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Handgun Hunting in Colorado Being an avid hunter, I figured that I should try all of the major methods; archery, blackpowder, handgun and rifle. Like most Colorado hunters, the vast majority of my hunting has been with a rifle, and probably the most typical firearm at that, a Remington M700 in .30-06 with a 3-9 Redfield (and old one). I enjoyed archery and muzzle loading, but frankly I like the meat I get off of the animals, especially elk, harvested later in the year so the rifle seasons held more appeal. After many years of filling all of my big game tags easily, I decided that I needed a little more challenge than the rifle afforded. So for the past several years, I have been trying hunting with handguns. Now Colorado is not what one would call “Handgun friendly” when it comes to hunting. I’m not talking about politics, I am talking about terrain. The majority of the state is open with great visibility. Even many of the mountain units have wide open meadows and valleys making getting close enough to game for a shot with a handgun a challenge. There are some laws that might slightly help the handgun hunter, and some that will affect the equipment he can use. Also, you must hunt in the rifle seasons with a handgun. If you have ever wanted to try handgun hunting, read on. I’ll discuss the laws, equipment, and hunting skills that the successful handgun hunter in Colorado needs. One law that some people consider an advantage to the handgun hunter is the allowance to have a loaded firearm in or on a vehicle. Let me dispel this notion right away. “Road hunting” is NOT hunting at all. It is opportunistic, but requires little skill, puts others hunters and game at risk and ruins the hunt for many other hunters. I have no problem at all with the use of ATVs to haul game out provided it is legal and does not disrupt others hunting, but hunting off of them and in general using vehicles in wooded regions just hurts hunting for all. Now on to the fun stuff! As I write this I can almost see some of you peaking with interest at the thought of taking the old .357 Magnum out on a deer hunt. Well, let’s not get carried away. The law in Colorado only allows handguns to be used during rifle seasons and with the following restrictions: Barrel length of 4” or longer, .24 caliber or larger with an expanding bullet, no shoulder stocks or attachments, must produce 550 ft/lbs. or more at 50 yards, and the handgun can not be concealed if carried in the field. The .357 Magnum can make it with a 4” barrel, just barely, when one uses top drawer ammo like Buffalo Bore (www.buffalobore.com), but I’d still make sure to test it in your gun to make sure. Remember, that is at 50 yards that it must have 550 ft/lbs of energy. So readily available calibers include 10mm Auto, .41 Magnum, .44 Magnum, .45 Long Colt, .454 Casull, .480 Ruger, and the .500 Smith & Wesson. There are of course plenty of other wildcats, rifle caliber pistols, and some downright thumpers. Some of my favorites are the SuperMag series from Dan Wesson, (.357. .414, and .445) which take the .357, .41, and .44 Mags and add some length for case capacity. I have a 10” .414 SuperMag that is accurate and powerful. My listing the 10mm might raise a few eyebrows, but it is a very potent caliber when loaded to it’s potential. There is now a specialty loader, Doubletap (www.doubletapammo.com) that loads some excellent 10mm hunting loads. When we talk about handgun hunting calibers, speed is not the end all. We want accuracy and penetration. You’ll also notice that bullet diameter from .40” to .50” is the norm. There are a variety of theories, but in general, if the diameter is large enough, we can focus on penetration without giving up substantial energy used up in a lot of expansion. Weight, diameter, velocity and trajectory are all inter-related when it comes to on-game performance, so choose carefully! But before you pick a caliber, it is best to pick a platform. By far, the most popular platform is the Revolver with a good debate between the Ruger and the Smith as the best. However, there are a few auto pistol calibers that are viable and don’t overlook the single shots. I’ve hunted with all 3 platforms, a .40 Super and a 10mm in a 1911 auto, a .41 Magnum in a revolver and the .414 SuperMag in the Thompson Center Encore single shot. For dangerous game or heavy cover, I guess that the revolver would be the best bet due to reliability and follow-up shots, but I have not had any issues with the single shots or auto-loaders. I must admit that I always carry a back-up of some sort. I carry a handgun when I rifle hunt and a second handgun when I handgun hunt. Sights will add a little more accuracy, but in most cases, they offer little advantage unless your eyesight has started to fail. I use only open sights, so far. Where and how you hunt with a handgun also deserves some attention. For most, the maximum range will be somewhere between 50 and 100 yards depending on species, skill, and cartridge. True, there are skilled shooters that can launch slugs accurately out to 300 yards and beyond, but there is rarely enough energy left for a clean kill. I have found that my range is limited predominantly by retained energy. This is why the scope will not offer much help. As such, knowing the downrange energy and what your particular cartridge is capable of is of paramount importance. With most rifle calibers, and especially magnums, most hunters don’t posses the shooting skill to take advantage of the cartridges capabilities. With pistols, you become more limited and you need to know the energy and accuracy limits. Once that is established, you should consider the terrain and adapt either the areas you hunt or the methods you use. I’ve belly crawled on antelope for 4 hours in the dark to be in place to get a 100 yard shot at legal light and it was very rewarding. With a rifle, I could have slept 4 more hours. I utilize stands and blinds more often with handgun hunting, which requires you know the local game habits so you can be in the right place. For elk, I like well used saddles early in the morning and hunting down fingers in the afternoon. With deer, thick cover draws in the afternoon work well. For antelope, some low cover near the watering hole seems to work best. These are situations where shots under 100 yards can be easily attained. Spotting and stalking is one of the most truly rewarding skills, but it takes years and years to get good at it. I have harvested several animals from small game to elk with handguns over the last few years and have found it very rewarding. In 2003, I harvested a nice cow elk with a 10mm 1911. The 10mm is a tad on the light side for elk, but the shot was set up well and I had the rifle for back-up. The firearm was Dan Wesson’s Razorback; a 10mm specific built 1911 that I actually got to be a part of designing on-line. I used a 180 grain Gold Dot at 1350 fps. I held a tad high and the slug broke the back of the elk, took out the top of the lungs and anchored the big cow solidly. So if you are one of the hunters who knows his hunting unit well, always fills his tags, then take up the challenge of using a more demanding method of take, the handgun. |
