Handgun muley

Got him this morning with my 4" gp100 with 180gr cast and wc820. First shot was at 75yds and I center punched his shoulder. I expected him to fold at the shot but he ran off with an obviously broken shoulder. I gave it a few minutes And took up the trail expecting to find him piled up a short distance later. To my surprise, when I created a ridge he was bedded in a draw about 50yds from the shot. He was still very much alive and bolted as soon As he saw me! I let him get out of sight and made a big loop to get out in front of the direction he was headed. Slowly working my way back up the creek where he had gone, I heard him bump again. I gave it a few minutes and inched forward. I finally spotted him bedded just off the creek bed and worked into position for the finisher. The shot was about 65 yds and I placed the bullet well behind the right shoulder to angle into the vitals. At the shot he reared up out of his bed and fell straight over backwards. That one had done the trick. On the skinning rack I found that my first shot had in fact center punched the shoulder, but thats where to good news ends! After penetrating the shoulder blade, the bullet turned almost straight down and went into the brisket without exiting. IT NEVER PENETRATED INTO THE CHEST CAVITY! certainly not what I expected and it was an utter disappointment. On the bright side, the finished shot went through a couple feet of deer in a straight line but it too did not exit. Both bullets we're recovered under the hide. I have killed a ton of game with my .357's in the past but I am loosing faith. I believe I will start carrying my gp100 44spl....

I wouldn’t lose faith. I would step up to a longer barrel for more speed. Still got it done with a 4 inch, and that’s prettt cool.

Wow, that’s incredible.

Congrats sir, my hats off for that hunt.

I couldn’t make those shots and I’m not afraid to admit it

Congrats on a fine buck and accomplishment. I really like hunting with a handgun as well.

Congrats!

Congratulations Chuck!

I've killed deer and hogs with the .357 revolver and, while I've not had a slug deviate to that extreme, like you I ultimately went to a larger bore and heavier projectiles. Frankly, bullets do STRANGE things sometimes and neither of the recovered bullets pictured would give me much concern...they look about like I'd expect them to look.

The best news is that you made one heck of an effort to get another shot into the buck and that persistence (along with some very fine handgunning by the way) puts this whole episode into the plus column. Well done!

Mark

I don’t wanna underestimate the hunt you described

Those shots, with that caliber and barrel length are more difficult than say 30-40 yard bow shots

I’m still impressed.

Congrats sir

Congrats!

Nicely done. Congrats

What a deal. Great deer and story

I hunted with a 44 mag for several years. Effective to 100 yards for me. I finally stopped when the arthritis in my knuckles made it painful. I don't hav a .357 pistol anymore. Hmmmm.

Impressive. That ain’t easy to do. To me anyway.

nicely done.

Do you think a more expanding bullet would have made difference?

Dang! Good shooting

Maybe so. I used to use the 170gr Speer I believe it was. Killed lots of critters with it!

Hardcast stinks on deer compared to an expanding bullet. That's if you have the horses to drive it. Get a .44 240gr XTP going over 1000fps and it's a whole 'nother story.

And congrats on the recovery.

Awesome shooting and congratulations. The .357 Magnum is handicapped by a short barrel. Do some research on barrel length and the .357 compared to almost anything else. I think 2-3” more barrel would make a tremendous difference. It’s ability is not fully realized until you load it in a carbine. The .357 with a 180g bullet is devastating on deer sized game in a 16” 1894 or similar.