Submitted by a reader of HHA.
A First Deer Story
Saturday morning breaks cold and finds me back in the same stand I hunted the previous Saturday. Tucked in a corner of piney woods on my little 9-acre homestead, I travel light this morning with just a few tools in my vest. My pack remains on the porch, cushion and all. The metal grating of the stand makes for a cold seat. Note to self: don’t forget the cushion.
A group of deer come into view, looking for a place to cross the fence and onto my property. The first to cross is a yearling buck with a short, flat spike on one side and a taller, forward curving spike on the other. A cull buck, to be sure. Perfect.
My main tool this morning is a 6” barreled Ruger GP 100 chambered in .357 Magnum. A formidable looking weapon, its mass gives it a certain presence. Loaded up with 140 grain Hornady XTP HP bullets over a snootfull of Power Pistol makes it extremely lethal. The little jacketed pills have a velocity of about 1400 feet per second and hold a 2-3” group shooting offhand at 20 yards. How they would perform on a 120 lb. yearling buck was about to be discovered.
The buck entered my corner of the wood, cautiously nosing up the trail. I had sprayed some Tink’s #69 on my boots before walking in and a time or two since sitting down. Nosing in my direction, he appeared to be all about it. Avoiding eye contact as he studied my position, I felt the light breeze on my face as I sat perfectly still with the pistol in my lap. Circumstance was quickly ripening into opportunity.
Tamping down excitement as he dropped his nose and turned away, I brought the pistol to bear looking for the shot. Moving through the skinny trees, his broadside is to me and I line up the bright red and green glowing dots. Hold. A clear shooting lane puts him in the open 15 yards dead to my front. Hold. He steps into the clearing and stands perfectly still with green-red-green right behind his shoulder. Now.
A gentle touch to the trigger brings the hammer down. Literally and figuratively. The handloaded round does its thing as the .357 Magnum bucks and barks. It is a powerful round and it is loud. The young deer is hit hard with a bullseye on the boiler works. His legs buckle at the impact, but he doesn’t fall. Taking off in that low-crouch sprint deer often do when hit hard, he takes a few quick steps and stumbles. Coming back upright, he takes a few more steps and loses coordination. A front leg fails and he starts plowing ground. A rear leg fails and he plows even harder, flipping over before coming to a complete stop less than 10 yards from where he was hit. Watching the entirety of the action, I am giddy with my first deer harvest with a pistol.
Bruce Hunt, December 2025
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