What trophy are you most proud of?

[Kiwifire111]

My wifes trophy husband!! And, my 2024 Wildebeest.

 

[DLSJR]

After 57 seasons of hunting so much game in many places, it’s difficult to pick just one. Some that come to mind include…

My very first sheep hunt, an Alaska Range backpack sheep hunt in 1978, when I was 19 years old. My parents sent me as a high school graduation present. I spent 17 days with a backpack, missed a really good ram midway through my hunt and finally killed a rather small full curl ram on the 14th day. For a 19 year old kid on his first Alaskan hunt, it was a grand adventure. I enjoyed it so much I went on a horseback sheep & grizzly hunt 2 years later, also in the Alaska Range.

My first African hunt was in 1983, when I was 24 years old. It was a dream safari by any measure, wildly successful on all licenses with great quality animals, but a couple animals stand out above all others. My first dangerous game was a good buffalo bull that we stalked in very close to in very thick bush. We were crawling in on 2 big bulls when one turned and walked directly across the front of us. I was shooting a 458 and the bull stopped broadside at 13 yards, but I had no shot as a large mopane tree was covering his front shoulder. The bull was staring directly at us and finally broke to run and I sent a 500 grain Hornady soft point into his chest. Roy Vincent was my PH and he said “You Missed”. I told him I didn’t miss and we jumped up in pursuit, running after the buffalo. It ran about 100 yards and its head suddenly dropped and he went ass over teakettle, stone dead. A few days after the first Buffalo, we were on the edge of a large herd of elephants that contained a good bull that was in musth. We got chased a couple times by juvenile bulls, kept dogging the herd in an effort to get a shot at the bull and we eventually got more than we bargained for. The bull charged, silently with his ears pinned back flat and we both shot him at the same moment, stopping him at 9 yards! There was a lot more to that hunt than I’m describing here, but 42 years after that hunt, many of the memories are still vivid in my memory. BTW, that first buffalo was 41 1/2” and the elephant was a 58 liber. I also took a big leopard, a bigger 2nd buffalo and some Great Plains game over 24 days.

Finally, one of the most recent African animals I’ve taken means more to me than almost anything I’ve ever hunted. 14 months ago I was fortunate to take a wonderful, old Lord Derby Eland. I had no idea how significantly that animal would affect me. As Lord Derby hunts go, it wasn’t particularly difficult as we took the bull midday on the 2nd day. But for some reason I realize how fortunate I am to be able to hunt such a special and majestic animal. Hunting Lord Derby’s is a privilege, one I’m extremely grateful to have been able to experience.

 

[EBaker]

I've killed a few decent whitetails and a good mule deer, but the one I'm most proud of has to be between these two. The first one is a little young 8 I shot in high school with a self bow. I had been shooting an hour a day 5 or 6 days a week for a few months to be confident shooting instinctive. The place we had at the time wasn't great and he was the only deer any of us saw that year. The 2nd one is a big 7 point I shot with my ruger 357 rem max revolver. I had been targeting him specifically from the beginning of archery season in October to mid November because he was interesting to me. I work week on week off and use all my vacation during deer season too, and I was either working or hunting, so I spent a ton of time hunting trying to get him specifically and passing on everything else. Side note: in my opinion the 357 maximum is the ideal hunting handgun cartridge for deer and similarly sized animals.

 

[HankBuck]

I've killed a few decent whitetails and a good mule deer, but the one I'm most proud of has to be between these two. The first one is a little young 8 I shot in high school with a self bow. I had been shooting an hour a day 5 or 6 days a week for a few months to be confident shooting instinctive. The place we had at the time wasn't great and he was the only deer any of us saw that year. The 2nd one is a big 7 point I shot with my ruger 357 rem max revolver. I had been targeting him specifically from the beginning of archery season in October to mid November because he was interesting to me. I work week on week off and use all my vacation during deer season too, and I was either working or hunting, so I spent a ton of time hunting trying to get him specifically and passing on everything else. Side note: in my opinion the 357 maximum is the ideal hunting handgun cartridge for deer and similarly sized animals.

@EBaker - good trophies with that “self bow” buck and later Handgun buck = impressive !
Why do you like the .357 Maximum Hangun so much for deer? It’s no doubt adequate but I haven’t heard of that cartraige Refered to as “ideal deer hunting” round the way .44 mag & .454 Casull (for those that can shoot them accurately) might be considered. I do Not include S&W hand cannons (460XVR & .500) because they have such limited applications - similar to the TC Contender single shots. I would guess one advantage the .357 Maximum might have is penetration with it’s high BC due to its narrow diameter and heavy bullet. Anyway - You’ve done very well with it, are confident and shoot it accurately —— that’s what matters most.

 

[EBaker]

@EBaker - good trophies with that “self bow” buck and later Handgun buck = impressive !
Why do you like the .357 Maximum Hangun so much for deer? It’s no doubt adequate but I haven’t heard of that cartraige Refered to as “ideal deer hunting” round the way .44 mag & .454 Casull (for those that can shoot them accurately) might be considered. I do Not include S&W hand cannons (460XVR & .500) because they have such limited applications - similar to the TC Contender single shots. I would guess one advantage the .357 Maximum might have is penetration with it’s high BC due to its narrow diameter and heavy bullet. Anyway - You’ve done very well with it, are confident and shoot it accurately —— that’s what matters most.

The energy is about the same as 44 mag with my handloads. It's a 158 grain bullet at 1940 fps out of the 10.5" barrel. That velocity gives it what it needs to just drop deer and pigs shooting in the shoulder. I've killed deer with hot 44 mag and 480 ruger and a quite few other pistol cartridges and the 357 maximum is the only one that drops them in their tracks consistently with the same shot placement. I've even had deer go 30-40 yards with a 500 and a 45-70 pistol. It's also flatter shooting than almost all the relatively common handgun hunting cartridges so you can just hold poi anywhere inside 100 yards without an issue. This isn't a cartridge thing, but I also think the bullets designed for the 357 perform better on animals like deer that arent as tough as the bigger animals the bigger bore cartridges are good for. I've done a lot of shooting with that revolver and have got it down to about 4" at 100 yards. The lighter recoil is nice too. I like the cartridge so much I got a Dan Wesson chambered in it to go with my Ruger.

 

[SCHUNTER73]

This is a great thread. It is difficult to sort through my memory for the one animal or hunt that is most special to me.

 

[HankBuck]

The energy is about the same as 44 mag with my handloads. It's a 158 grain bullet at 1940 fps out of the 10.5" barrel. That velocity gives it what it needs to just drop deer and pigs shooting in the shoulder. I've killed deer with hot 44 mag and 480 ruger and a quite few other pistol cartridges and the 357 maximum is the only one that drops them in their tracks consistently with the same shot placement. I've even had deer go 30-40 yards with a 500 and a 45-70 pistol. It's also flatter shooting than almost all the relatively common handgun hunting cartridges so you can just hold poi anywhere inside 100 yards without an issue. This isn't a cartridge thing, but I also think the bullets designed for the 357 perform better on animals like deer that arent as tough as the bigger animals the bigger bore cartridges are good for. I've done a lot of shooting with that revolver and have got it down to about 4" at 100 yards. The lighter recoil is nice too. I like the cartridge so much I got a Dan Wesson chambered in it to go with my Ruger.

@EBaker you have a lot of experience and positive results from your handgun/bullet/load combo. I didn’t know you were using a 10” barrel and that must add a lot of velosity. I’ve only used an S&W 629 w/5” barrel, open sights, and Buffalo Bore .44mag w/255gr Keith hard cast. I am Not a serious handgun deer hunter (carry it when rifle hunting and take a deer only when easy-close opportunity presents itself). I have a S&W .460 w/10” barrel and hate it - it’s more of a rifle with Cut Off stock, power is ridiculous ! …makes shooting my .44 like popping off a .22lr and why I’ve only fired one Box thru it in 15 years (will likely sell it soon and get something I would enjoy/use more).
Good luck with your handgun hunting - you take it seriously and put the proper effort and planning into it AND your results are very good !