Is a 40 round ball sufficient for deer hunting?

[Ben Meyer]

.40 will work. But I wont use one for deer, and heres why. Most of MY shots tend to occur in the last 45 min of shooting light. I dont care WHO you are, how many deer you've taken, etc. At 5:40pm in the mid November Indiana woods, iron sights and a deer at 50 yds can be tough. Tougher the older you get. Hunting with a .50 or .54 gives you much more of a margin of error for a not PERFECT shot than a .40 ever could. More ft/lbs of energy for a pass thru, bigger hole. Not rehashing the hunting ethics, blood trailing is harder at night, so I only take shots I KNOW are kill shots, because losing a deer to coyotes SUCKS. I took a big doe at 42yds last year at 5:40 with my .50 and it worked great. Ran 30yds and flopped. I'd have thought twice about taking that one with a .40. I'd rather not have to think twice.

 

[William sloan]

Never shoot deer in the head, the probability of wounding it instead of killing it is too high. I have seen too many guys try and fail, myself included.

At my old age eyes not for me. And one or two jump up only stunned lol. Not by me,but the men’s reactions were comical.

Yes, a .40 is sufficient. The limiting factor is not the caliber, it's the shooter. A .40 will kill any whitetail without problems if the shooter is sufficient. If the shooter knows his limits and stays within them, waits for a shot he knows he can make, the gun will do the job.

Here's a ~200 lb. buck killed with a .40 at 50+ yards, double lung shot, went down about the same distance as I usually see with the same shot made with a .600 ball loaded heavy.
View attachment 31884

There is a lot of misinformation around about the .40. To listen to many commenters tell it, you might as well be using a peashooter. 'Tain't so, the .40 is a flat-shooting, high velocity caliber which can get the job done.

I don't understand why anyone would consider going deer hunting with a gun which would only kill a deer out to 25 yards. I don't want to hear about respecting the animal if the hunter is willing to take to the field armed that way.

Spence

nice shot

 

[TNGhost]

IIRC .40 or thereabouts was historically the most popular caliber for those who depended on their muzzleloading rifles to eat and stay alive. They wouldn't have been using a .40 if they were planning on losing game or leaving a foe threatening their life standing.

 

[olskool]

Yes, a .40 is sufficient. The limiting factor is not the caliber, it's the shooter. A .40 will kill any whitetail without problems if the shooter is sufficient. If the shooter knows his limits and stays within them, waits for a shot he knows he can make, the gun will do the job.

Here's a ~200 lb. buck killed with a .40 at 50+ yards, double lung shot, went down about the same distance as I usually see with the same shot made with a .600 ball loaded heavy.
View attachment 31884

There is a lot of misinformation around about the .40. To listen to many commenters tell it, you might as well be using a peashooter. 'Tain't so, the .40 is a flat-shooting, high velocity caliber which can get the job done.

I don't understand why anyone would consider going deer hunting with a gun which would only kill a deer out to 25 yards. I don't want to hear about respecting the animal if the hunter is willing to take to the field armed that way.

Spence

oh yes, nothing like the proof of a photo, it makes it real. most of the negative opinions come from people with no experience with the caliber in question. "not saying about anybody here" anybody who kills game with a flinter can't be a bad hunter. not just the 40 Cal but it can be anything. I have lived in SC all my 62 years. our deer season on private land is from aug.15 - jan1 until a couple of years ago we had no limit on bucks, per day or total. I have averaged 6-15 deer a year, giving a lot of meat to people who can't or don't hunt. I am not a game hog, we just have a lot of deer, and I am not unique, there are people who kill more than me. last year i only killed four. my point is I have killed a lot of deer with calibers, the armchair hunters, or people that has no experience with smaller Cal. would swear would not work! a lot of people that think the caliber or gun is the problem when it is really a bad hit, or not having the patients to wait for the right shot,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[hanshi]

Use of the .40 on deer comes up quite often and opinions differ about as much as possible. The states I've lived in set the minimum at .45 and that's what I've mostly used. The .40 is legal here in Maine but I still like my .45. Will the .40 kill deer? The answer is yes, and many hunters have killed a lot of deer with .40s. It appears to do a very good job, from what I've read. But I likely won't be hunting deer with my .40 since I have a couple of other calibers with lots of experience between them. If one has a .40 and it's legal in their state I say go for it. If one cannot hit the vitals with a .40 they won't be able to do it with anything larger either.

 

[tenngun]

True enough. You can wound and lose a deer with a .54 or .58 as easily as you can with a ,40 or .45

Shot placement is as important as ft pounds.
Many rifles used in the old days were smaller then what we would use today in same circumstances.

 

[Skychief]

Gorgeous flintlock Spence.

Someone knew what they were doing by the looks of the patchbox alone.

It's possible that you've told us about that gun and I've forgotten the details (I am after all approaching fossil-aged, since I've hit the fifties!).

Would you mind telling us about that "40"?

In reply to the question about this caliber for deer hunting, I have no experience with it in that regard. That said, I can't imagine a whitetail making it far with one of its balls through the boiler room.

Best regards, Skychief.

 

[Griz44Mag]

Never shoot deer in the head, the probability of wounding it instead of killing it is too high. I have seen too many guys try and fail, myself included.

At short range over my lifetime of hunting - I have taken dozens of deer with head and neck shots, Not a single one took a single step. many of those at home on the ranch before I was even a teenager. All I had to hunt with was a 22LR single shot and the family's meat supply came from the game on the ranch. We rarely ate one of range cows, that was our major income and the deer (and other critters) were free.
I have lost only one deer in over 60 years of hunting, and only had to take a second shot once, best practice is to NOT SHOOT AT ALL if you are not 99.99% sure of where that round will go.
At short range as indicated - no issue. Maybe you should practice more....
I have had many deer with lung and lung-heart shots which are guaranteed fatal run for short and on occasion longer distances.
Chances of losing a lung shot deer in heavy brush is a lot higher. Shots taken in heavy brush are close - less than 25 yards.

 

[George]

Would you mind telling us about that "40"?

Sure. It is the first muzzleloader I ever bought, in 1973. It was a used gun on consignment in a local Mom and Pop ML store near me, long gone and sorely missed. It was made by a local builder named J. D. Thompson, probably in the late 1960s. It has a Douglas barrel 13/16" x 42" long with a 1:66 twist, iron rear sight, silver blade front. The lock is a Siler and has functioned flawlessly for decades, the trigger is double set, single phase. It handles charges from 25 gr. to 70 gr. 3F and is impressively accurate with any of them.

Spence

 

[nkbj]

Suppose the .38-.40 bore rifles were why pickets became popular with hunters?

 

[nhmoose]

25 plus years ago I killed deer with my .40. 1 an 11 point buck. My nephew also killed deer with his NE 40 flintlock.

We both were competition shooters at the time every weekend at a different 1st congress of NE sanctioned line shoot. Both of us won most of the matches we entered. Even sold an article to ML mag on one hunt.

Today however I use my 54 flintlock it does give a 2-3 inch advantage on shots that the 40 need the more perfect shots on. I killed two moose with 2 shots so confidence is high.

 

[Skychief]

Sure. It is the first muzzleloader I ever bought, in 1973. It was a used gun on consignment in a local Mom and Pop ML store near me, long gone and sorely missed. It was made by a local builder named J. D. Thompson, probably in the late 1960s. It has a Douglas barrel 13/16" x 42" long with a 1:66 twist, iron rear sight, silver blade front. The lock is a Siler and has functioned flawlessly for decades, the trigger is double set, single phase. It handles charges from 25 gr. to 70 gr. 3F and is impressively accurate with any of them.

Spence

Thank you Spence. You'll see that I've replied to you reply of my earlier message. You've answered my question here!

Beautiful gun! It's a shame that so many Mom and Pop shops are gone. My 45 flintlock that I took the buck with in December was found in such a shop. Covered in dust on the bottom shelf of a display, I asked the owner about it. "You won't be interested in that gun, it's got a flint lock"!

Music to my ears. I had him dig it out and nearly pulled a muscle digging through my wallet for the meager asking price! Yes, the days of finding hidden gems in such shops is unfortunately, almost behind us now.

Thanks for sharing Spence. That's a hum-dinger.

Best regards, Skychief.

 

[George]

In 1822-23 a young Englishman named William Blane traveled through much of the Ohio valley, including Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky, hunted rather extensively with a lot of the backwoodsmen on his travels, then wrote of his observations. He was an experienced and knowledgeable shooter and hunter. Here's what he had to say about the calibers of rifles in use there.

"The usual size of the balls for shooting squirrels and wild turkeys, is from 100 to 150 to the pound. For deer and bear, the size varies from 60 to 80, and for larger animals, as the buffalo and elk, from 50 to 60; though a rifle carrying a ball of a larger size than 60 to the pound, is very seldom made use of. For general use, and for shooting at a mark, the favorite size is from 60 to 80."

150 = .315, 46.7 gr.
100 = .36, 70 gr.
80 = .388, 87.5 gr.
60 = .427, 116.7 gr.
50 = .454, 140 gr.
45 = .469, 155.6 gr.

So the average caliber in use for deer and bear, for general use and target shooting, was the .40.

Spence

 

[apachesx2]

It's a moot point if you can kill a deer with a 40 cal, Daniel Boone I believe used a 42 cal... Because Pennsylvania requires Muzzleloading Rifles to be 44 Cal or larger and Muzzleloading pistols to be 50 Cal or larger. You will not be able to use a 40 Cal on deer in PA... Don't know about Ohio...

 

[Stony Broke]

I have always loved the .40 caliber and have shot them for many years, but not on larger game. It just seems to me to be more responsible for a person to stay away from minimal calibers when hunting. A .40 through the lungs can kill a deer, but it also can end up with you tracking the deer for a long way and possibly not finding it in the end. I use a .50 on a regular basis for hunting deer and hogs with no problems but wouldn't be doing the same with a .40.

 

[josie wales]

A 22 long rifle will kill a deer, but in my long experience in hunting (69 years young) the one rule I have is: "There is no replacement for displacement".

 

[Mark Herman]

Have to agree with Spence. Here in Ohio the minimum caliber is .38, which I feel is not adequate. 40 has been sufficient for me several times. I limit my shots to 75+/- yards not because of caliber, it's what I feel comfortable with.

 

[nkbj]

So my .386 bore is an "eighty to the pound" gun. Cool.

 

[Griz44Mag]

"There is no replacement for displacement".

Can I steal that line? I like it....

 

[William sloan]

In 1822-23 a young Englishman named William Blane traveled through much of the Ohio valley, including Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky, hunted rather extensively with a lot of the backwoodsmen on his travels, then wrote of his observations. He was an experienced and knowledgeable shooter and hunter. Here's what he had to say about the calibers of rifles in use there.

"The usual size of the balls for shooting squirrels and wild turkeys, is from 100 to 150 to the pound. For deer and bear, the size varies from 60 to 80, and for larger animals, as the buffalo and elk, from 50 to 60; though a rifle carrying a ball of a larger size than 60 to the pound, is very seldom made use of. For general use, and for shooting at a mark, the favorite size is from 60 to 80."

150 = .315, 46.7 gr.
100 = .36, 70 gr.
80 = .388, 87.5 gr.
60 = .427, 116.7 gr.
50 = .454, 140 gr.
45 = .469, 155.6 gr.

So the average caliber in use for deer and bear, for general use and target shooting, was the .40.

Spence

Very interesting