Handgun hunting 101: think before you shoot

Guns Magazine, May, 2007 by Mike Venturino

To be honest, I've always considered hunting big game with a handgun as bordering on a stunt. And to be certain, if it is not done with heavy emphasis on ethics and competency, it most definitely is a stunt.

Here's an example. I once knew a fellow here in Montana who killed a cow elk with one shot from an iron-sighted .41 Magnum revolver at about 110 yards. He was impressed with himself over the experience, even when laughingly admitting he had aimed for the heart/lung area while actually hitting the old girl in the head.

Therefore. my interest was piqued when Clint Smith invited me to come observe a Thunder Ranch class on handgun hunting. I really didn't know what to expect. After all, you can teach someone how to shoot, but that's a far cry from putting them afield with a live animal in their sights. Also. I was curious as to what might define a handgun in such a class? A scope-sighted, single-shot firearm with a 14" barrel chambered for a full-bore rifle cartridge is legally a handgun Be that as it may, I've always felt it's a shame to cheat a perfectly good rifle out of its buttstock. My belief is a handgun should be something capable of firing several repeat shots without a lot of fiddling around.

The answer to my first reservation about Clint's class was simple. Instead of holding the Handgun Hunting class at Thunder Ranch's facility in Oregon, it was moved to the Flagler Ranch in Texas. Flagler Ranch is one of many Texas game ranches with not only a large population of native whitetail deer, but some exotic game, too. There are Axis and Fallow deer and Blackbucks on the ranch's 3,600 or so acres. Occasionally the wild hogs frequenting much of Texas are also encountered there.

The Test

So, as a sort of final exam for Thunder Ranch's Handgun Hunting class, the students are allowed to put their skills to the test. A whitetail doe is included with the student's fee, but if they want to upgrade all the way to a trophy buck of one species or another, that is between them and Flagler Ranch. Also, a point worthy of note is for those many thousands of people who attended Thunder Ranch while it was located in Texas, the Flagler Ranch setting will be completely familiar. It was the location Of Thunder Ranch until the move to Oregon.

My second reservation was answered at a glance the very first morning on the range when all the class members uncased revolvers. There was nary a butt-stockless rifle to be seen. To be specific, all were Smith & Wesson .44 Magnums in various versions of Model 29 and 629, except for one lady shooter's Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum. Also, every single one of those big S&Ws was fitted with a Leupold scope, mostly of 4X. Clint also had along an S&W .44 Magnum fitted with an Aimpoint sight.

Purists might argue a scope on a handgun precludes it from being classified as a "carry on your hip day in and day out" firearm. This is where the "ethics and competency" thingy comes into play. Nobody I know carries a scoped handgun as a daily sidearm, but an optical sight is a great aid in dropping an animal cleanly. This is a compromise between being able to carry a handgun handily and being able to shoot it precisely.

Also along to both observe and participate in the class was Tony Miele, business manager for Smith & Wesson. So the class members could really experience something different, Tony brought along a couple of artillery pieces, which he tried to pass off to me as being handguns. These were Smith & Wesson s big X-frames: one an S&W .460 with 12" barrel, and a .500 S&W with 9" barrel. Wisely, Clint placed Tony on the far end of the shooting line so the muzzle blast from his cannons didn't blow anybody's skirts over their heads! (Actually, I'm joshing Tony a bit here, as those Big Berthas weren't that bad with such long barrels and five pound or so weight.)

Every Thunder Ranch class I have attended starts out the same in regards to two factors. Clint first gives a lecture encompassing the goals of the class, with heavy emphasis on safety. Then the class meets at the range and begins to shoot--a lot. The first morning the focus is on making sure everyone's firearm is zeroed. I bet you're asking. "You mean people pay good money to attend a class and bring guns not sighted in?" Yeah buddy, you better believe it,

I've been in Thunder Ranch classes where people couldn't hit paper in the beginning, even when firing from modest ranges. Actually it's not as bad as it sounds, because people are there to learn, and learning from experienced instructors how to properly zero a firearm is a great start. Also, this sighting-in time gives the instructors an opportunity to observe the students' shooting abilities and begin their job helping them improve.

Shooting started at this handgun hunting class at 50 yards using standard scope sighting-in targets. And it was done from a solid rest using benches and sandbags. Three-shot groups were fired and the scopes adjusted from group center. When everyone had a zero, the benches were moved to 25 yards to see if point of impact changed. Most varied only slightly in elevation.