Post by mgderf on Oct 16, 2019 14:57:56 GMT -5
Twenty years ago I was out deer hunting with my brother and a friend.
Walking the edge of a cornfield trying to flush a deer, I was carrying a Mossberg 12ga, and a Taurus .357mag revolver with a 4" barrel.
At about 60 yards in front of me a coyote crossed the field in a slow loping trot.
I stopped in my tracks and leveled the Mossberg.
The coyote stopped at the edge of the woods and just looked at me, giving me a perfect broadside target.
I squeezed the trigger on the Mossberg and it went BOOM!
The coyote stood there, still looking at me, wondering what the noise was.
I have no idea how I missed that coyote with a 12ga slug, but rather than racking the slide I decided to kneel.
I very slowly dropped to one knee and laid the Mossberg down on the ground.
I pulled the Taurus .357mag from my holster and got a sight picture I liked, so I squeezed the trigger.
The next thing I knew that coyote was running in circles and yelping like someone's pet.
My first thought after hearing the yelping was, "Oh lord, PLEASE don't let me find a collar on that dog.
Nope, it was indeed a coyote, and I hit him square in the front shoulder passing through both lungs.
I still have no idea what happened with the Mossberg.
Either I jerked the trigger without realizing it, or I had a terrible flyer.
At any rate, I had just missed with a long gun, and hit with a 4" barreled revolver, from 60 yards out.
The gun I have I simply lacked the consistency I felt I needed to cleanly kill a deer and as such I was NOT going to put myself in that position. I'm not saying 4" isn't possible....it just wasn't with me and my gun. On game I am intentionally hunting my intent is a clean kill and it's our responsibility to ensure we limit ourselves to that objective.
That is odd that your yote watched yo like that. Those I have seen don't ask many questions. I have spooked one as I was lined up the the shot and the yote buggered simply at the sound of my safety being switched off. I must have very high strung yotes!
At that time I would not have tried a shot on a deer at that distance, and with that firearm.
I had not had the practice to be that confident in my ability to place the shot in a humane spot.
I wasn't overly concerned with a possible "bad shot" on a coyote, though I still want a clean kill.
My point in the post was merely to point out that a 4" barrel WILL reach that far, and even a little further, with proper practice of course.
Since that day I've become much more proficient with my short-barreled handguns, but then I've spent some considerable amount of time behind the trigger in that time.
I surprised myself with the shot, and have surprised myself again and again with other handguns.
A year or so ago a friend told me that he had taken a 9 pointer at 125 yards with a 6" barreled Magnum Research Desert Eagle chambered in .44mag.
I was skeptical, to say the least.
He admitted to using a scope, so I decided to try my hand at a 100 yard shot on my next range day.
I took my scoped .44mag Desert Eagle with a 6" barrel to the 100 yard bench and shot a 5-shot group that measured less than 3"!
I was floored!
I had no idea that I was capable of a shot like that, let alone the handgun.
I've still not taken the Desert Eagle on a deer hunt, but only because I have other choices that don't weigh in like three bricks.
Practice, practice, practice...you might be surprised too.