Well, today was a VERY, VERY good day for me. It had been raining, and the temp. was getting colder, BUT, the best day so far this year for deer hunting came on X-mas morning. I asked the wife and girls if they would sleep in so I could try for a deer this morning, but they told me NO WAY Opening X-mas gifts was TOO IMPORTANT, so hey, I said fine, it would give me a chance to catch up on some sleep, rest some and enjoy the day with the family (Normally I would not even think of hunting on X-mas day, but this year has been the pits for me deer hunting).

Well, all was fine, everyone liked their gifts, everyone got what they wanted, and we headed over to the in-laws for X-mas lunch. After lunch I decided to head out to the woods for a evening hunt.

Got to the stand @ 3:30, and wasn't there long and a doe stepped out. She crossed and I figured maybe a buck will be following so I got ready. Five min. went by and I saw some movement at the edge of the shooting lane. Got the rifle up and SPIKE!!! First horned deer I've seen this year!!! I put the rifle down and grabbed my 44 mag. T/C and got ready! Let me tell you, I've killed a few deer in my time, so buck fever is not a problem, BUT, this one had me shaking!!! Lucky, he took his sweet time on coming all the way out, and it gave me time to calm down. Put the crosshairs on him (at 125 yards he sure looked small in my 2x Leupold). Got steady on his front shoulder and squeezed the trigger...BLAM! He dropped at the spot Hey, this 44 pistol works! But then he went to flopping around, so I reloaded and got the scope back on him and he laid still. Hummmm, he looked dead. WRONG! He started to roll around and rolled off into the edge of the thicket. I jumped down out of the deer stand and got to where he was at, and he saw me and started rolling off into the thicket. I let him settle down and squeezed into the brush (it is VERY thick, old cutover) and found him 15 yds. out into the thicket, hung up in the brush & vines. I eased up to him and put a round into his neck to finish him off. Life is good!!!!

I was shooting 270 Gold Dot Soft points, and the first shot had just missed the spine, maybe nicked it and kept him from running off. 1" lower and it would have took the spine out. He never was able to stand, just roll around. So, I've killed my first deer with a pistol, got what I REALLY wanted for X-mas. It does not get any better than this....

So, MSSMAGNUM, you got me into this pistol shooting, and I'm sure glad you did THANKS!
Bulldog...

Good job!
steve

bulldog!!! hey great news !!! good job !!!
send sum steaks to my house!!
lol !!!
yup.bet ol' mssmagnum is happy too !!
buckweet

[ 12-26-2002, 05:53: Message edited by: buckweet ]

well dennis it's about time,we knew you could do it. good job buddy.now lets get another one.

Bulldog
Congrats on your first Handgun buck! Merry Christmas.
Rich Jake

Congrats Bulldog!!!! Did it have a red nose??

Mike

[ 12-26-2002, 06:54: Message edited by: mbk ]

Nice job Bulldog, and an excellent story!!

CONGRATS DENNIS!! I am glad to hear ya put that rifle down!! I would imagine now that you have taken your first buck with a handgun that you are HOOKED!!

Geeze....almost feel like a proud papa, LOL!

CONGRATULATIONS Bulldog. Now you are hooked for sure. You will never ever forget that First Handgunned Deer.

What a Christmas present.

Good Job

Larry

Dennis-
So THAT is what happened to Rudolph...

All kidding aside, though, that's a great way to begin your handgun hunting career. Congrats to you...

Congratulations Dennis!!!!!

way to go! now pour it on and practice up. forget those rifles. i killed my first handgun deer about 7 years ago. it was with a 44 mag ruger redhawk. i didn't know if i was just lucky or it was meant to be. but now i have 100% confidence in the handgun. it just makes it so much more fun. congratulations on a fine trophy.

Bulldog,
Thanks for the story and congratulations on your first handgun deer. Like you I carried both a rifle and handgun when I first started handgun hunting, but after you get that first one, you'll wean yourself off of the rifle pretty quick.
Greg

PS As a joke, I told my wife if I got a small buck this year I was going to paint it's nose red, strap it to the hood of my truck and park outside of a preschool to watch the kids reaction. She said I was a sick puppy.