.45 Caliber: Deer?

[52Bore]

Taken 2 does with 40cal PRB over 40gr Swiss 2f. Both double lung shots under 50yds, neither went more than 30yds.
An accurate shot is most important.

 

[Buff1958]

mighty pretty rifle

 

[Ohio Rusty]

.45 isn't enough round ball for a large bodied ohio deer. We are talking 300 pounds with huge thick bones and a .45 won't penetrate.. A small yearling would be fine . a .45 here in my state..
Ohio Rusty ><>

 

[smokepolehall]

I had no idea that the Bucks in Ohio were 300 lbs. Best not post that too much. Lots of out of State Hunters will help you collect lots of ground burger. Now here where i live in Mo. most of our Doe's field dress about 105-120 lbs. Bucks tend to run 40-60 lbs heavier. Of course every now and again a big one is killed. Sounds like prb's would bounce y'alls deer. I do like using a .45 & i like eating deer, so i am comfortable with my small deer.

 

[shorthair]

A gentleman called WDM Bell pretty well proved that bullet placement trumps energy or diameter even on the largest and thickest hide such as elephant.

 

[nkbj]

If you wonder about how a .440 or .445 round ball will perform on a deer, go shoot a rabbit.
No, I'm not kidding. If you were taking a head shot on a bunny rabbit and accidentally dropped your sight picture a smidgen... you've got a mess to deal with and very little meat to take home.
Yeah, been there, done that. Incorrect follow through when taking the shot.
The bunny went in various directions. Kinda like the Yucatan with Chicxulub.
Imagine that effect on a deer's heart and lungs.
You just have to put Chicxulub where it's 'sposed to go.

 

[Daveboone]

Irrelevant.
A roundball from a .45 through the lungs will kill a 300 pound deer just as dead as a 100 pound deer.
Range and velocity/energy loss at distance might be more of a factor than the size of the deer. Especially given so many people's obsessed with how far they can shoot and animal.

Even within the same region, deer of course will vary greatly....from a first year fawn to a 4-5 year old fall fattened buck. Body mass/ potential bone structure has everything to do with how much penetration you will get. And even the best picked shots can be off a bit. For practical and real world hunting, bigger bore means more delivered energy. We all know a .22 rimfire delivered to the exact right spot kills, but none of us would choose it for our primary deer hunting weapon. More important....keep it close, shoot small and pick your shots.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

If legal in your state, do you consider the .45 caliber round ball suitable for taking a deer?

Thanks,

-Smokey

No worries with patched round ball in an accurate load.

LD

 

[BillyC]

I don’t see how anyone can make a judgement as to the killing efficiency of any caliber based on an animal getting away wounded after being shot with that caliber. If the deer wasn’t recovered you can not know with any amount of certainty why the animal got away. I know several guys that seem to consistently lose deer after making “perfect” shots. More people should be honest about their shooting ability and stop taking marginal shots.

 

[Daveboone]

I don’t see how anyone can make a judgement as to the killing efficiency of any caliber based on an animal getting away wounded after being shot with that caliber. If the deer wasn’t recovered you can not know with any amount of certainty why the animal got away. I know several guys that seem to consistently lose deer after making “perfect” shots. More people should be honest about their shooting ability and stop taking marginal shots.

So right you are. I know more folks claim such and such ammo being the most accurate and best hitting for them....after putting seven rounds into an animal. For some reason it is popular to brag of being able to kill an animal with as little a round as possible, or at stupid long ranges...I know, there are a few...relatively very few, who practice at long ranges, and the environment dictates long shots. But it kills me when folks talk about thier patch and ball round shooting "flat" out to a hundred yards. The guy who shoots once, and has one animal to show for it every time....now we will start listening.

 

[mikesto44]

You have to know your capabilities as a hunter, as a shooter, a tracker. and your weapon of choice. So many people I've seen don't practice enough. If they do practice it's off a bench. When they check their sights. Few shoot off hand and if they can hit a paper plate anywhere, it's good enough. You owe it to the animal to be as proficient as you can be. JMPO

 

[nkbj]

My first "deer rifle" was a full stock .45 "Kentucky" style.
Now my preferred .45 is a modified TC New Englander that shoots these.

 

[Daveboone]

just a silly side note...really has nothing to do with the topic, but yesterday when out shooting, I saw a .50 cal. preload on the ground. I picked it up to look at it, curious...opened the end that said "Ball", to find the gooey mess of wet powder. Hmm. Odd. Powder in ball end....I popped the other end and the projectile was loaded...backwards. It was a sabot bullet, with the base of the sabot outwards, . Thus, powder was loaded onto the tip of the bullet. Wonder how the accuracy was?

 

[ChuckJonesWagon]

.45 isn't enough round ball for a large bodied ohio deer. We are talking 300 pounds with huge thick bones and a .45 won't penetrate.. A small yearling would be fine . a .45 here in my state..
Ohio Rusty ><>

300 pound whitetail bucks? Really? I’m right next door in Pennsylvania and we don’t see 300 pound bucks.

I guess they can’t cross the Allegheny and Ohio rivers?

My wife’s late uncle killed at least one whitetail every year with his 45 cal. Lung shot….count to 100…go get dead deer.

 

[Brokennock]

I don’t see how anyone can make a judgement as to the killing efficiency of any caliber based on an animal getting away wounded after being shot with that caliber. If the deer wasn’t recovered you can not know with any amount of certainty why the animal got away. I know several guys that seem to consistently lose deer after making “perfect” shots. More people should be honest about their shooting ability and stop taking marginal shots.

I wonder how much of this has to do with so many people's "standard" accuracy wise leaves no margin for error. "Oh, a pie plate is about the size of the vitals, so, thats the best I need to do (or the most accurate the load development needs to be)."

 

[Hammond79]

I had my doubts myself but I took an Arkansas buck last fall with a .445 PRB and 65 grains 3F Schutzen. Ball penetrated ~20" of deer at 51 yards. Performance absolutely on par with many CF rifles.