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“Do you carry?” asked a friend while I was in the company of Rick Lambert and Jim Zumbo.  I glanced at Lambert, a former Dallas Police Officer, under-cover narcotics officer, and long a private detective involved in some truly high profile cases.  A sly smile crossed his face.

“Occasionally… If you’re addressing handguns! But, when in the presence of my smiling compadre here, I generally do not because I know he’s carrying enough firepower for all of us.” I quipped.

“Me?  I’m primarily a hunter, someone who loves to hunt with handguns, mostly revolvers.  I do have a couple of handguns I can carry, essentially unseen, on occasion. But I tend to like bigger handguns mostly revolvers chambered for .45 Colt, .44 Mag, and .454 Casull.  That said, I do own some .45 ACP Model 1911s, made by Colt and Ruger, as well as one that goes back to World War I built by Remington.  I carried that one many, many years ago when I first started going to college and occasionally “spent time” working with the local police force. Mostly my 1911’s I keep at home strategically placed around the house.”

I continued tell him that for many years I carried my hunting handguns in bandoleer-like shoulder holster made for me by Pistol Packaging.  If you read some of my articles from many years ago, saw photos therein, or watched the many outdoor television shows I did hunting with a handgun, you likely saw it. Today, I use a bandoleer shoulder holster when hunting with my Taurus Raging Hunter .44 Mag topped with a Stealth Vision red dot sight. It’s the best way I have found to carry that particular revolver when hunting.  It’s handy and out of the way, plus I have quick and ready access to it when I need it.

Over the years I tried all sorts of carry holsters using handguns with red dot sights or long-eye-relief scopes.  Personally I have found none I like better or more than a bandoleer holster. I have tried many.  The current one I use was custom-made for me by a friend who for a short time was in the leather and holster business.  Unfortunately, he is no longer in business.

It’s no secret I have long loved single-action revolvers because of their sleek design and I suppose look of the older western Colt revolvers made popular by real cowboys, but also by those that appear on the “silver screen”.  Because of the grip design single-actions are easier on the hand when shooting heavier recoiling rounds.  But I suspect my love for single-action is mostly because of their more traditional old-time handguns look.

That brings up my current favorite “carry gun”, Taurus’s Deputy.  It has the look and feel of an old Colt “Thumbuster” as that style of single-action revolver was referred to in my younger years when I spent a lot of time around old-time Sheriffs, Deputies and a couple of Texas Rangers, those who had done “officer work” during the early to mid-1900’s.

I was fortunate, thanks to my father-in-law E.V. “Ed” Potter who was involved law enforcement for just shy of 60-years, to not only do some “officer work”, but also be introduced to many of the old-time sheriffs, marshals, deputies, DPS officers and Texas Rangers and to get to spend time with them listening to their stories.  I was and am truly honored to have been accepted by them. The stories they told were nothing short of fascinating and enthralling.  I wish I could have recorded some of their tales, but this was long before the arrival of video. Yes, there were tape recorders, but those attending would not have allowed the taping of their stories.  I do recall a few of their “tellings” about apprehending certain criminals.  One of these days I will record them on video or on paper.

During my younger years I got to spend time around real cowboys who made their living on horseback, working for some of the larger and more famous ranches in Texas.  I tried to glean as much as I could from them in how and why they did things certain ways listening to their adventures, and, always about their guns and how they carried them.

I was probably 8 or 9 when I started paying attention to how the “old-timers” carried their side-arms, as well as the lever-action rifle they generally carried with them when horseback.  Handguns like their rifles were almost always carried in leather scabbards.

Some carried their rifle with the stock pointed forward. Others carried them with the stock pointed toward the rear.  I soon learned that most those who worked in “open country” arranged their rifle and scabbard so the stock pointed forward.

When I asked those who carried their rifle in a saddle scabbard pointed rearward they pointed out they spent most of their time horseback in dense brush country and carried their rifles thusly so the stock would not hang up on limbs and brush. Both rifle “carries” made good sense.

It was then too I noticed those who carried sidearms (pistols) either as a primary or secondary firearm, if they were right-handed wore their pistol in a crossdraw holster on their left side, so the grip was pointed toward the front rather than the back. When I asked a friend of my granddad, why he carried his pistol that way he responded. “Think about it this way, if I wore my pistol on the right side, handle pointed rearward and my horse fell with me and he’s kicking like crazy and I fell on either my left of right side, it would be extremely difficult, or almost impossible, to draw my gun with either my right or left hand…and I’m right-handed.” I thought about it a moment, pretended I was laying on my right side and tried to grab my pistol, being right-handed.  I realized he was correct.  It would be nearly impossible to grab my pistol and pull it out of its holster with my right hand.  He smiled at my doing so…

“See how the grip of my pistol, crossdraw on my left side, points forward.  Laying on either my left of right side, there’s a much better chance I can draw my pistol with either my left or right hand.” He watched and again smiled as I went through the motions of doing so.  He was right. Crossdraw I could reach my handgun with either my left or right hand.

Lesson learned!  To this day whenever I carry a revolver on my hip, I always have the holster set up for crossdraw including for my Taurus Deputy.

Mine is chambered in .45 Colt, sometimes referred to as .45 Long Colt, as opposed to the .45 Auto Colt Pistol or .45 ACP.  Because there are still a few older .45 Colt handguns around that were built during the blackpowder era, there are very few commercially available hunting loads.  However, Hornady does produce a hunting load for modern day .45 Colt handguns, their LEVERevolution 225 grain FTX.  I have used this load in my Rossi M92 .45 Colt lever-action rifle and my .45 Colt Taurus Deputy, as well as in my .454 Casull and .460 S&W Mag Taurus Raging Hunter revolvers.

With the Deputy at 25-yards using the sights that are on the gun, groove in the receiver and blade front sight I can put six shots into a 5-inch circle at 25-yards.  Knowing this I intend to use my Deputy in the next weeks for hunting hogs, javelina and whitetail deer.  On one of the properties I help manage we need to take numerous does this fall.  Generally, this chore falls upon me.  I do not complain because it allows me the opportunity to hunt and take deer with several different handguns and rifles.  On that property, sitting on the ground there are several places where I should easily be within 25-yards of a deer or hog.  In December I’ll be hunting for a couple of days in the Texas Brush Country, where I intend to rattle up bucks, but also call in several javelinas.  One of my goals for this coming fall is to shoot a whitetail (buck and/or doe) deer, a hog and a javelina with my my .45 Colt Taurus Deputy.

As this is being written whitetail hunting season on Managed Land Deer Permit properties here in Texas is about a month away.  I have spent time at the range and know my capabilities with my Taurus Deputy.  I can hardly wait for deer season to get here.