
What Animals Can You Hunt with a Handgun
Depending on the state you live in, you can legally hunt most non-migratory birds and mid to
large-sized animals. Believe it or not, a hunter can target animals as large as bears and elks,
utilizing modified, modern handguns.

Although there are a few consistent regulations about hunting with fully automatic rifles and
hunting white-tailed deer using rimfire cartridge rifles, the list of animals you can go after with
your pistol is wide open. You can utilize your handgun for hunting them all, from hogs to deer,
rabbits, squirrels, turkeys, and boars.
While many avid hunters prefer long guns with long-distance optic systems or an AR15 with an
upper receiver built to handle larger chambered ammunition, there are just as many that prefer
hunting with a pistol. In most cases, the question is not can you hunt with a handgun rather than
do you want to hunt with a pistol.
Several things make hunting with a pistol probably one of the most exciting hunting you’ll ever
experience. However, there are a few limitations and requirements you’ll need to understand
before you choose to drag your 9mm along for a hunting trip.
Practice, Practice and Practice Some More
One thing you need to understand when hunting with a pistol is that placement on your target
must be precise enough to ensure an ethical shot that brings down the animal and dispatches it
quickly. To do this, you need to spend more time at the range practicing with your first shot and
follow-up shot groupings.
You need to understand where the kill-shot area on the game you’re hunting is, and then practice
hitting that spot on your target at the range over and over until acquisition of the target and
placement of the first or follow-up shot is intuitive.

Remember that the primary goal is to mirror the exact shot placement you get when firing your
rifle during your practice sessions. If you’re a crack shot with your AR15, you’ll need to match
those same shots with your pistol.
As with all live-fire range practice, it will take several trips to the range before it begins to click,
and you’re able to hit the sweet spot as expected consistently.
Remember, just as you practice at the range to better condition your reaction times and accurate
shot placements in the event of a dynamic home defense situation, you’ll need to perform the
same continuous practice if you decide to hunt with a pistol.
Stalking and Short Range
Using a pistol to hunt requires a lot of patience. It typically results in tracking and stalking your
prey as silently as possible to minimize the distance between you and your target to around thirty
or fifty yards.
Stalking your game is the exciting part and, in the beginning, probably the most frustrating part
until you learn the art of adequately tracking the animal to snap off that close-range shot. While
shooting at shorter ranges is much like bow hunting, hunting with your pistol requires additional
accuracy and marksmanship skills that many in the hunting community don’t have.
Some revolvers even allow you to mount long eye relief scopes for more accuracy.
