Huntin' with the 40

[paulvallandigham]

Considering how big Mule Deer can get compared to the whitetail deer more often hunted, only a neck or head shot should be expected to " Knock down " a mule deer, using a .40 cal. ball. Normally you would not expect a lung shot to have that kind of effect until you are shooting .58 and larger caliber round balls. Even a .54 is iffy on a larger animal like the mule deer. The .45, 50, and 54s will kill a mule deer very dead, but normally the deer will move off after being hit, without much reaction to the hit, when shot in the chest. Heart shot deer sometimes will react by rising up, before bounding off, and, of course, any deer shot through the spinal cord drops in its tracks. The spine is a lot smaller target than most people think, and hitting it is usually a miss of the heart/lung area shooting high.

 

[Lone Carabiner]

Try a head/neck junction shot if you get it. Where the neck swells up behind the upper jaw area. That will drop the rascal :thumbsup:

 

[Java Man]

Just another thought here. How many deer have been successfully harvested with a .410 slug? I think they are 1/5oz, which is 87gr. A .395rb is about 90gr. I would much rather have a rb than one of those Foster style slugs for penetration.
:hmm:

 

[NORD]

Good point!

 

[jan buck]

nord, go with at least .50 cal. as a hunter you already know this i'm sure, that many things factor into hunting. distance, shot angles. human error factor, proper rest ect,ect. my choice would be the .54. i understand the love affair with the .40. i had it too! :haha: good luck with your decision. chopper

 

[John Wasmuth]

Keep your shots as you would for bow hunting, rather close and personal, and the .40 will do it. I know we get told "you can't" around some circles quite a bit, however, if you do your part, your rifle will do it's part. Then the deer can do it's part. You want to do the .40? Do the .40. You'll do well.

 

[Lone Carabiner]

First deer I killed was with a .410 slug, ran up om me (I froze momentarily, well I was literally frozen also) stopped, spun around and I threw the gun up and fired in the general directions of it's a**hole, the deer dropped, thrashing it's front legs. The slug went in about an inch above the a**hole and into the spine, breaking it and going on into the upper diagphram area. I froze again until I came to my senses, reloaded and shot it in the head to finish it.
I was as stupified as any 12 year old has ever been.
Since then I have killed several deer with a tack-driver .22 long rifle, always got them, one I had to find with a flashlight.
:v

 

[Rebel]

What are you doing shooting deer with a .22LR? I know that is Completely Illegal in most states. As are your double ball loads in a lot of states as well.

 

[Lone Carabiner]

.22 lr's rifles are legal in NC to hunt deer with. Not that it is my first choice all the time mind, but I have done just that.
Muzzleloaders are restricted to one barrel
and it is modern shotguns that cannot use more than one slug. This is also the case in West Virginia where I hunt some also, except .22 rimfires arent allowed there, and in both states muzzleload caliber must be at least .38.

 

[roundball]

Where in North Carolina's hunting regulations are there any restrictions listed on:

1) A minimum caliber for muzzleloaders?

2) That only a single barrel can be used?

3) The # of projectiles used?

 

[Lone Carabiner]

I don't have the current NC game regs, but do have the current WV regs as I'm going up there again (Hardy county, dist.2) but since I hunt on private land at the invitation of the resident land owner my understanding from the regs is that I'm not required to have a WV license.
North Carolina did have a muzzleloading section listed in the index on page 2 of the regulations the last time I had to buy a license to hunt here (NC is state I live in, I hunted state forest land, got an 8 point in muzzler season), which was 2002 and I specifically remember that double rifles were not allowed, only singles. Best I recollect, double PRB's were not prohibited- I'm near certain of it, if they were then I'm a lawbreaker. And if memory serves .38 caliber and up was required- maybe was .32 but don't think so. I will check at a hunt/fish shop asap for current regs pamphlet and post if I am wrong. I do not recollect any info on muzzler shotguns, as I don't have one. Last few years I hunted on my own land, license not required- matter of fact I got a 'pest' permit, they ate my garden up (did it again this year).
But this year I'm hunting horns and there is a big 'un on my friends place in WV and I've got an invite.
:v

 

[Lone Carabiner]

I just noticed that you actually live in NC!
Do you have the current game regs?
And do you muzzler hunt fer deer?

 

[Java Man]

You might want to search roundballs handfull of posts on this forum and see his experience. He's been there and done that!

BTW: I have two .40's, and don't intend to shoot deer with either. I have too many guns that shoot a much bigger ball. .595's out of a smoothiethis year. :grin:

 

[Lone Carabiner]

Will check tomorrow if the local hunt/gun shop has any current copys of NC game regs.
I've been there/done that also. One year (first year Reagan was in office, bad recession around here) I ate 2 deer, matter of fact I had venison for supper Sunday, all kiles with .22 or .50 muzzler. I have a .22 that not only will put 'em in the eye, but in the center of the eye and I'll do it again, illegal or not on any private land I hunt including my own 'cause the rabbit sheriff ain't even stupid enough to come around there. :v

 

[Herb]

A few years ago I shot a 4-point mulie at about 90 yards off hand with my Leman Trade rifle I built at the old Green River Rifle Works, and on which I had installed a .54 Orion switch barrel, for the original .45. Hit him in the main part of the neck with a .530 roundball behind 120 grains of Goex 2F, at 1860 fps. He turned from the doe he was following and I reloaded and went up to gut him out. No deer. Looked in the sagebrush for over an hour, no deer, no blood, no hair, and so many tracks I couldn't track him. Finally had to give up.

Found some more deer about a half mile west. Made a good sneak on them and shot the best buck through the spine behind the shoulders. Dropped in his tracks. Gutted him out, threw him in the back of my VW Rabbit, and when I got home hung him up to skin. Found a 4" bare spot in the skin on the side of the neck, about 1" spot of bare meat, no blood. I finally figured out that this was the buck I'd shot earlier. A .54 round ball to the side of his neck and it did not knock him down nor even inconvenience him. I'll never again shoot a deer in the neck. I'd rather put a .40 roundball through the ribs first. I now own seven .40s and have built a couple more for friends, but I'd never hunt deer with them. Much prefer a .50 or .54.

 

[Tinker2]

The nice way to say this is, the larger the caliber, the more
the number of shots that will be ethical / available to you.

If it is legal. If you are confident in your abilities. If you are
confident with your equipment. If you don’t have to bring
home the meat to survive and can pass on the iffy shots.

Go for it, get what you want. My hunting guns are flint lock
Smooth bores with no sights on some of them.

Makes (forces) me to be a better hunter.



Good luck to you what ever you do.
Tinker2

 

The .40 is still alive I see. In all of these hunting discussions there are (1) what you CAN do; (2) what you MAY do and (3) what is recommended you do. For example I COULD kill a deer under ideal circumstances with a .40 rdball rifle, but I MAY NOT by law here in Lousyanna--and I DO NOT RECOMMEND using a .40 on deer. I tire of the old argument that a .22 LR can and has taken deer. A .22LR has taken nearly every game animal on earth, including polar bears and elephants. You won't find me recommending that and it ain't legal anywhere except NC apparently. A close friend once took a nice fat doe with a .22CB round!!!! For those who don't know, that is an underpowered .22 used for indoor targets and close range pests. I have killed racoons with .22CBs, but not always cleanly. Ahhhh, there's the word we're missing here--"clean kills". No .40s on deer for me....

 

[paulvallandigham]

Herb. I am glad you found and shot the same deer again, and recovered him. You also learned as many of us have, that there are places in the neck where you can put a fairly large ball and do very little damage. I suspect your ball went under the spine and above the throat and main blood vessels. That is why people who talk about taking neck shots always seem to mean right where the nect joins the head, as it is the smallest portion of the neck, where the vertebrae and the bloodvessels will be the closest together. If you hit the bones, you either several the spine, or send spinters into the blood vessels which reduces blood pressure to the brain so fast that the animal becomes unconscious almost instantly and drops. Like Mike Roberts, I prefer NOT to take a neck shot, and would not choose to use a .40 cal. gun to shoot deer. I use a .50 cal. rifle and aim to hit the heart lung area AND also hit a front leg, going in or coming out. That anchors the deer so I can reload and take a second shot if necessary, to finish the deer.

 

[NORD]

Well thank you everyone for your replies to this thread...it was much more popular than I expected! I am not sure what I am going to do yet...I am not even sure I am going to purchase another muzzleloader yet. Thank you for showing me the limitations of the 40 caliber...very informative.

Take care!

 

[Herb]

Paul- That ball hit in the middle of the neck vertically and literally bounced off, blasting some hair away in a 4 inch circle, the center inch of which was down to bare flesh, which was not punctured and did not bleed. This was on an unalerted buck, not a big heavy one in the rut. I would find it hard to believe if it hadn't happened to me.