Since 1989 I have been hunting on a few hundred acres of land
owned by a friend of mine and his family. The land joins FT. McClellan in
Calhoun County. I have been very successful on this property having taken
16 deer with bow, rifle and handgun as of the end of November 1997.
On a crisp November morning, I was perched in my Amacker tree stand near
an abandoned logging road on a ridge. This stand overlooked a 15 acre
site cleared of pines about three years earlier. Behind me was a stand of
chestnut oaks. I had my Sniper Shack surrounding me with a camo curtain.
As I watched three hen turkeys feeding below me, I heard a deer approach
from behind me. I quietly slipped my S&W Model 29 with 10-5/8" barrel
from the holster and slowly turned to face the approaching sound. A young
buck was walking along feeding on acorns. From a distance of about 20
yards, I fired a Hornady 180 HP over 12 grains of Unique into the lungs.
The deer ran about 25-30 yards and fell dead. I found the bullet barely
mushroomed under the hide on the offside. I wasn't pleased with the lack of
expansion or its penetration but sure couldn't argue with its effectiveness.
I had my first ever handgun deer.
Not satisfied with only a single hole, I switched to cast bullet load of
Lyman #429244 over 24 grains of H110. My next chance came a couple of weeks
later from an oak tree about 50 yards from the pine where I had killed
the first buck. A nice 8 point was walking along about 80 yards away in
front of me. I carefully braced my wrists on the padded bar of my tree stand
and fired. The shot seemed almost too easy but, Murphy saved the day
for this buck. I had switched from my factory iron sighted Model 29 to my
8-3/8" S&W Classic Hunter wearing a 2X Leupold. Through the scope I
failed to see the 3/8" wood support of my Sniper Shack which my bullet
hit. The wood support survived with only minor injury, but the buck
escaped unharmed.
A few days later I got another opportunity from the same tree. A spike buck
responded to my grunt call and came within 50 yards of my position. A
single cast bullet through his shoulder put him down for count. The cast
bullet have full penetration. Since the buck fell within sight of me, a
blood trail wasn't needed. However, the double hole sure would have given
me one if it had been needed.
January 30, the next to last day of deer season in Alabama, found me
walking slowly along the side of a steep ridge. There were several well used
deer trails along this ridge. I heard dogs in the distance chasing a deer.
The sounds of the chase kept coming nearer until I saw a small spike
buck. He was running from the dogs and crossed the bottom of the hollow
between the ridge I was on and the one to the east of me. He ran by me at
about 35 yards. He never knew I was there until the Hornady 240 JHP from
my S&W 29 went through his chest. He went down immediately and slid to
the bottom of the steep ridge. This caused a long tough day but capped off
the season very well.
