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Pistol deer hunting??????????????

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In the past, maybe 6 to 8 months ago, there was a long posting on the Howda pistol.

You might see if you can find it, it might help with loads and projectiles. Know it's a double barrel, but there might be some useful stuff there since the Howda comes in .50.
 
All good thoughts gentlemen. Let's hear some more. It's a good hot day to absorb more information, and, a handy excuse to stay here in the cool for awhile.

Best regards, Skychief .
 
This obsession with "full penetration" reeks of sexual obsession. The most effective deer kills I have made had the least amount of exit wound. I.E. none.

Think about it...bullets are measured in foot pounds of energy, if the bullet exits, some of that energy is lost!
 
This obsession with "full penetration" reeks of sexual obsession. The most effective deer kills I have made had the least amount of exit wound. I.E. none.

Think about it...bullets are measured in foot pounds of energy, if the bullet exits, some of that energy is lost!
I always want full penetration so that a good blood trail exists. I have shot deer where there was no exit and it was a bi--ch finding them. It's a good thing my dog is a good trailer.
 
"Think about it...bullets are measured in foot pounds of energy, if the bullet exits, some of that energy is lost!"

Knew when you posted the above the counter discussion would start.

There are 2 camps and each has their opinion, I am in the camp you do not need an exit hole. I would prefer the energy stay in the critter, not in the ground behind it.
 
I have only killed one deer with a B.P. pistol and it was a back-up shot. My rifle ball failed to penetrate the bones of the shoulder joint and the small buck hobbled off about 45 yards and stopped. I had my Ruger Old Army with me and shot him in the lungs. He traveled about 50 yards and fell over dead.

If were purposely hunting with a pistol, I would take my .45 Patriot with a prb since it is the most accurate pistol I have. I would limit my shot to 35 yards.
I have killed 2 hogs with my Ruger while hunting them and only took a revolver with me.

It is legal to hunt deer with any muzzleloading firearm of .30 caliber and over in Florida now due to a recent stupid rule change. Before, the lower limit was .40 caliber.
Well since those Florida whitetails aren’t any bigger than one of our coyotes, I’d consider .30 to be adequate... ;)




:cool:
 
Well since those Florida whitetails aren’t any bigger than one of our coyotes, I’d consider .30 to be adequate... ;)

The .30 caliber rule was enacted to put the legal minimum muzzleloading caliber equal to the minimum legal air rifle caliber ... which still makes no sense to me.

Our deer are small. That one only weighed 95 lbs. on the hoof. If you have 95 lb. coyotes, I don't want to visit your state.:eek:
 
I hav a Pedersoli Bounty Hunter is .50 caliber that is accurate enough to take deer to 75 yards from a rest. I shoot it from a tree stand with a shooting rail that is padded. It should meet all of your state's requirements (and is a blast to shoot.)

ADK Bigfoot

A 50 caliber I would try to bark the little tree rodents. full on blast is devastating.
 
My opinion is not going to be popular. Because I think that unless you are very very good with that pistol and your shots very close, under 40 yards, then your chances of wounding a whitetail, especially northern tier whitetails which are heaver and have more body mass get way to high. I have shot deer in Maine and New Hampshire that went 180 pounds and more. Even here in Pa. bucks north of Interstate 80 do get large. I have shot a few I wish I would have weighed. I am a flintlock hunter first most and always and I practice every month to be good enough to make sure kills. I would have to practice A LOT more to be good enough to do that with a pistol. So I just don't see why any one would hunt with a pistol if they had a long rifle or smoothbore. Just do say you did it? Go ahead and eat my lunch fellas, I have a thick skin and I don't mind because that's my opinion. ;):)
 
I have to agree with you, I was going to post as such, but really did not want to sir things up.
 
My opinion is not going to be popular. Because I think that unless you are very very good with that pistol and your shots very close, under 40 yards, then your chances of wounding a whitetail, especially northern tier whitetails which are heaver and have more body mass get way to high. I have shot deer in Maine and New Hampshire that went 180 pounds and more. Even here in Pa. bucks north of Interstate 80 do get large. I have shot a few I wish I would have weighed. I am a flintlock hunter first most and always and I practice every month to be good enough to make sure kills. I would have to practice A LOT more to be good enough to do that with a pistol. So I just don't see why any one would hunt with a pistol if they had a long rifle or smoothbore. Just do say you did it? Go ahead and eat my lunch fellas, I have a thick skin and I don't mind because that's my opinion. ;):)
We cannot pistol hunt here in Alberta, however regardless of that I agree the animals deserve more respect and the pistol should come out for a final killing shot if necessary only. I have personally killed whitetails that went 175lbs dressed and one mule deer buck that was slightly over 300lbs on the hoof. They can get rather large up here!
Walk
 
My opinion is not going to be popular. Because I think that unless you are very very good with that pistol and your shots very close, under 40 yards, then your chances of wounding a whitetail, especially northern tier whitetails which are heaver and have more body mass get way to high. I have shot deer in Maine and New Hampshire that went 180 pounds and more. Even here in Pa. bucks north of Interstate 80 do get large. I have shot a few I wish I would have weighed. I am a flintlock hunter first most and always and I practice every month to be good enough to make sure kills. I would have to practice A LOT more to be good enough to do that with a pistol. So I just don't see why any one would hunt with a pistol if they had a long rifle or smoothbore. Just do say you did it? Go ahead and eat my lunch fellas, I have a thick skin and I don't mind because that's my opinion. ;):)

I agree with you to a point. If a person is not going to respect the game animal enough to limit its suffering then they should not be out there chasing them. And the sad thing is there are many out there who do just that.

I do not know Skychief personally, but I have read his posts and if he puts as much effort into this quest as he did to figure out the Skychief special (he could have just said "a square load was good enough back then, Its good enough for me"), I believe that he will practice and know the limitations of his abilities and equipment and stay well within this limitations. The regulations regulating caliber and barrel length will ensure sufficient energy to humanely harvest a deer. The rest will lay in his abilities to shoot said pistol with accuracy. If when the time comes, He feels his abilities are not sufficient he will reach for a rifle or smoothbore.

My heartburn comes when people say well its legal, lets see what it does, and not worry about if it leaves a wounded a critter or not. That is not the case here.

There are people that say a longbow or recurve are not adiquate for hunting either compared to a crossbow or compound. If they are of proper weight, just like the proper pistol, In the hands of someone who knows how to use them, they are highly effective at taking any size game.

Heck, there are folks out there who say that flintlocks are not accurate or fast enough for hunting either!! Its all Relative.

My 2 cents, worth what you paid for them! :)
 
People are responsible for themselves. If they are within the law, how they act within it is a personal decision. There are lots of personal reasons to hunt with a handgun. I had client that had two reconstructed shoulders and could not shoot a longarm or pull a bow. He enjoyed traditional arms and used a flintlock pistol wherever it was legal. Another person I know cannot shoot a longarm due to eye issues that the recoil would negatively impact. He tried using the other shoulder but could not shoot accurately and still worried about his "bad" eye. Ended up going to a handgun. Some handgun loads might exceed certain rifle loads.Responsibility is an individual choice. If you disapprove of handgun hunting due to the possibility of wounding and animal (or using it irresponsibly) lets ban longbows, recurves, all archery for that matter, and open sights...…..after all why use them? Just to say you did it?
 
The .30 caliber rule was enacted to put the legal minimum muzzleloading caliber equal to the minimum legal air rifle caliber ... which still makes no sense to me.

Our deer are small. That one only weighed 95 lbs. on the hoof. If you have 95 lb. coyotes, I don't want to visit your state.:eek:
That would be a very big ‘yote indeed... :cool:

Interesting law... The air rifles commonly used for big game are very accurate. Especially considering the advantages of the glass sights. (Airguns shooters tend towards target type sighting equipment and the guys I know in that community are very serious about it. 16X and on up Target style scopes are the norm.) Not to say a muzzleloader of that caliber designed to use a bullet over 160 grains or so wouldn’t be a match for an airgun but such a rifle would be a one off... weird law at any rate, as so many of them are. Particularly when written by people with little to no experience with the subject matter.

WRT handgun hunting in general, yes, it’s often viewed as a stunt or something akin to an exercise in chest thumping. I know a few people who have the skill and the self restraint to hunt deer and elk with handguns, even muzzleloading handguns. One aspect of hunting that I find personally attractive and rewarding is that within the law, we are responsible for our own adherence to ethical and moral standards which we impose upon ourselves.

Responsible, ethical behavior is what we do for ourselves and those we care most deeply about, including the prey we seek.
 
Claimed they could penetrate the length of the body.
Well IF you were right "on top" of the deer when firing....,

I did not post that to advocate what he did. They guy was an immoral, irresponsible slob and illegal poacher (yes, that's redundant). And, I did say he "claimed" that penetration. But, I'm sure most of his shots were at close range. Deer are thick around here. I can walk within less than ten feet of those in my yard. I'm also sure he wounded many more than he put in the freezer.
 
I agree with you to a point. If a person is not going to respect the game animal enough to limit its suffering then they should not be out there chasing them. And the sad thing is there are many out there who do just that.

I do not know Skychief personally, but I have read his posts and if he puts as much effort into this quest as he did to figure out the Skychief special (he could have just said "a square load was good enough back then, Its good enough for me"), I believe that he will practice and know the limitations of his abilities and equipment and stay well within this limitations. The regulations regulating caliber and barrel length will ensure sufficient energy to humanely harvest a deer. The rest will lay in his abilities to shoot said pistol with accuracy. If when the time comes, He feels his abilities are not sufficient he will reach for a rifle or smoothbore.

My heartburn comes when people say well its legal, lets see what it does, and not worry about if it leaves a wounded a critter or not. That is not the case here.

There are people that say a longbow or recurve are not adiquate for hunting either compared to a crossbow or compound. If they are of proper weight, just like the proper pistol, In the hands of someone who knows how to use them, they are highly effective at taking any size game.

Heck, there are folks out there who say that flintlocks are not accurate or fast enough for hunting either!! Its all Relative.

My 2 cents, worth what you paid for them! :)


jrm, you've saved me a bit of typing. Thanks for the kind words and I agree with all you've said.

As sparkitoff notes, some of us have certain things going on which prevent us from handling the recoil of longarms. He mentioned those with eye issues. I'm in that camp at this time.

I'm not new to handgun hunting and have taken a number of deer years ago using them. I know what they are capable of and more importantly. what they are not.

Handgun hunting, much like traditional archery hunting isn't for everyone. I've practiced both through the years and can accurately report that no game suffered because of my choice. One needs a great deal of restraint to use these methods. Not all have said restraint.

I have two ranges to the animals that I hunt, regardless of what I'm carrying. Close enough and way too far. It's worked for me for years. If I have ANY doubt, the shot is not taken. It's that simple.

I truly hope the above doesn't come off as self-promoting. That's not my intent. I'm sure there are many here with the wherewithal to wait on perfect shots.

Hopefully we can get back to the original topic and away from this thread drift.......

.........Anyone have any pistol hunting experiences to add?

Best regards, Skychief.
 
I agree with you to a point. If a person is not going to respect the game animal enough to limit its suffering then they should not be out there chasing them. And the sad thing is there are many out there who do just that.

I do not know Skychief personally, but I have read his posts and if he puts as much effort into this quest as he did to figure out the Skychief special (he could have just said "a square load was good enough back then, Its good enough for me"), I believe that he will practice and know the limitations of his abilities and equipment and stay well within this limitations. The regulations regulating caliber and barrel length will ensure sufficient energy to humanely harvest a deer. The rest will lay in his abilities to shoot said pistol with accuracy. If when the time comes, He feels his abilities are not sufficient he will reach for a rifle or smoothbore.

My heartburn comes when people say well its legal, lets see what it does, and not worry about if it leaves a wounded a critter or not. That is not the case here.

There are people that say a longbow or recurve are not adiquate for hunting either compared to a crossbow or compound. If they are of proper weight, just like the proper pistol, In the hands of someone who knows how to use them, they are highly effective at taking any size game.

Heck, there are folks out there who say that flintlocks are not accurate or fast enough for hunting either!! Its all Relative.

My 2 cents, worth what you paid for them! :)

You make some good points. As for the the thoughts on longbows or recurves we have to remember that broadhead arrows kill by hemorrhage, so any bow that can sink a point deep enough for that will kill a game animal. In time. So while that works its not good enough for me. That is the reason I am no longer a bow hunter.
As for those who say a flintlock is not accurate or fast enough. I would tell them I have killed many deer, 3 or 4 per season for many seasons now, more seasons than I care to admit, with my 5o cal. flintlock and never had to trail any of them.
 
We cannot pistol hunt here in Alberta, however regardless of that I agree the animals deserve more respect and the pistol should come out for a final killing shot if necessary only. I have personally killed whitetails that went 175lbs dressed and one mule deer buck that was slightly over 300lbs on the hoof. They can get rather large up here!
Walk

A 300 pound deer, that is amazing. Someday maybe I'll get the chance to hunt mule deer.
 
A 300 pound deer, that is amazing. Someday maybe I'll get the chance to hunt mule deer.
Whats even more amazing, I have taken moose where we have yielded 900lbs of boned out meat, and once guided a friend to his first bull moose, weighed in at 304lbs dressed on the hook, lol. Some are very large, others very small. I guided a close friend to his first archery bull elk, a nice 6x6 he took at ground level, 10 yards. Went into the butcher at slightly over 600lbs dressed on the hook. Not all are that big though, although another close friend got his 6x6 this past fall and it too was at or near 600lbs dressed.
Walk
 
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