Minimum loads for deer

[phoenix113]

What would be the minimum load for a .50 caliber on whitetail deer? Now I know that is more of an opinion question so let me lay the grounds for the question. I hunt inside the city limits where I live. While houses aren’t that close together they are within a couple of hundred yards of the area I hunt. First off I don’t want the possibility of a round going to far, plus the noise level could generate noise complaints if I used a full load. Our deer are quite small in this area. Bucks, even the largest ones usually won’t exceed 125 lbs, where the does run around 60 or 70 lbs. Max range on shots will be no more than 30 yards with most being closer than that as the area is extremely thick with underbrush. Right now I am using a 60 grain load of Pyrodex and Hornady 177 grain round balls. While this maybe considered a mild load as it is I was wondering how much more it could be cut back and be effective.

 

[wattlebuster]

This of course is just my opinion but if it were me under those circumstances, the lowest I would go would be 50 grns :thumbsup:

 

[larry wv]

50 would also be my lower limit. Less would work but I would not do it. Sounds like a good place for a Bow. Larry

 

[cynthialee]

I have a CVA I shoot 50 grains of 3f and its a good load. At 50 yards the round ball will penetrate a piece of 1/2 plywood and go through both sides of a 55 gallon steel oil drum. Pretty sure a small deer wouldn't fare much better than my target stand does.

 

[BrownBear]

My wife is shooting a 54 rather than a 50, but even from a short barrel (Lyman Deerstalker- 24" barrel) 60 grains of 3f slaps the snot out of deer to at least 50 yards. All double lung shots, but we've never recovered a ball from any of her deer.

Draw your own conclusions, but I'm pretty confident the same would happen with 60 grains in a 50, and probably less. My only concern would be that if you go too low, it might kill the deer while allowing it to run over and die in a neighbor kid's playset before dying. That's the barest form of speculation on my part, but kind of a nightmare scenario.

 

[mooman76]

I agree with the 50gr. if up close. You could go lower probably but I don't think I would. What about a smaller caliber like 40 or 45? Then slightly smaller load would be more feasable.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Well first place, you are going to "make noise" unless you switch to bow. My hunting buddy's brother hunts inside town limits where he lives with a bow, and it's legal, but only with a bow.

I used to shoot a .50 with 70 grains of 3Fg, but now I use a .54 with the same powder load, from a 38" barrel. It will go through a 100 pound doe at 110 yards, through and through, broadside. No worries.

Now the minimum powder charge in this state for a rifle is 60 grains, but the minimum for a ML pistol is 40 grains, and .45 caliber. I'd say that using a .490 round ball and 40 grains, IF you keep to 50 yards or less, and I mean really work at it being less, it would still give you a humane harvest..., broadside lung shots only. IF my state thinks that something like a Knight Hawkeye in .50 with a 12" barrel is good with 40 grains of powder then you should be too. You may want to check your state regs on minimum powder or minimum power required from your rifle.

On the other hand if it was here, and I had a good backstop, I'd go with my standard round, and the neighbors would simply have to deal with it. We have to fire no closer to a used dwelling than 150 yards, unless we have permission. After all, you are talking one shot, then collect the deer, not a flurry of shots as though you were at the range with a bunch of other folks.

LD

 

[phoenix113]

Thanks for the responses. I have bowhunted this section for about 7 years. I was going to try my TC this year simply for a change. Guess I'll just stick with my recurve.

 

[larry wv]

Hey since you have Bow hunted for 7 seasons you know how to hunt. Take the rifle and have fun. You know what's a killing shot and what may end up under the swing set. :grin: Larry

 

[fyrfyter43]

Being in NJ, I hunt some tight areas. In those cases I always hunt from an elevated stand and keep my shots close to ensure that the ball ends up in the dirt after it passes through. I also know exactly where I can and cannot shoot safely.

 

[juancho]

THe second last deer I got, I run a little experiment, just to see what happens.
Bruogth it home to the back and shot it dead center in the head at some 10 yds with my .45 and 10 grains of GOEX FFFG .
The noise was almost nil, I was scared to get the RB bounce back to me, but instead , it went clean thru the head.
That would have been a for sure kill shot. would I ever do it? NO F&#@%&* way!!!
For what you say the deer in your town are not too big, so I would experiment with 35 to 40 grains on that .50 and keep the distant to what you are used to with your bow, maybe 30 yds max.
Good luck :thumbsup:

 

[hanshi]

The minimum for ANY ML caliber is 50 grains here in Va. That pretty much settles that for us.

 

[Spikebuck]

You're probably already doing this, but shooting out of a treestand at only close range would certainly add to the safety factor since you'd have a good "ground" backstop...assuming it's not all rocky where you are. From there, it is just the noise factor, but not sure 50 grains will be any less noticeable than 70 grains, for intance. If it's legal to use the muzzleloader, I wouldn't let the noise factor stop me. After all, it's just one shot!

 

[Trench]

Sixty grains of 2F and my .50 got me a pass-through shot on a buck at 40 yards.

 

[Rhett Griffith]

I killed a small doe two years ago with my Dragoon. If I remember right, I used 45 grains of FFFg Goex and a .454 round ball. The shot was less than 10 yards (out of my bowhunting stand) and I got a complete pass-through. 50 grains in a rifle should give a whole lot more velocity than that load produced! :thumbsup: