1st 44 deer

[rimfire]

Had taken a few deer with a 7-30 waters, but took my first whitetail this evening with a 44 magnum Contender barrel my dad bought for himself back in 1983.  Shortest range deer gun I own and killed the deer the farthest away I have ever killed a deer.  115 yards with the 44.

Keep in mind I grew up hunting deer with buckshot and moved to New York where slugs ruled until the pistols and in-line ML started taking over.

Have the barrel shortened to 11" and recrowned and fitted with a free floated forend.  Shoots very well, but kicks way more than the 7-30 I used last year on 3 deer.  7-30 has more range and is probably more versatile, but the 44 made it more fun.  Had to crawl and shimmy on my belly through the mud for 10 minutes just to get as close as I did.  Knew I could shoot 2" groups at 75 yards and recognized it was slightly more than 100 to the deer.  Had my arm braced against a tree.  Held for a little bit considering and reconsidering.  Noticed my wobbles where not wobbling off of the chest so decided the shot was doable.  The 1.25# trigger job didn't hurt.

Told my 4 year old I got her a birthday deer cuz she turned 4 today.  She thought it was cool.  Hope she stil thinks it is cool when her friends tell her how gross they think it is in a few years.

I love hunting with different calibers and this satisfies the goal I have each year of taking a deer with a new gun and/or caliber.  Still have the 20 bore rifled slug from my Encore to break in this year since I have never gotten a deer with a 20 guage or a slug from a rifled barrel for that matter.  Hope I never run out of new guns and loads to try.

Have a good season.

Barry

[Myk]

I had a group of 8-14 year old girls watching me gut one of my first bow kill this year. They thought it was cool. Just hope she falls in with a good crowd. As long as you are there to influence her she should be OK.
Not like the two 15-18 year olds who screamed when I picked the head up to show them my second bow kill, or my nephew who thought it was gross that I was touching a dead deer I showed him when he was young.

Congrats and good luck.

[markc]

Good going Rimfire.   I did take a young buck one year with my 20GA Mossburg pump gun.  Like you, I find it interesting to try for deer, or hogs with each of the firearms I own, even though I have a couple of favorites.  Congrats!
markc

[ftw]

Congratulations on your deer. We seem to have the same intentions. I carried only my 7-30 14" for the last two seasons and was lucky enough to take two deer each year. This year I started out carrying a 10" .41 Mag(One of my favorites) with red dot scope. I have been out about six times and have not had any luck.

I was at a friends house last night sitting on a ladder stand overlooking a wheat field surrounded by woods. I used an old Ranging ragefinder to find out the far corner was about 140 yards. Guess where the two does came out? Way too far for me and this gun. I probably will go out again Sunday and try again.

[Graybeard]

Congrats on your first deer with the .44 Mag Barry, may you take many more with the round. It is an excellent choice for deer. I've taken a bunch with it. Have long since lost count of just how many but took another this morning with the new Taurus M44 with 12" barrel.

GB

[rimfire]

Bought a laser rangefinder recently.  Checked all the places I had stands the last few years to confirm distance to game I have taken.  Most were shorter than I thought.  The 44 deer this post was based on was actually at 133 yards [standing right next to a bush in the field I could range to].

Whew!  Probably would not have shot if I had known it was that far.

[Hcliff]

Congrats.  What kind of ammo was it?  

Great Shooting

Hcliff

[oso45-70]

Rim Fire
Congratulations on your hunt and hope you have many more. The 44 mag is hard to beat, Keep up the good wprk.........Joe....................