The first weekend of February each year is anxiously awaited by a large number of Mobility Impaired deer hunters in the state of Florida and surrounding states in the Southern portion of the country.
This quality hunt, provided by the Air Force and government civilian employees of Elgin Air Force Base located in Niceville, Florida is considered by those of us who make the rounds at various areas of the state that provide such hunts as the top spot. This was my fourth hunt at Elgin and I have taken either a doe or buck every year that I have hunted. This year however, was going to be a different story since I would be hunting with a handgun. I bought a Contender and one barrel 3 years ago and have added frames and barrels since then.
I sold all my long guns and set my sights on taking a deer with a handgun. I had not been luck the last 3 years in getting my name drawn for this hunt and so have been trying to take a deer at a local WMA near my home in Pensacola. Unfortunately, I was unable to get a shot at a buck during the 3 year period and doe's were not legal game at this WMA. Needless to say, I was very happy to have my name drawn again this year. My son-in-law Scott Carlson agreed to accompany me as my none hunting helper. I decided to take both my 6mm TCU and my .44 magnum with me. My 6tcu is dressed with a Burris 3x12 scope and figured I would use it on does and my .44 mag on bucks. Little did I know that decision would be changed by the stand I drew to hunt on.

Scott and I loaded up and drove to Elgin on Friday, the day before the hunt. There is a required meeting that all hunters have to attend and you have to draw your stand on that day as well. Hunting would be Saturday and Sunday. I felt good about my chances of taking my first handgun trophy since I could take one buck and 1 doe during the two day hunt. I had been doing a lot of shooting at my range in Pensacola and I felt I could make a good shot up to 100 yards with either handgun. Well, after arriving at Elgin I drew my stand and found out that it was in the Hell Fire Missile test range. That should have given me an inkling of what was to come.
I had not hunted in that area on any of my 3 prior hunts. The hunt is conducted in the closed area of Elgin where a lot of weapons are tested. There are bombing ranges, missile test ranges and other special weapons test areas. The air force shuts these areas down each year to allow this hunt to take place. You would think where a lot of munitions testing was going on that it wouldn't be a great place to hunt! Well, it is a huge area with lots of woods, open pastures, power lines etc... and the place is absolutely eat up with whitetails. Since these deer are only hunted 2 days each year it is almost a sanctuary for the deer. The bucks there get to live a lot longer than the average whitetail in the rest of the state and therefore some really nice whitetail bucks are taken each year on this wonderful hunt.

I became eligible to attend this hunt since I was nearly killed in a head on auto accident back in 1988. I spent 8 months in the hospital and was left pretty banged up. I can walk short distances with a cane, but cannot climb a tree and couldn't hunt at all without help from my friends. I have a mobility impaired license from the state of Florida and since I am now over 65 I don't need a Florida hunting license. There are 50 hunters drawn each year for this hunt. The Jackson Guard division of the Air Force provides 5 guides. These are civilian employees at the base and all work at the base as foresters, or some other type of outdoor employment. Each guide is responsible for 10 hunters and their helpers. When you draw your stand number your guides name is on it. Well, Saturday morning rolled around and Scott and I got over to the area at Jackson Guard where we were to meet our guide at 4 am. He lined us up in the order that our stands would be located and our caravan of vehicles and the other 4 guides and their vehicles took off for the closed area.

He dropped us off at our stand, but even in the dark I knew I had not drawn a stand for a handgun hunter! As I stated before, my stand was on the test range of the Hell Fire missile which is carried by the Wart Hog aircraft. It was nothing more than a huge open field covered in broom sage about 2 feet high. Behind us on the other side of the dirt road was miles of the same kind of territory. This vast open area was scattered with small pockets of woods. My guide told me this was an area the deer used to cross between the wooded areas and he assured me there would be deer around. Well, it was the stand I drew and we would just have to make the best of it. Just off the road a short ways was a mound of dirt which would give us a better view of the surrounding area.

The large area had a number of low areas so deer could be in one and not be seen until they came out of them. In the distance were a number of military tanks used as targets for the missiles. Scott set up my portable shooting bench on the mound and I set up my folding canvass chair behind it and set down. I set my pistol rest on top of it and we started waiting for daylight. I already knew that my 6tcu had just taken over as my primary weapon since any shot I got would probably be a long one. I had cartridges loaded up with 26.5 grains of Benchmark powder and Nosler 80 grain ballistic tips. I get about 2650 fps with them. It is also very accurate in my handgun. Scott set him up a stool to my left and got out his binoculars and was ready to start glassing.

Well, it had been a beautiful star filled night and the temps were in the 50's and very comfortable. The wind was blowing from our left to right. Our guide said the rut was on and the bucks were really chasing does. Shortly after daylight a nice buck walked into my view at about 500 yards.(guess!!) Didn't have a range finder. Scott put the glasses on him and said he had a nice wide rack. The buck was moving from our left to right. Scott got out his grunt call and grunted a couple of times and the buck stopped in his tracks and looked our way. Scott grunted again and the buck started walking then, turned our way. He would stop every 30 yards or so and Scott would hit him with the call again interlaced with a doe bleat from a can call. Man, those calls had his attention! Of course all this time I was following the buck thru the scope on my Contender sliding the pistol rest to match his movements. He was coming towards us and also moving to the right and I was beginning to get concerned that he might pick up our scent. All I could think about was 3 years hunting with a handgun without firing a shot. I was scared to death he would smell or sight us and bolt. He would alternately walk and stop, walk and stop.

Finally, while he was stopped facing us head on he appeared to be intently staring at us and we were not hid in the brush. I had the cross hairs on his chest and I had a rock steady hold on him. I didn't know how far away he was since I didn't have a range finder and there was nothing around him to judge the distance. I knew he was over a hundred yards but I knew the ballistics on this load and I felt like I could take him. I held high up on his chest and squeezed her off. Immediately after the bark of the 6tcu there was a solid "thunk" and I knew he was hit. He angled off to my right and started walking slowly and with difficulty with his head down. He would stop every few feet and walk a little more. Finally he stopped and would not walk any more. I thought he would go down at any moment, but he continued to stand there. I decided to try to put another one in him. Now he was broadside to me and I held high up on the shoulder and fired. There was no response from the buck and I did not hear the bullet hit. I surmised I had missed him and since he was quite a distance away I assumed I had shot low. I loaded another round, held even higher and fired again. Again the shot was followed with the sound of the bullet hitting the target. He went down immediately. I was ecstatic! My 3 year quest had ended! Scott and I exchanged several hi fives.

Shortly after that my guide drove up and we told him I had a buck down out on the range. He had a helper with him so Scott and his helper walked out into the field to find the buck while I could give them directions since both the guide and his helper had radios. I kept telling the guide that they were looking to close and had to go further. I could tell by the look in his eye that he thought I was mistaken. He would say "further"? Looking at my handgun. Finally his helper radioed that he had found the buck. My guide told me he had a range finder in the truck and when he drove out to the buck he would range my position and let me know how far it was.

Well, they loaded up the buck and drove back to me and my guide informed me that it was 220 yards where I made my last shot. Scott and I estimated that the buck traveled approx 30 yards from where I first shot him. So I figure the range was 190 yards. I found the performance of the bullet strange since it entered the left side of his chest traveled thru the heart lung area doing a lot of damage, traveled the entire length of the body and exited out high on the inside of the right ham. I would have thought the bullet would have stayed in the body. The second time he was hit was high up on the right leg. The leg was shattered but the bullet did not enter the body cavity so all it did was knock him down which he was ready to do anyway. I am the only hunter to take a deer at Elgin with a pistol. It was all dressed up in a Georgia Jim suit and was quite a hit back at the check in station. My buck was a typical smallish whitetail for the area and weighed in at 130 pounds. He is currently at the taxidermist and will take a prominent position on my wall above my computer.

The hunt was a big success since 50 hunters took 32 deer the first day and 26 of them were bucks including one 10 pt and quite a few 6 and 8 points. I think my buck was the second best of the 8 points. I left after the morning hunt Sunday and went home to Pensacola so I don't know what happened Sunday although there was not near as much shooting going on. A great deal of work was done to make this a very successful hunt for all who attended. There were a number of volunteers from local hunt clubs who cleaned the deer that were shot and put them in ice chests for the hunters. Also the wives of the volunteers cooked up a bunch of hamburgers and sausages with baked beans and cole slaw as well. There was a tent set up at the check in station with tables and chairs to eat our lunch. I am looking forward to putting in for the hunt again next year.

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