do you carry just a handgun or rifle too ?

[jhm]

44 Man:  Where in central Michigan?  I left there in 1980, and offically Retired from GM Feb. 15 1981 and havent looked back.   JIM

[irold]

dk,  When I first started "handgun hunting ", I carried a rifle also, thinking I would use the handgun for the close shots.....never happened !   In Pa woods, sometimes the deer are on ya real quick...I'd raise the rifle and shoot it...so much for the handgun.   Several years ago, I made up my mind I would leave the rifle at camp ( it at least made the trip from my house to camp ) I carried only the handgun...I've been blessed, have got my deer every year since that, 2 bucks and 3 or 4 doe.  Leave the rifle at home, you'll be glad you did !   Good luck   Mike

[300winman]

Seems like I have the worst luck with a handgun.  Last year in Michigan, the 2 days I hunted with my DW 445 I saw an 8-point at 90-100 yds and a doe around 80.  But I ended up shooting 2 deer(does) within 40yds with a shotgun.  I'm thinking I will have to put a scope and a longer barrel(has a 4"compensated) to bloody my DW 445.  Then again if I would just stick with it and wait for the 40 yarder I'd be ok, but its hard when I see deer I could have taken easily with the Benelli Nova.  All part of the game I guess.

[Lloyd Smale]

Id probably shoot you thinking you were french with that hat on pal!!! You need a good red plaid had with earflaps to walk the woods up here and fit in!!1

Hey!  I'll have you know that hat is a real trophy and cost me all of $3! 
But seriously, I don't think that hat fits my image of myself either, but it is insulated, very comfy, and has ear flaps for when it gets really cold.  It also slips through the brush better than a cowboy hat.  And you have to admit, it looks better than the pumpkin orange knit hat (with a green loop on top no less!) that I used to wear some years ago!  Often I'll wear a 'fedora' type hunting hat but this one comes out when it is cold. 
I live in the middle of lower Michigan.  Now if I lived where Lloyd Smale does, I'd be cold all of the time.  I think Michigan's U.P. has four seasons.  June, July, August, and winter!  44 Man

[JOE MACK]

I've been hunting with strictly a handgun (mostly iron sighted revolvers) for around 35 years. If you carry a long gun also, you're NOT handgun hunting. My choice of hunting handgun is always with me and not leaning against a tree. Depending on the caliber, I'm good to go out to about 100 yards.

JOE

[Mikey]

I usually take both, whether rifle/pistol or shotgun/pistol.  I can use the pistol effectively to 50, 60 yds, with a nice clear shot on big game and longer with the shotgun or rifle.  I like the pistol, or revolver for predators and other targets of opportunity within effective range. 

The handgun, carried openly for hunting is also a personal comfort for me.  Problems or difficulties with the troublesome seem noticeably ameliorated by its presence and rapid accessability.  Those conducting themselves spuriously seem to take immediate notice (totally ignoring the shotgun or long gun of all things) as the handgun is also a sign of strict law abidence and demonstrable authority in this neck of the woods. 

I know my capabilities with rifle or shotgun but to still be able to take a good shot with a pistol or a revolver and have a successful harvest gives me all sorts of warm fuzzies.  Mikey.

[Tom W.]

Well, sometimes I carry My Ruger #1 and one of my Super Redhawks, or my Encore in a shoulder holster, and sometimes I'll carry the Encore and a SRH, but I'll always have a pistol or revolver with me.

[kennisondan]

Tom W is right : it is hard to leave a ruger one at the camp... makes it SAD...  but I am upset by the observation of Joe Mack :  that if you bring a long gun you are not handgun hunting... LOL...

actually, there is an interestting split here.. and as predicted and in my own experience, the distance thing is the troublesome spot in the plan... especially if I cannot shoot to 100 but must stay around 50... it is hard to stand hunt and always get the short shot... and making a harvest is still important to me ... not like it was but important...

now the scoped encore is going to change things.. I can slip in under the rules : "No Rifle Here, Pardner.."... and still have the other open sighted sixgun type handgun for real man appeal... lol

I am really enjoying this thread.. but no one has taken the position that :
HAVING AN ENCORE IS NOT REALLY HANDGUN HUNTING.. ... surely someone will offer that up for discussion afore we end this thread ??
dk- smiling dan..

[300winman]

The Encore definitely has a longer range, but you will most likely need a rest.  And you are hunting with a singleshot, giving less chance for follow-up shot.  I would still consider it pistol hunting with advantages and disadvantages. 

[Graybeard]

I am really enjoying this thread.. but no one has taken the position that :
HAVING AN ENCORE IS NOT REALLY HANDGUN HUNTING.. ... surely someone will offer that up for discussion afore we end this thread ??
dk- smiling dan..

That's actually precisely the reason I do take a rifle some times. I used TC Contenders and Encores with those long 14" and 15" barrels for a lot of years. Eventually I came to the point I no longer felt I was handgun hunting with those long bulky guns. To me they are actually more cumbersome to carry than a rifle. So I have wound up mostly using iron sighted revovers when I handgun hunt and if I think I'm gonna need more range than that gives me I'll carry a scoped revolver or rifle depending what I expect my max range might be. For me that works out better and to me at least using the long bulky single shot specialty guns just doesn't feel like I'm handgun hunting anyway. I mentioned that several times back when I sold off my TCs.

[irold]

Graybeard,  I agree and disagree...I look at the degree of skill involved, at 75-100 yards with a decent broadside shot, most deer are in the pot with a scoped rifle..agreed ??    Some may say the same for a scoped Encore handgun, but there is that challenge, at least for me, it is not guaranteed meat. especially if stalking, using available rests etc.     Good shooting

[Graybeard]

Didn't say it wasn't a bit more difficult with a specialty handgun but it's not nearly the same as an iron sighted revolver or even a scoped one. If I have a decent rest I figure a shot to 200 yards is pretty much duck soup with a single shot specialty gun. Since I've only made two shots on deer to that long a range ever here in Bama that makes it pretty much a sure thing with them. Maybe a little less so than with a rifle but then I expect a dead deer when I pull the trigger with whatever I shoot.

For me it's easier and handier to carry a rifle than a specialty handgun and at the ranges I hunt not much if any less of a sure thing. To each his own I'm not putting down anyone wanting to use them I'm just saying for me it's hard to convince myself I'm actually "handgun hunting" if that's what I have with me.

For a great many years I hunted only with handgun so long as one agrees the TCs are indeed handguns as I had one of them and an iron sighted revolver with me. I've been hunting with handguns for about 40+ years but I'm no longer STRICTLY a handgun hunter as I do enjoy rifles as well and enjoy shotguns even more than either.

[Tom W.]

Maybe a little less so than with a rifle but then I expect a dead deer when I pull the trigger with whatever I shoot.


Yup, and I found out last season that it doesn't always happen like that, altho I'll not give up my expectations!

[mikedb]

Here in Iowa I use a muzzleloader when I hunt with my group in the shotgun season. I carry my revolver as a back-up to my muzzleloader. There are times when a second shot is necessary to finish off a deer and it is easier to use a handgun than load the muzzleloader again.

You gotta watch that revolver in muzzleloader seasons (it may be different there).  When I lived in Arizona, a friend of mine almost got in trouble hunting elk.  He had taken an elk with his muzzleloader, and the fins and feathers guy comes to check him and permit.  Fins and feathers says he wasn't allowed to have a revolver, he say, oh but, its black powder.  Doesn't matter, its still illegal and considered a semi auto because it rotates to bring another round ready under the firing pin without loading. 

But it's like anywhere...  you gotta know the rules where you hunt. 

In Michigan we used to have those same confusing/PITA rules.  Then about 4yrs ago the Michigan Legislature took all power away from the DNR to regulate folks with a concealed carry permit.  So I can carry what I want when I want on all land under control of the DNR or when hunting.   Our Democrat governor signed it too.  Michigan is pretty good on gun rules overall.  We have many progun Demos.  Wish that party would get with it on the national front.  They do occasionally have good ideas but the gun issue makes them a no go for me.