Handgun Hunting Afield

My goal for the 2024 Wisconsin deer seasons was to try out the new Cutting-Edge bullets across multiple platforms, Revolver, muzzleloader and specialty pistol. I have been sold on the monolith bullet style for a number of years already and have used Barnes, Hornady and Nosler mono-metal bullets to great success across a variety of platforms. When Cutting Edge bullets starting supporting Handgun Hunting Afield and I saw the success that Chris Rhodes was having with their bullets I decided I wanted to try them out for myself. I ordered 135gr handgun raptor for my 41 magnum, 210gr muzzleloading raptors for my CVA optima pistol and, 77gr .243 maximus for my 6br SSK-50 and 125gr .264 maximus for my 6.5×284 xp-100. Load development throughout the summer and fall was made easier with the information provided in the Handgun Hunting Afield blog.

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Remember to follow proper loading procedures and work up your own loads. The following loads proved safe in my firearms.

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For my 41 magnum I worked up a load and settled on 20.5gr of accurate #9 and a Federal 150 primer providing 1558 fps from my 6-inch model 657 topped with a 4x Leupold scope.

Wisconsin’s traditional 9-day deer season begins the Saturday prior to Thanksgiving and runs through the following weekend and is the only opportunity to harvest an antlered buck with a firearm. Opening weekend in WI started warm with temps in the mid-thirties with little deer movement as I saw only 1 deer (a small doe) on opening day. Day two started warm as well but by midday a cold front had started to move in and drop temperatures into the teens. This colder weather caused the deer to move earlier to feed in the afternoon and I started to see more activity including a number of smaller bucks that were still chasing does but nothing I was interested in taking presented a shooting opportunity. Monday’s sit produced a few does that were quickly chased off by a small 8 point but showed that I was in an area that the deer were moving and there were still some bucks actively chasing so I decided to hunt there again on Tuesday. Yearling does and some buck fawns started showing up about 3:00pm Tuesday afternoon but they were acting skittish and hesitant to stay in the open field for very long. 3 adult does showed up shortly after including one particular doe that was breathing heavily and seemed extra nervous. I felt this was likely due to being chased by a buck and hoped it was a new buck and not the small 8 point from the night before. The young fawns and does finally calmed and began feeding out in the field when I noticed another deer enter the field from my right. The first thing I noticed was this was a much larger deer with a significant belly sag indicating a mature buck. A quick glance to his head gear and I was sure this was a deer I wanted to take. He quickly entered the field and headed straight for the doe that was winded when she arrived. I began bringing my 41 magnum up into position resting my forearms on the shooting rail. The doe turned and headed back into the woods and as the buck turned to follow her, I settled the crosshairs of my 4x Leupold on his shoulder and squeezed the trigger. The buck took off immediately at the shot and I listened for a crash as he headed off into the woods. While there was no immediate indication that he had been hit I was confident in my shot as the hold and trigger break felt perfect. I was sure I would hear him crash shortly but after hearing only a few branches hit off those antlers all was quiet. I gave myself a few minutes to settle myself down before going to look at where I had shot and where he had run and then began looking for blood. I found no sign of blood in the field and only 2 small drops where he entered the woods about 20 yards later. I could not see any obvious sign after those initial drops so I backed out to give the deer time to expire in case that shot wasn’t as good as I thought it was. I called in my uncle and nephew to help look as it would be dark soon and as I waited for them to arrive all the doubts began creeping in, did I mess up, a flinch or pulling the shot. I replayed the shot over and over in my head. We began trailing and looking for blood, about 20 yards after the initial blood there was another 2 drops another 20 yards and my nephew found a single drop on a leaf and again those doubts tried to creep back in. We kept edging forward looking for the next sign of blood and after about 15 yards I hear my nephew say “there he is!”. The buck had obviously died on the run and all told had gone less than 80 yards from where I shot him. We took a few quick pictures and began the field dressing process. MY shot was a little high compared to what I wanted but was well centered in the upper third of the shoulder blade with no exit would. The chest cavity was filled with blood as there was a 41. Caliber sized whole for entry on the near side lung and the off-side lung had a much larger wound channel and significant damage. I mistakenly assumed the bullet would be in the offside shoulder or hide so I did not spend a lot of time looking for the bullet when field dressing. While skinning the deer it was found that 1 petal travel nearly through the deer having clipped an off-side rib and lodging in the hide, however the main bullet shank as well as the other petals did not leave the chest cavity and must have been removed while field dressing the buck. I did go back and check the following day but the entrails had already been well scavenged overnight and there was no sign of the bullet and no more knowledge to be gained there. While I was disappointed in not having an exit would to provide a better blood trail the deer expired quickly and only travelled perhaps 70-80 yards from the shot. One animal is certainly not a definitive test for a bullet however; I think I will push the bullet faster or more likely switch to the heavier 180 gr Handgun Raptor for future use with my 41 Magnum. That being said, the lethality of the 135gr handgun raptor was on display as this buck did not travel far after the shot. This was my first whitetail buck with a revolver and I couldn’t be happier.

With my CVA muzzleloader pistol I settled on 80gr (by volume) equivalent load of Blackhorn 209 powder and the 210gr Cutting Edge Maximus muzzleloader bullet topped with the new Ultradot Match Dot 2. This load gave me a muzzle velocity of 1580. This gave me the confidence to shoot out to just shy of 100 yards and still maintain the 1300fps recommended for expansion. I was able to shoot a doe at 35 yards just behind the shoulder with this load and had a bang/flop kill. The damage that the 210gr bullet path had was significant and both the shank and petals exited the doe.

I was not able to get out hunting again with the specialty pistols until Christmas day. I awoke Christmas morning to a couple inches of fresh snow which would help make visibility in the woods much greater. The morning started with 2 smaller 8-point bucks feeding their way through the woods underneath my tree while the does stayed further away. Later that morning as it approached 9am a second group of deer began working their way towards me and a large doe began feeding along a trail that would bring her into my shooting lanes. The doe cleared that last bit of brush giving me an off-hand shot at 50 yards. I eased the hammer back and steadied the crosshairs and squeezed the trigger. The doe gave a mule-kick at the shot and ran about 20 yards before falling dead. Upon field dressing I realized I had pulled the shot slightly low compared to what I was aiming but the 77gr Maximus (loaded with 30gr Benchmark at 2800fps) had erased the back half of the heart before exiting. I didn’t need to track this does as I had seen her fall dead, but even so I could see the blood trail in the snow from the deer stand and if tracking had been necessary there was blood aplenty to follow.

Cutting Edge Bullets proved to be accurate and deadly for me this year and I look forward to gaining more knowledge and experience with them going forward. I will likely abandon the 135gr .41 caliber bullets and switch to the 180gr (unless I get the chance to hunt some smaller bodied southern deer) but even that bullet proved itself very lethal and quickly dispatched the buck harvested this year. There is a bit of a learning curve with loading the handgun raptor line of bullets but you can skip ahead on this curve with a little research on the Handgun Hunting Afield Blog. Next year I hope to get the 6.5×284 on the board with the 125gr maximus and have 200gr raptors ordered for the 44 magnum as well as the 180gr for the 41. We live in a wonderful time with a gluttony of good quality bullets available and the Cutting-Edge bullets are quickly proving they deserve consideration as well.

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Equipment: Smith & Wesson Model 657-3, Leupold 4x Handgun Scope, Cutting Edge 135gr Raptor, Starline Brass, 20.5 gr Accurate #9 powder, Federal 150 primer.
CVA Optima Muzzleloader pistol, Ultradot Match dot 2, Cutting Edge 210Gr Maximus muzzleloader bullet, Blackhorn 209 Powder, Federal 209 primer
SSK-50 6mm Benchrest, Swarovski Z3 3-10 optic, Cutting Edge 77gr Maximus, Peterson Brass, 30 gr Benchmark powder, CCI Br-4 primer,