44 cal and white tails?

[brew]

I just picked up a 44 caliber Italian flinter and I was thinking about using it during the late PA Flintlock season. It meets PA's minimal caliber laws but will it have what it takes to drop a good deer at 50 yards?
Anyone have any insight?

 

[rabjr]

Seems to me you would treat this pretty much the same as a .45. Not sure a deer would know the difference between the two. So it should be fine as a 50 yard gun along as you do your part.

 

[B.Habermehl]

It is enough - barely. Don't expect the deer to leave you a blood trail. Any blood loss will be on the entrance side only. .45 is my favorite cal for target work, and when I only had one gun, for hunting too. After killing some deer with .45s I had one that was hit through both lungs taking off the top of the heart. It took four friends and two hours of grid searching to find it. No blood trail, no visible exit wound was found till the hide was off. This shot was at 25 yds. I have since switched to .54 or .58 cal rifles. They make deer leak badly from both sides, and I haven't had trouble tracking one since. Keep your shots inside of 50 yds and be fussy. Stick to broadside or slight quartering away shots like our archery friends need and you wil probably be fine.

 

[tg]

You will be OK at 50-60 yds probably around 60gr3f
go for the vitals and don't try to break down the shoulder blade, pick you shotrs, some deer will have to walk by, same thing with a .54 there will always be tha deer that's to far away

 

[brew]

Thanks for all the insight.
You suggested 60 grains of 3f.How much 2f would you suggest being that this is all I have.

 

[Eric Krewson]

A friend gave me a great 44 cal flintlock. I have killed 5 deer in the last 4 years with it and shot completely through 4 out of the 5, always had a blood trail I could follow. All of my shots on deer were less than 75 yards.

I shoot 70gr of 3F and a patched round ball, tried 2F but my gun didn't group well with it.

Here are a few deer I killed with this gun. All traveled about 75-100 yards after being shot.

 

[SgtSchutzen]

I use 65grs fffg in my .45cal for deer hunting. Like others have said, shot placement is the trick, and keep the range inside about 75yds.
Use the same amount of ffg, as you would fffg powder.

Just killed this one last week. It`s not a big deer but was dead within 5sec of being hit.
.440 round ball over 65grs fffg.

 

[boar]

In Ohio you have to use .38 and up. My TC Seneca has killed 2 deer with RB 127grs, one with 55grs 3ff and other 40grs. 40yrd shots. A .50 sabots is around .45 cal. Dilly

 

[brew]

Now that's the proof I was looking for. Now I can go at it with confidence.
Thanks guys