The county I lived in for most of my adult life was designated as a shotgun only county for big game hunting. Deer and Black Bear. Slugs or Sabot slugs, no buckshot.
There was a way to legally "cheat" those hunting/game laws, with handguns and specialty handguns chambered in rifle cartridges.
I've had a selection of hunting handguns and specialty handguns for many decades and used them regularly to legally circumvent the shotgun only game/hunting laws.

Some years back they finally got around to changing the game/hunting laws so that rifles also were legal implements.
When I moved in 2016 -2017 to the county I live in now, it also is legal here for big game hunting with rifles.

As time passed, I used the hunting handguns and specialty handguns less and less. Let's face it, rifles are simply more effective in almost all circumstances vs any handgun for big game hunting.

This year, we have our heated mobile hunting shack set up on the recreational property on the edge of a food plot.
The hunting shack has a shelf for sandbags right below the bottom edge of the windows.

I decided to drag several of the hunting handguns out and check them for being sighted in for the upcoming firearms deer season.
Yesterday, I sighted in all the rifles we plan on using for the season, and they all shot very well.
When I finished with the rifles, then on with the handguns.

I made a mistake, and started with the T/C Encore single shot pistol chambered in 30-06. It should have been fired last, as the recoil, muzzle blast, concussion, and fireball are all outstanding!
This one was fired from a sandbag rest on a benchrest at 100 yards. The scope is a Leupold 2.5 - 8 long eye relief.
Ammo for the range trip was Hornady Whitetail, 150 grain projectiles.
Interesting tidbit, the Hornady ammo must have been slower, as I had to raise the impact point about four inches compared to whatever ammo I used years ago.

Guns 003 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

This target has 1" squares and a 1" dot.

IMG_20241030_154555056 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

This Ruger Super Blackhawk Hunter model in .44 Magnum should have been shot before the T/C Encore, as it is much more pleasant to shoot.
Leupold scope is 4X fixed power, and shot from benchrest/sandbags at 50 yards.
Sorry for the old poorly lit photo. It appears it is the only one I have for this revolver.
Ammo was generic Federal JHP, 240 grains.

IMG_20181112_162611998 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20241030_154458436_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

I can generally shoot the Ruger revolver somewhat better, but the 30-06 T/C Encore pounded my trigger finger finesse into submission.

I'm looking forward to getting both of these out for a little exercise!

Nice! That Ruger is a beauty. The Encore in .30-06...that's just terrifying ! My hands hurt just thinking about that. Nice shooting with both of them, too!

I mean, DA-YAM! .30-06 in a handgun? If you wanted to hurt your hand that bad, just slam it in a car door. Cheaper in the long AND short run plus you'll have ammo for your Garand.

But good on you for toughing it out!

That Ruger is dead sexy.

That was the same reason I got into scoped revolvers and "technical pistols", then it became my shooting passion for a number of years. No more laying out in the middle of a snow covered corn field in order to get closer, in an effort to get within range of the slug gun.
Typical NY fashion they kept changing the rules, my first "field gun" was a .358JDJ Contender, because they had to be .35 caliber or better. Then they dropped that and I put together a .309JDJ Never did take a deer with it, though I did get a coyote a ways off. Then the following year the switch to rifles came.
I had a collection of rifles I'd never been able to hunt with. Finally I could use them, finally I could reach way out. No more watching deer out of range wishing I had a rifle.
Of course as I've probably said before, they irony being that since the switch to rifles, I've yet to shoot a deer that I couldn't have shot with a shotgun, or even an iron sighted revolver (in my prime). Oh well.

That 30-06 T/C Encore was bought as a pistol frame and a separate T/C Custom Shop barrel. (the former now out of business Fox Ridge Outfitters)
T/C air gauged all of their barrels after production.
The "gems" went to the Custom Shop, everything else went to production guns.
That Custom Shop barrel also had the factory brake installed. It's quite effective. Absolutely ZERO muzzle jump.
When firing from a hard top benchrest, a folded cloth towel under your firing hand elbow is required.
I would rather shoot 20 rounds through the 30-06 T/C pistol, than 5 rounds of .375 H&H in my dangerous game rifle.
The 30-06 T/C pistol just isn't that unpleasant.

The gun club in my old county put up a new covered firing point on their 300 meter rifle range. Post and beam construction, trusses on top, and metal roofing with rubber gasketed screws for attachment.
After firing the 30-06 T/C Encore pistol there, they found some of the rubber gasketed screws had pulled through the steel roofing.
They weren't sure if it was wind, or the gigantic concussion/blast wave from the muzzle brake lifting the sheet metal roofing from below.
But they did ask me not to fire that T/C 30-06 pistol when under the new covered firing point.

My 30-06 Encore is a rifle that I had shortened to 18” and threaded for my suppressor. Shoots accurate and very pleasant to shoot. I can imagine the blast from it as a pistol.

Well the 30-06 should have made shooting the 44 mag feel like a .22.

But seriously, that is one heck of a round for a pistol.