Is a 40 round ball sufficient for deer hunting?

[rich pierce]

I don't usually comment on "is it enough" because I tend to believe that if you have to ask you may already be doubting the question and when you have bambi in your sights you can worry about many things but having enough gun/bow/spear should not be one of them.

I have successfully taken three deer with my 38 caliber shooting roundball. And yes that is only a 79 grain ball (.375) being pushed with 40 grains of FFF real black.

BUT, and it's a giant but, I primarly hunt deer with bow. So my shooting lanes "do not" extend beyond 35 yards - can't see further than that so no chance of "trying" a shot beyond that.

At 35 yards my velocity is about 1475 fps with an impact of about 350 foot pounds.

AND because of that it MUST BE a full on, standing still BROADSIDE shot right through the heart lungs. No quartering shots, no shots on alert deer, no contorting out of the stand - If I wouldn't take the shot with my recurve bow, I won't take the shot with my 38.

So I "know" a 40 is more than enough if you only take a near perfect shot. If you "just have to get a deer" a 45 or better is probably more what you need.

That’s the way I look at it. What are your shooting conditions? Do you see a lot of deer? Human nature is impulsive. A hunter 8 days in without seeing much will be tempted to take a less than ideal shot. A deer that’s walking or quartering away at 40 yards. I don’t take that shot with a .40. With my .58, probably so. Pretty confident with .50 and over.

 

[ohio ramrod]

My nephew and his son have shot over thirty ohio white tales using forty calibers. Most drop within twenty yards. It is a matter of where you hit them!

 

[rich pierce]

My nephew and his son have shot over thirty ohio white tales using forty calibers. Most drop within twenty yards. It is a matter of where you hit them!

And you haven’t invited me yet?

 

[azmntman]

THE NERVE!

 

[Brian Anderson]

In new mexico the .40 is a legal deer rifle / served me well on numerous occasions

 

[Dr. Dirt]

For what its worth.
2020 Colorado's legal method of take:
-- deer, pronghorn, or bear conical bullets must be a minimum of .40 caliber, and round balls must be a minimum of .50 caliber. From .40 caliber to .50 caliber, bullets must weigh a minimum of 170 grains.
Colorado has both white tail and mule deer (plus elk and moose).

 

[Eterry]

I guess that means the Colorado Game Wardens have to carry a set of powder scales with them now... one more thing to tote around in their truck.

 

[okawbow]

This sounds just like the “Is 40# enough to kill a deer?” Threads I see once a week on the Traditional Archery Forums.

I’ll bet there have been over a million deer killed with .40 caliber or less round balls since 1800. Learn to hunt and shoot, and almost any caliber is effective.

 

[SDSmlf]

That’s the way I look at it. What are your shooting conditions? Do you see a lot of deer? Human nature is impulsive. A hunter 8 days in without seeing much will be tempted to take a less than ideal shot. A deer that’s walking or quartering away at 40 yards. I don’t take that shot with a .40. With my .58, probably so. Pretty confident with .50 and over.

What are your shooting conditions? An important question. Is a 40 roundball sufficient? Depends on shooting/hunting conditions. Have been told poachers made a ‘living’ with 22 RF shorts back in the day.

Personally, I gravitate towards areas that have few hunters because of terrain or difficult access. I typically don’t hunt the open fields or woods that allows you to watch an animal take a short run and expire. Although there are places I hunt with a 45 caliber Cherokee (every gun need to get out and hunt), I find that I prefer a 58 or 62 roundballs and their ability to bust up shoulders and other important stuff. When I shoot I want the deer (or bear) down where shot. Below is something I have told before, but I have seen the basic scenario played out a number of times. It was muzzleloading season and the Hunter was using a 50 muzzleloader of the type we don’t discuss here.

Hunt in the mountains with 1800 feet of elevation change on the property. A few years ago one of our ‘heart lung’ guys popped a nice buck late in the day. It maybe ran 30 yards. Then it slid ‘down hill’ somewhere around 150 to 200 feet. He had no idea how to retrieve it. He was sure it was down, but couldn’t put eyes on it before it got dark. ‘Search team’ located the deer about 10 AM the next morning. A club member spotted it hung up in some rhododendrons. He got within 50 yards or so, but couldn’t easily get closer to the deer. The shooter got to the deer about 2PM. His first comment was it was a perfect double lung shot. Short story, the deer arrived at the cabin about 5PM. Tried to save the the back straps, but even they had turned according to those present. North Carolina, near 80°...... about 24 hours since shot. Surprise surprise. A perfect double lung shot that wasted no meat..... Oh, need to add, this hunter would ride others who is his opinion ‘ruined’ any meat with their shots. It was made clear to him he was on his own in the future. He hunted one more year with us then vanished.

 

[S.Kenton]

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

Spence is spot on, I’ve killed many deer with my 40 caliber. I use a 395, .015 patch and 60 grains of powder. I’ve killed them out to 60 yards. The deers vitals are about the size of a paper plate, if you can consistently hit a paper plate at whatever yardage you practice at, then killing a deer at that yardage isn’t hard at all. My 395 ball has broken ribs, went through the shoulder and a few times got a complete pass through.
Just practice, practice practice...know your yardage, and know your animal.

 

[McClura]

Eterry, those 40 Cal conicals you made for me are wicked! I put that drop in Green Mountain .40 barrel on my Hawken just to see how it would shoot. With 70grn. of 3 F it would stack them at 50 yards. The next week I took a coyote while messing around shooting some round ball and those conicals on my deer lease at a dirt berm. I was cleaning the barrel and a coyote came over the hill and was walking around a pound that was about 30 yards from my truck. I was mostly out of site so I ran a dry patch through the barrel, loaded and when he hit the top of the dam, I did a mouth squeak and touch off the Hawken. He spun about 3 times and dropped. Through and Through. I really wanted to use that barrel for deer but my neighbor talked me out of the barrel and the conicals for his Hawken so his young boy could hunt.
I shot a .40 flintlock some for targets and small game. Only took one deer with it. When using pure lead the .40 went in mid ways on the left side with the doe walking away from me. It was found in the right shoulder and with all of the round ball I cast it expanded. It was mushroomed to about .44 cal. when hitting only one rib.
That is one flintlock I regret selling. I built it from a Tennessee kit from the Track in the last 70's.
Mike3

 

[Sidney Smith]

Here in Pa, anything smaller than .44 caliber is not legal on deer. Of course we have some antiquated laws. I don't doubt a .40 caliber in confident and skilled hands could easily kill deer. If legal and if I had one, Id use it on deer.

 

[FlinterNick]

For Deer I would use .45-.62. Most states have thresholds too.

 

[Eddie Southgate]

I have killed several with a .40 and think it sufficient if in the right hands . As has already been said " it's not the caliber but the shooter " that makes the difference in the answer to your question . That said , I do prefer my .54 for large game but it is a preference and not a need .

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

Common wisdom has it in my area a .45 round ball is an absolute minimum for deer and only then at close range, with a .50-.58 being much preferred.

In reality, it seems huntists and shootsman have used .40s with great success on whitetails. I’ve even read about some hunters using a .36 for the task, but that does seem awfully light to me.

 

[Kansas Jake]

It is interesting to me, in Kansas you can use any centerfire rifle or handgun that is not fully automatic and a .40 caliber or larger muzzleloader. I would much rather have someone use a .40 caliber or smaller muzzleloader than a .25 auto pistol.

 

[Eddie Southgate]

Common wisdom has it in my area a .45 round ball is an absolute minimum for deer and only then at close range, with a .50-.58 being much preferred.

In reality, it seems huntists and shootsman have used .40s with great success on whitetails. I’ve even read about some hunters using a .36 for the task, but that does seem awfully light to me.

My son used my .36 Seneca one year for deer . He shot three deer , we ate one . The rifle will kill deer but the round ball is light and requires very precise shots . He failed to provide the correct steering so lost two wounded deer . He no longer hunts deer with the .36 cal .

 

[George]

J. D . Thompson was one of my mentors. He got me started building rifles. He was very knowledgeable and built a lot of rifles. You don't come across them very often, people who have them hang on to them.

That's interesting. Do you have one of his guns? Are you still in Louisville?

Spence

 

[smoothshooter]

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...

Boone owned MANY rifles and several smoothbores over the course of his life, presumably in a variety of calibers.
During periods of his life when he was spending a lot of time in the woods, hard use and abuse, overturned canoes, and times he had to surrender any weapons on his person and horses to the Indians, he likely had to replace some of them after just a few months of use. And he probably had to take what was available to buy even if he did not like the caliber or some other aspect of what he bought or traded for.

 

[lbtresident]

a 40cal RB it won't bounce off, put through the lungs or heart of a deer will kill it dead! quick fast and in a hurry. it is all about location, location, location, shot placement is key with anything you use,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Nuff Said, totally correct IMHO