Handgun Hunting Afield

The past several seasons I have felt shorted with my hunting season. My hunting time in the field has added up to just a handful of hours with my tags being filled; and just like that hunting was over for the year. This year has been the exact opposite so far, and it has been awesome!

For the past eight days I have been pursuing deer here in Wyoming. I have hunted multiple zones and put over 100 miles on my boots. I have been fortunate to see deer every day but I haven’t had a chance at a buck I wanted to take until the last three days.

Those last three days yielded multiple stalks, and the stalk is what gets the juices flowing! Over those three days I had multiple cross canyon stalks that exceeded a mile only to end with the deer bounding away. There was also several stalks in tight cover with no practical way to get closer to the target animal.

Yesterday had an added task to the hunting plans. I was fortunate to have the chance to help a friend’s son get his first bull elk which was a great experience. That elk hunt started with a failed stalk and ended with a well laid ambush as the elk worked past us.

Following the successful elk hunt it was my turn to chase a deer. I spotted deer on an elevated flat about 1400 yards straight line away. I dropped down into the canyon, worked across the bottom, and made the climb back up to find that the deer had moved and put themselves down wind of me. Those deer left the flat and I said to myself “today we are getting this done”. I hiked into a farther back section that I had not been into yet. I had planned to take a break on a small shelf, drink some water, and prepare for the stalk into thick timber. As soon as I stepped on that shelf a very large mule deer buck whipped his head around, looked at me, and took off like a jet. I gave him a bit to hopefully settle down and re bed in the forest. I never did find that buck again.

I then proceeded to hike back out and on the way back it dawned on me that I had one more place to check, there had been deer there every day that I was unable to stalk. Once again I climbed to another high flat. By this point I could feel today’s hiking in my knees and back. I gathered myself and prepared to sneak into where these deer had been every day.

This area has a series of shallow drainages with a few slightly elevated hills. The landscape is dotted with sparse standing trees and is completely littered with deadfall.

Sure enough as soon as I raised my head over the first rise deer were in view and one of them was a buck! The wind was howling at 18-20 miles per hour and I was over 400 yards away from the deer at this point without a clear shot on them. On previous days I backed out and did not attempt to stalk these deer due to the lack of a viable stalking path and crunchy snow. Today was different, most of the snow had melted which left all of the leaves and grass wet and nearly silent when you walked on it. The high winds also provided both noise cover and helped conceal movement. I once again said to myself, “today we are getting this done.”

I used my binoculars to pick out a route over the terrain and selected an ending point that should put me within wheelgun range where I could use the Spohr 286 357 Magnum and the 105 Cutting Edge Bullet. The path I had chosen took me through both high and low spots and all of it was covered with deadfall. The low spots were just 2-3 feet of drop and some of the high spots had me in nearly complete view of the deer.

Now for the fun part, the stalk. This stalk was going to be different. I was going to have to low crawl the entire way. With such sparse concealment I had to keep my face almost on the ground as I covered over 200 yards straight line. I took my pack off which contained my single shot handgun and I put my left leg through the shoulder strap. I proceeded to crawl dragging my pack with my leg as I advanced. I weaved around, under, and over dead fall which likely doubled my distance I had to cover.

As I was crawling I would stop often and glass the deer with my binoculars to check their location and adjust my route. I made my way into the last low spot before the final few yards I had to crawl to what was going to be my firing position. This location was completely in the open with just one vertical standing tree for cover. I wanted my pack in front of me to be able to use it as a rest if needed so for these last few yards I dragged it beside me with my right arm.

I crested the small rise and made it behind the tree. I then located the buck and ranged him. He was 190 yards away with a 18-20 mile per hour full value cross wind. I was 40 yards beyond my max range with the Spohr and the cross wind was too much for even my maximum range. There was no possible way to get closer and this stalk was too difficult to abandon. I elected to deploy my 6.5 Grendel Contender with a 105 Cutting Edge Maximus. This Contender wears a 1-6 Trijicon optic and I fit a Harrel muzzle brake to the barrel.

I loaded the Contender and took a rest on my pack. I had been wearing my OtoPro Impulse hearing protection the entire hunt so I was prepared to take the shot.

Using the Trijicon rifle scope on the Contender allowed me to be in a very tight and stable position verses the arms extended position required with a pistol scope. This allowed me to quickly acquire the target, settle the cross hairs behind the shoulder, and slowly build pressure on the trigger. When the Contender barked and the 105 Cutting Edge Maximus impacted the deer, the reaction was unbelievable. Very few times in my hunting career have I witnessed an animal fall down stone dead immediately. The only direction this deer moved following the shot was straight down to the ground.

When I approached the deer I observed the impact about centerline in height and right behind the shoulder with the exit going through the off side shoulder. The instant knock down and full penetration from a cartridge as small as the 6.5 Grendel is an testament to the Cutting Edge Bullet fracturing technology and patents.

After the bang the real work begins. Just prior to this season I purchased a custom knife from David Pitt and could not be happier with how it has performed skinning multiple animals this year. It made quick work for breaking down this deer. Once the deer was broken down and loaded in my pack I began to hike out.

A long fun filled day with sore knees and aching back; I wouldn’t have it any other way!

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