Hand gun Hunting

I'm with Sealhunter, I have zero interest in hunting with a handgun.

It's nothing personal to anyone here, but whenever I see photos of the guys with their novelty handguns posing in front of game, I think "knob" and turn the page. On the other hand, I see the dudes with their stickbows and think "that is hardcore".

It's not rational, I can't explain it, but I just don't have the inherent desire to try handgun hunting. If someone else wants to try it though, that's fine too.
 
sunray said:
"...In Ontario it was legal till 1979..." Nope. Late 60's, if ever. Certainly not 1979.
The OFAH has done little or nothing for hunter's rights. No opposition to the Outdoors Card tax or ending the Spring Bear hunt.
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Absolutely wrong . I did it along with many others up to and including 1978 . My last game animal was a small moose 100 miles north of Sudbury with a Ruger Blackhawk in .41 mag using hard cast , gas checked bullets . Go to your local library and pull out the Ontario Fish and Game Regs from 1978 and 1979 . In '79 that act was opened to include the line , 'the hunting with handguns , pistols and revolvers is prohibited in Ontario '. From the dawn of time up to and including 1978 it was legal .

In 1979 not only was the Fish and Game Regs changed but the wording on our ATT's also changed . Prior to 1979 our ATT's simply stated , 'for the purpose of target shooting' , but didn't specify where so we target shot at game animals because it was legal . In 1979 a new line was added to our ATT's , for the purpose of target shooting , 'at an approved range'.

The Feds with bill C-51 jumped in bed with the province and that ended handgun hunting .

In 1984/85 my club collected 17,000 hand written letters asking that handgun hunting be re-instated and i as a rep along with the OHA/CSSA met several times with the Solicitor General , Attourney General and Minister of Natural Resources in Ontario . We had a verbal agreement that the Fish and Game Act would be re-opened and the prohibition on handgun hunting would be recinded .

"Someone" heard about it and demanded a meeting with the minister of Natural Resources and the Minister decided to hold a stakeholders meeting for input . Problem was that the Minister wouldn't allow us to testify at the stakeholders meeting , i couldn't be there the OHA/CSSA couldn't be there nor could any rep from any gun club .

The only stakeholder allowed to meet with the Minister was the OFAH and they wanted no confusion between thier members who hunt with shotguns and bolt action rifles and hanguns which were designed for the criminal element . The OFAH had 75,000 members and killed it on the spot because only criminals use handguns .

I've continued to hunt with hanguns all over the USA and it's just a matter of selecting the right caliber and bullet for the job . Any 4 to 6 inched barrelled revolver in .357 mag will quickly dispatch a whitetail out to 50 yards and with a hard cast gas checked bullet , very little problem going farther . Just about any factory ammo for a .44 mag is good for deer to 100 yards . My favorite is my Ruger Super Blackhawk in .45LC using a 300 grain hard cast over 23 grains of H110 and ignited by a CCI 350 . That bullet will shoot through both shoulders of a moose or black bear or an elk at 100 yards . The energy level is just under stiffly loaded factory 45-70 ammo , except that i use a harder bullet that will penetrate and break bones all the way through . A .44 mag with a big bullet can be loaded to just about the energy of a 30-30 Winchester and millions of deer have been taken with that caliber . We can go up the scale to the .454's , .460's and .500's and there is nothing in North America that you can't take with those .

The next step up are the handguns chambered in rifle calibers . I have a TC Super 14 in .223 and a second barrel chambered in .308 . There is no problem finding the right caliber for the right job . My .45LC load with a Beartooth hard cast , gas checked bullet will shoot right through the shoulders of a 300 pound hog and through the chest of a second 150 pound hog standing beside it at 75 yards , killing them both dead .

We didn't lose the option of handgun hunting in Ontario over anything like proficiency . We lost it because the OFAH killed it as they knew that all handgunners , upon returning from a hunt would rob a corner store or murder someone which would cast the OFAH members long guns in a bad light .

Anyone who doesn't believe it is free to check the minutes of the meetings of the OHA/CSSA when Don Hinkley was President and go to the library and pull out the Ontario Fish and Game Regs from 1978 and 1979 . There were clubs all over northern and northwestern Ontario that shot in gravel pits and farmers fields because there were no approved ranges up here so our ATT's , as mentioned earlier were for the purpose of target shooting but they didn't say where . In 1979 we had to scramble to build approved ranges .
 
Absolutely. You know how many times I go deer hunting, never see a deer, but plenty of grouse? I'm not shooting a grouse with a deer slug, 30-30, etc. But damn, if I had my Browning Buckmark, I'd at least go back to camp with something for the pot.
 
hansol said:
I'm with Sealhunter, I have zero interest in hunting with a handgun.

It's nothing personal to anyone here, but whenever I see photos of the guys with their novelty handguns posing in front of game, I think "knob" and turn the page. On the other hand, I see the dudes with their stickbows and think "that is hardcore".

It's not rational, I can't explain it, but I just don't have the inherent desire to try handgun hunting. If someone else wants to try it though, that's fine too.
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Thank you for writing that last sentence. One main reason we'll never have CCW,handgun hunting,etc. in Canada is because the gun fraternity is split into dozens of groups.
IPSC shooters that are not in favor of hunting, hunters opposed to baiting bears/deer, rifle hunters opposed to BP hunting..................the list is endless.
 
Sadly, in Ontario this means dismantling or at least significantly changing the ATT system, which probably won't happen anytime sooo...pending C301 anyways
 
Well, the way I figure it, anyone is free to do whatever the hell they want, and who am I to judge what is right or wrong? (within reason, of course.)

If a dude wants to hunt with a handgun, all the power to him. Do I want to do the same thing? Not really. But like they say, "Different strokes for different folks."

As for the whole thing with being allowed to carry a handgun (CCW), again, I think if a guy wants to do that, he should be allowed to. He's not hurting anyone, so what's the problem? I would REALLY like to be able to carry a side-arm when I'm packing clients' game-meat when I'm guiding. It would save a bit of weight on those long hauls. But in the mean time I'll just use the new guide gun I bought.
 
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I like to hunt in large timber and have always felt when walking though the forest( with dead fall on the ground and other tripping hazards) that a holstered handgun would be safer allowing both hands to help balance or for moving branches
All shots I taken are well under a 100 yards as maximum visability is about 100yards
 
Slithery said:
Absolutely. You know how many times I go deer hunting, never see a deer, but plenty of grouse? I'm not shooting a grouse with a deer slug, 30-30, etc. But damn, if I had my Browning Buckmark, I'd at least go back to camp with something for the pot.
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id take a grouse with a 30-30... just make sure its not a body shot. deer slug probably not though...
 
Due to the Canadian mentality (produced by anti gunners) some how a handgun is viewed as being SOOO different from a rifle????....... even by gun owners????

A lot of you have been brain washed and it's ####ing sickening.

I am sure an American hunter/gun owner would read some of the responses here, roll their eyes then laugh out loud.
 
I dont know about that they loose velocity but\/

.44mag 180 GR. HDY XTP Winchester 296 31.5gr 1896fps 29,900 CUP

I'm sure that would do a number on a whitetail.

I do a lot of walking and crawling stalking deer it would be nice to hunt with a hand gun and as provinces like Ontario are actively trying to open more hunting seasons I wish there was a way to hunt with hand guns it would be a perfect "special" hunting season.
 
I'm just not a fan of using them for hunting because I can't seem to hit anything worth a crap with them. With a rifle, on the other hand, I'm a pretty decent shot. Nothing against pistols, they just seem to be a pretty useless and expensive toy in my hands.

That being said, if someone is a good shot with one, no reason they can't work.
 
Republic of Alberta said:
Due to the Canadian mentality (produced by anti gunners) some how a handgun is viewed as being SOOO different from a rifle????....... even by gun owners????

A lot of you have been brain washed and it's f**king sickening.

I am sure an American hunter/gun owner would read some of the responses here, roll their eyes then laugh out loud.
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I don't think I'm "brain washed"... but if any handgun owner in Canada thinks that one day restricted/prohibited firearms will again be used for anything other than punching paper at clubs under strictly controlled conditions, he/she is very much an idealist...IMO.

It is nice to close one's eyes and dream of bagging a few ruffies with your favorite 22 auto or taking a doe with that S&W M29 44Mag... but the centre and left spin doctors have built such a negative image of handguns that any talk of "relaxing" handgun regulations would be instant political suicide.

Truth of the whole matter is that the Liberal thinkers dating way back to the early Trudeau era have done everything they legally could to make life miserable as possible for law abiding firearms owners in this country. We as firearms owners MUST band together and support all groups involved in shooting sports and not pick and choose who and what he/she feels to be acceptable in regard to hunting and shooting. If handguns were to be banned, I would bet my first born that long guns would be the next "crusade" of the anti's. Oh and ya... there is another "Trudeau" being "groomed" as I write this!
 
M12shooter said:
I don't think I'm "brain washed"... but if any handgun owner in Canada thinks that one day restricted/prohibited firearms will again be used for anything other than punching paper at clubs under strictly controlled conditions, he/she is very much an idealist...IMO.
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Not an idealist at all. I CAN hunt with my handguns, just not in Canada.
 
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