Don't kid yourself. Short barrels give up a lot of velocity. If you only expect to shoot a deer out to 50 yards Maximum, you can get by with a 20 inch barrel. If you think you can shoot deer out at 100 yds, or more with the gun, using open sights, You had better do some penetration testing at those distances to see just how much oomph you have left.
I have no doubt that an ACCURATELY placed shot at 100 yds. on a deer, using a short barreled gun, will kill the animal. But, your tracking skills had better be very good, as you can't expect it to drop in its tracks, short of a heart shot. The problems with short barreled guns is Making that Accurately placed shot. Some try to reduce the caliber of such barrels, so that they can get more velocity. But, lighter PRBs are more subject to winds, so successful hits depends on how windy it is the day you hunt. There are State Laws, and game code regulations that often limit the minimum size ball that can be shot, at deer, and those limits have to be kept in mind.
I have never understood the desire for a short barreled rifle. I can see it if you are handicapped, or have trouble walking very far with much weight because of heart problems, or Arthritis, or have damage to your shoulders and can't shoot anything that recoils a lot, much less a heavy gun you can't easily lift to your shoulder.
But, Black Powder requires much more barrel length to BURN COMPLETELY than do smokeless powers. Beyond burning the powder, barrel harmonics are very touchy on short barreled guns, so that getting accuracy generally requires a barrel be much thicker than normal. That added weight often defeats the attractiveness of short barreled guns for those people who want a light weight gun to carry into the field.
The most common reason people buy "short barreled " rifles- modern, or traditional BP, is so that the gun won't "hang up" on brush when they are " Brush Bustin' ". The Gun writers never explain WHY They are "Brush Bustin' ".
My personal experience, alone, and with others on deer drives, is its the best way to NEVER SEE a deer, unless you are a "blocker" on a deer drive, and located at least 100 yds ahead of the drivers! :rotf: :surrender: What I have learned about hunting deer in wooded cover, is that there are game trails, and runs, all over the woods, and those used by deer are often large enough to allow my 300 lb. body to quietly move through brush on these trails, so that there is NO NEED to BUST BRUSH. And, I carry my 39" Barreled Flintlock right down those same trails, and right through the woods without it hanging up at all.
Oh, I can't swing that gun in heavy cover to shoot a running deer? I DON'T take shots in heavy cover at running deer. That is the very best way I know to put holes in tree trunks, intended or not. Actually hitting a deer is just LUCK. And where you hit that animal is anyone's guess.
I was a deer checker for a couple of years down at Old Valmeyer, Illinois, and saw plenty of deer brought in all shot up, with holes in legs, or legs shot off, along with holes from head to tail. One deer was a fawn, and barely dressed out at about 30 pounds. The shooter told me that his family was lined along a ravine, and they all shot at some running deer as they went by. This fawn was on the off-side of its mother, who they were trying to kill. They apparently shot under her, and hit this fawn. They found no blood from the mother, but this fawn dropped shortly after he fired his shot at the Doe. He decided the ETHICAL thing to do was to put his tag on the fawn and end his hunting for the year. He remembered when the first modern deer season began in Illinois back in the 50s, and he was NOT going to leave the fawn there to go to waste.
That is what shooting at running deer gets you, if people will simply admit the truth. We all read, and hear about the lucky shots, that hit running deer at long distances, right through the spine or heart. The shooter never tells where his sights were aimed when the shot went off, however.
So, I don't find this excuse much justification for using a short barreled gun.
IF you hunt from a treestand, and IF you know that the range of any shot you will have on a deer will be 50 yards or less( a friend has no more than a 35 yard shot from his stand), and IF you have some physical limitation that dictates using a short barreled, lighter weight rifle, THEN, you can justify hunting with a truly short barreled rifle.
Others opinions will vary. :shocked2: :hmm:
:grin:
