum case dimensions for legal rounds. Minimum of basically .357 magnum for 'standard' pistol rounds. I believer .243 is the minimum caliber, allowing rifle calibers in 'pistols'

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Nm

several years ago I was toying with the idea of hunting with my old Taurus targetmaster. I'm comfortable shooting it and have gotten where I can hit pretty good with it. Understanding the limitations, would this be adequate for our smallish deer around here, given a proper load? I sought out the advice of a few experienced handgun hunters at my club, and they more or less advised against it. Is a 357 magnum considered the minimum for this?

I've always been of the thought that ifnits good enough to shoot a man, it's good enough for a deer. No, the .38 isn't the optimal caliber but I've seen deer run off never to be found when hit with a 12 ha slug and a .50 cal muzzle loader with .429 Hornady XTP's. I would think a handloads with a good expanding hollow point and a good broadsides shot and you'll have meat in the freezer. Personally I get so little time to hunt, I want every advantage I can get! If I had more opportunity, I'd love to try out some various handguns I own.

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Is the 38 Special with 150 gr RNL running at 625 fps "enough gun"? Years back was at a friend's place on New Year's Eve. His son had flown down here and he was doing an old fashioned hog killing to celebrate. They had about a 100 pound pig tied up and I asked if he'd let me put it down. (much preferable to hearing the poor thing squeal while someone sticks it with a knife, trying to find the heart) He agreed and when the time came I lined up the sights and touched off the shot. The pig dropped dead right there, even though I'd forgotten the PPPPPP throws shots high left so the shot went higher and off the the side a bit from where I'd been aiming. As they butchered it out they found a part of the slug deformed and resting in the right side shoulder and brought it to me. Later on they found the other piece of the slug in the left side ham. The bullet struck the vertebrae and split in two. BOTH pieces penetrated more than I'd ever expected from a 625 fps 38 caliber slug.

Would a 38 take down a deer? I've no doubt it could - especially with good handloads. Would that be my first pick as a deer gun? Nope. But if push came to shove and that was all I had to do the job, I'd do the job with it.

I would think there is little doubt that it would kill a deer, the question is will it succumb quickly enough and leave sufficient blood to find it. Historically, they used the 25-20 and thought it was plenty adequate. I would say to try your chosen load against inanimate test medium to see what kind of penetration and wound channel are likely to be created. Some people using minimal cartridges strive for head or neck shots, but those are very tricky shots that can leave a horribly wounded deer that are extremely difficult to recover. I would be inclined to think a +P load using a cast SWC would give the best chance of achieving the necessary penetration and tissue damage, even on close, standing broadside shots through the lungs.

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