Minimum pistol caliber for hunting deer

[Wolfwood]

As my dear old Dad taught me - "Son, SHOOT the damn deer - you can always make the shot better when you tell your friends!"

sounds like something i learned about fishing once...

 

[TexasRedneck]

Ah, but with fishin' it wuz different - "Light the fuse an' duck!"

 

[Roscoe]

I have shot deer with three handguns, a .41 magnum, a .44 magnum and a .45 Colt with heavy handloads. I'd imagine a hot loaded .357 magnum would do the job on most deer as would a 10MM. I feel anything smaller than a .357 would be a bit risky.

 

[Texas42]

Ah, but with fishin' it wuz different - "Light the fuse an' duck!"

You know. . . Guns, explosives. . . . I guess it would be easy to find fishing with hooks and line boring after that. : )

I got kind of discouraged by limb lines and such when I first went noodling. Them fellows got probably 15 catfish, most of them were 30 lbs and one was 55lbs. I was used to 2 or 3 with most being about 1-2 lbs.

 

[Wolfwood]

hah! never went fishing with dynamite or anyhtign like that, and noodling is to creepy for me!
i prefer line and hook.
would like to give bowfishing a try, as that jsut sounds like fun.

but yeah, i say 9mm
and let my vote reflect.
honestly, if it is centerfire, i'd use it. if rimfire was legal, id use .22 lr.
all abotu shot placement.

 

[Texas42]

Yeah, I can't say that I enjoyed noodling or that I was much good at it. I didn't do it much, but I still got a scar on my shoulder from it. I like fishing for bass, personally, though it has been too long.

 

[TexasRedneck]

hehehe - ya'll should've been with me an' a buddie back when we wuz kids. He noodled - but his FAVORITE thing was findin' water mocassins! He'd snatch 'em by the tail an' snap their heads against the nearest rock/boat hull. He had some of the fastest reflexes I ever saw on a human!!

 

[Wolfwood]

hehehe - ya'll should've been with me an' a buddie back when we wuz kids. He noodled - but his FAVORITE thing was findin' water mocassins! He'd snatch 'em by the tail an' snap their heads against the nearest rock/boat hull. He had some of the fastest reflexes I ever saw on a human!!

leave it to you to know the only texan jedi.

 

[TexasRedneck]

leave it to you to know the only texan idjit.

There - fixed! View attachment 3167

 

[Wolfwood]

There - fixed! View attachment 3167

hah!

 

[kville79]

My friend was drinking on his back porch one evening and a bold deer walked withing 10 meters... he took a shot at it with his 9mm Glock and blew half of the deers skull off. Deer ran about 50 meters and dropped dead. Lucky shot, I wouldn't suggest using a 9mm, I'd go with a .357 revolver... but 9mm is do-able.

 

[Wolfwood]

hehe, the metric system cracks me up.

 

[kville79]

Marine machinegunner... dealt with meters and mils for so long it comes natural.

 

[Wolfwood]

awesome.
what did you get the most trigger time on?

 

[San Antone RR]

454 Casull. If you miss, the muzzle blast will disorient long enough to get a second shot... LOL

 

[JSDinTexas]

The object is to damage internal organs resulting in a kill. So bullet penetration is the key, followed by size of round and flair of HP. Since most handguns don't have the power of a long gun, hot ammo is needed. Most handgun ammo goes in around 12" +/- and S TX deer are at least that thick or better. While I voted for .40 as the minimum, I prefer 10mm +P loads. And somewhat surprised at .357 leading the poll.

 

[Wolfwood]

454 Casull. If you miss, the muzzle blast will disorient long enough to get a second shot... LOL

roflmao

 

[ta6ppc]

I've shot one with a 45 acp about 20 yard's worked great.
40 S&W is = to or greater in some loads to 357 mag. 10 mm is more bad yet over the 357 mag.

I enjoy shooting a 44 mag and can shoot it well out to around 200 yards so I am partial to 44 mag and above for deer hunting, but 357 is still a good choice it is still a over penetrator!!!

 

[glock 50cal]

Only a true redneck would even comment in public on lethality of tha all mighty 22 lr in a conversation about deer hunting ,truly gotta luv the I know some guys .Go get em tiger just dont get caught.