Hello All,

I was hunting with my Ruger SBH in 44 mag this past weekend when I had a grand opportunity at a medium sized buck (smallish 8 point) from about 25-30 yds. I held the gun between my coat and gloved hand in order to try and muffle the sound of cocking it. Long story short, the deer still heard it in the quiet woods and after a brief bout of "Don't move, What are you?" I almost still got the shot before he decided he had enough and bolted. Do you folks have a better way to avoid this? I'm not keen on holding a cocked handgun the entire time I'm hunting. Please enlighten me if there is something I could have done differently. Thanks in advance.

Any chance he saw you or scented you as well? A click or two need not spook a deer if he isn't already worried about that new lump over there that smells out of place. That said, if I see a deer coming into range I cock the pistol/rifle as soon as I'm lined up. If I choose not to shoot I wait until it moves through before lowering the hammer.

A couple years ago I was out scouting pre-season, saw a group of tule elk at 275 yards.
Set the binoculars down, put a 200mm lens on the 35mmSLR and kept looking.

The first press of the shutter release button spooked the buck, and scattered the whole lot of them over the hill and out of view.
That was at 275 yards on the rangefinder.



That one on the right was the first to bolt, and they all immediately followed.
There were two or three other bucks in the field with similar 'fan clubs' around them.
I don't recall the shutter speed, but this was shot before sunrise, at 1200ISO through an F2 aperture.
I'm guessing 1/25 second -- it was DARK outside that morning (notice NO shadows under/past the elk).
The sound hit the elk and they snapped to attention, and this is the bulk of what the camera saw.

Definitely good reinforcement of any advice to keep things reeeal quiet in the field, especially when it counts.
My favorite (stalking) hunting rifles are back action hammer rifles, where I can hold the trigger back and pull the hammer - then silently set the sear by letting the hammer down on the released trigger, setting the sear without a sound.

As I don't hunt with a SA revolver I can't comment on how to keep your particular model of gun quiet while cocking it.
You might want to do a dry-practice run with the trigger back on your hammer pull to see if the cocking phase is less noisy.

Cheers
Tinker

Many times when I hunt I am very close to the game. Most always under 40 yards.
I shot a coyote when deer/pig hunting a coule of weeks ago at 12 yards. Getting close is the fun part for me.

When hunting with a revolver I cock the gun before hand, and set it down pointing in a safe direction.

When hunting bear over bait in a tree stand I carry an extra holster, that I can attach to the stand, with the barrel pointing in a safe direction.
I cock the revolver and put it in the holster.

I usually use a cross draw holster when I hunt.

The one for my FA 475 is at an angle so when I am setting the barrel is not pointing at me.
I think it is safe to cock the revolver and then place the retraining strap between the hammer and the firing pin.
I can draw the gun with out pointing it at me...

However if in a elevated stand of some type, if the gun went off in the holster, even if it missed me it might hit something on the stand, and cause fragments to enter my body...

So I like the extra holster idea.

Works for me.

SAFETY is most imortant.

Thanks to all so far and please keep it coming if you have more ideas.
There is always a chance that the deer saw/smelled me but it was not acting nervous in the least bit until I pulled that hammer back. The noise it makes is vastly different than any stick or leaf cracking.
As far as the trigger pull, it did not help. Another guy in camp suggested that as a "what to do next time" idea. It actually makes it louder since the trigger will not pull without the hammer cocked. I tried several different arragements to lessen the noise but it is always there.
The only thing it seems that would work 100 percent of the time is leaving the thing cocked but that really scares me (i have a lightened trigger pull) unless there is something reliable I could place between the hammer and the firing pin to keep it from hitting. I'll have to think about something that will stay in place when it is supposed to and be easily and quietly removed when the time comes.

Any ideas on what that would be, other than my thumb?

I'm not one to sit around with a cocked revolver. I will however, cock my revolver when I hear game approaching. That way I am ready to go if it is my intended game or I can uncock if it isn't.

It depends on the hunting situation I am in, and how I can have the gun held while on stand.

When I was hunting from the ground, there is a small table that I can place my handgun on. I cock the gun and point the gun in a safe direction and leave it cocked the whole time.

If I an sitting is a tree stand, and have no place to keep you handgun besides in my hand or holster, I will either cock it if I see game approaching, or I cock the gun, and put my thumb under the hammer and hold the gun. Mostly I leave it un-cocked, and wait to see game coming.

I cock the pistol as soon as I see any intended game within my range.This leaves me time to look and decide if it's a shooter if not I'll decock,wait for the game to walk off and reholster.

I've never had one spook at gun cocking noises. But, I try to raise the gun and cock it when the deer looks the other way or there's a tree between us. Then I think even if they hear it they can't be sure from what direction.

I just tried my SBH and it has two clicks, neither real loud in my opinion.

Now, if you REALLY wanted some noise, try a SAA Colt..

One way you can avoid the problem - hold the revolver in the left hand, hammer cocked ,thumb under the hammer, fingers around the trigger guard, muzzle pointed in a safe direction.

quote:

Originally posted by mete:
One way you can avoid the problem - hold the revolver in the left hand, hammer cocked ,thumb under the hammer, fingers around the trigger guard, muzzle pointed in a safe direction.

That works great.... Till you get a "little" sleepy....

Not, that I have ever fallen asleep while hunting....

But I have "heard" it does happen.

Lots of great thoughts here. I agree that the clicks are not that loud, and "shouldn't" spook game. But, the truth is that it did. I've harvested game with the revolver before and didn't have the problem. On this partucular evening things were very still and quiet AND the deer came out of cover quite close. There were lots of factors working against me, and I missed the opportunity. I will constantly be thinking of a way to avoid this without sitting in a tree with a cocked revolver for hours. Just that "What If" pucker factor turns me off of that. It'll just be one more thing to consider when selecting my weapon.

Jason

I agree "Clicks" can and do spook game.

That is why I "cock" ahead of time.

Also think about the extra holster, an inexpensive nylon one will work.

Very SAFE.

I use a Diaphram turkey mouth call to mask cocking with .A few soft putts and clucks.The deer usually dont take much notice when it is thrown in with some natural woods sounds.The bear I shot this fall did not even look when I cocked from 35 yds away.

Another idea that may be of at least some slight advantage..wait til the deer puts his head down to feed. Don't cock while he's putting his head down, but wait til he's actually committed to feeding and has a mouthful, then there's a slight, very slight, distraction working for you.

If this remains a real problem, you could try another gun. I also use the N frame S&W and there's only one click, not the two (there is a very, very slight preliminary click but seriously it's too inaudible for a deer or anything to hear). And, what's even better is that with the Smiths you can eliminate all sound by slightly pulling the trigger while you cock, then hold the hammer cocked, then release the trigger, and you get a completely noiseless cocking action. (Use at your own risk etc etc, because unless done very careful you could get an accidental discharge).

I tried this cocking procedure with the SBH and it didn't work. On mine I've had an action job, but that also didn't change the clicking sounds any.

Anyway, like you said you've taken game before without this, so the whole thing could have just been a fluke situation..

OH YES, the slightest "click" is enough.
Take a Freedom or Colt, Colt clone with the large "CLICK, CLICK, CLICK" and see how many animals stay there.
My quietest revolver is the BFR 45-70, you can barely hear it cock. The huge cylinder absorbs the sound of the cylinder lock popping up.
But Colt actions have the clicks from the trigger snapping against the hammer in addition.
You better believe they will scare animals. I have had to hold still too many times when a deer snapped her head my way when I cocked the gun real slow. My revolvers have less then half the noise of a Colt.
I love the guys that get a Ruger converted to have Colt clicks!

I make it a habit to cock the gun when I see that a deer might move towards me but sometimes, they just appear from nowhere and are close.
You take your chances.
Watch the jerks on TV when they "snap" off the safety on their rifles instead of easing it forward. Some of those things will spook a deer at 200 yards!

On a genuine Colt Single Action Army or Frontier Six Shooter .44-40 it's actually four distinct clicks. It's almost like a built-in "fear factor" for its main intended use, which isn't deer hunting...

And btw, DON'T try on a real Colt that "pull the trigger while cocking" routine. Good chance you'll wind up with a nice turn line.

I too cock the hammer when I see a deer that just might do it.

Yes, one of the clicks is the cylinder lock snapping up but the hammer has three that are much louder.

quote:

Originally posted by BlueCan:
Lots of great thoughts here. I agree that the clicks are not that loud, and "shouldn't" spook game. But, the truth is that it did. I've harvested game with the revolver before and didn't have the problem.

On further analysis I do recall times when it seemed my prize was spooked by my simply thinking about killing it. Other times I couldn't do anything to shoo away unwanted deer standing a couple feet away from my ground blind or walking between the tree and the ladder of my stand. In our hunting spots at least it seems to me the rut makes a big difference as to what a whitetail buck will put up with. If they're close enough I suppose those of us hunting with a DA revolvers that day have the option of taking them out with long smooth squeeze on the trigger...

True. I see all the stuff about scent and how you need to spray all of your stuff. I let the bow down on the rope because I did not want to shoot a deer one day. They were eating paw paws under my stand and kept bumping into my bow. They did not pay any attention to where I walked either but if you put something on the ground like a pack, shirt or jacket, that spot is poison to a deer.
Sound is funny though. High frequency noise will make deer bolt but a loud, low freq sound will not. The high pitched sound of a gun cocking will spook deer but the blast of shooting it will not. A bullet going past a deer will turn them inside out as will the bullet impact on the ground close to them.
We need to understand the type of noise we make and how deer react. Even the sound of your arm moving in the sleeve of a jacket can spook them. Nylon liners are real bad. Weather conditions and sound transfer changes how they react too.
The only thing to do sometimes is to run down and stuff cotton in the deer's ears, then tell them to hold still.

"The only thing to do sometimes is to run down and stuff cotton in the deer's ears, then tell them to hold still."

Now that is solid advice. I think I might try putting some Vicks under their nose so they can't smell me either.

I guess ut all just boils down to a situational issue that I'll need to deal with. Live and Learn!

The few times that I have hunted with a handgun I was able to cock the shooter (Sig 226 .40S&W) while about 75-90 yards away from the deer and follow them as they went over a small hill.

My experiences in bow hunting bear from a tree stand showed me that I should be very careful about noise, even the sound of clothing rubbing together, as the bear were always quick to look to the source.

I would think that the sound of cocking a shooter could cause the critter to go on the alert and a way around that should be found to your satisfaction.

I spooked a doe monday when I opened the butler creek cap on my scope. I normally do this when I sit down but forgot. I even tried to muffle it but she looked right at me when I did it and I was in a tree stand. We played "move again I dare you for about a minute" LOL.

Try Velcro!
When I set a bow up for a release after shooting fingers for all of my life, I spooked deer just drawing the bow. The wrist strap on the release would creak. I had to put reverse Velcro on the exposed part of the strap.
I took all Velcro off of holsters too.

Or, we could all go to the woods during the off season and cock our revolvers. That way the game animals would be acclimated to the sound and not be spooked.

quote:

Originally posted by MS Hitman:
Or, we could all go to the woods during the off season and cock our revolvers. That way the game animals would be acclimated to the sound and not be spooked.

Too much work. A fella could add a sound card to his trail cam so that every time a deer walks by its snap a photo then treat it to the four clicks. Them as shoot over feeders could create an entire supper medley of creaking stands, ripping velcro, holster snaps, gun muzzles on cordura, hammer clicks, and red dot on switches...

I found out a feeder needs to be out a long time, maybe all year. If I put one out before the season, they never get used to it. They spook when it goes off even if they are far away. The larger deer stay way back while the fawns eat. The little ones will bump it to shake out more corn.
I seen the same with a pile of apples when just put out. They will smell them but not eat any for maybe 3 days. Youngsters don't care, it is food.
We can hunt deer over bait or salt but I don't bother with it, never made results any better. Too much time, effort and expense. Just sticking out a feeder before season will not drag in the deer you want to shoot.
I started to use the feeder to push deer away from my stand just before going in so they are not around. Set the timer for the right time.

quote:

We can hunt deer over bait or salt but I don't bother with it, never made results any better.

How true. Putting out protein blocks I've found doesn't mean you'll ever see deer using them. In fact, they will long since be licked away probably during the night and all that's left, surprisingly I thought, is a fairly deep hole in the ground.

I've wondered if deer can hear trail cam shutters click, but I doubt it. I think the cams are too well enclosed for that. I do think however that trail cam flashes spook deer to some extent. After cams have been up a while I believe deer show signs of being more comfortable with the flash.

What I thought pretty amusing was one doe that got her mug right up in the camera looking at it. You could have real fun picking a caption.."what the **** is THIS?!?!"

And when the deer get used to it and go on feeding you get multiple pics whenever they move. When you play them back on your video cell phone or whatever, go fast from one pic to the next and you've got a slow motion movie!