killed a deer last week about 20 to 25 yards,button buck,used my glock 22 40s&w,135gr.corbon load,one shot to the mid chest area,dropped at the shot(witnessed),i mean this deer dropped like a bolt of lightning struck it,complete exit of the bullet,good/large exit wound,took him home cleaned him,put'em in the freezer..last fridat evening to be exact,man am i suprised as to dropping that deer with one shot to the mid lung area,lung only hit..guess its just one of those things...

You got lucky, I've seen a lot of deer go a long ways shot with the 357 Magnum and a varity of bullets..

I draw the line at the 41 Magnum for deer and prefer the 44 mag.

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Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com

rlineb,

Strong work! Here in Utah we have a six inch bbl. restriction on handgun hunting so I used to regularly dream about taking my Glock 17L out with 115 grain Cor-Bons after deer!
I do think you need to be REALLY careful about shot placement and bullet selection in these situations. But then, by your story, you obviously know that.

Regards,

JohnTheGreek

Handguns for hunting deer are not a practical decision as a big game hunting tool. they were designed for one thing and one thing only. The fact that you took your deer at twenty five yards, bow range, is your luck. Had the distance been more than fifty yards the results may have been much different. I have no problem with those who choose to hunt deer game with a hand gun. Hand gun muzzle velocities are very poor to begin with, not to mention down range. The maximum effective range with a twelve gauge slug is one hundred yards at a MV of 1500 FPS.
You must limit your shots to bow range distances with hand guns to have positive results. They are strictly used as by the hand gun hunter as a challenge to harvest his deer. Large caliber hand guns muzzle velocities are below 1000 FPS at the muzzle and that velocity declines rapidly past 50 yards. accuracy potential at extended range is dismal at best.

A would agree with RAY and JOHN on the use of small calibers for deer

Reloader66 your right hand guns are design to deliver a bullet of a certain size down range. Just like rifles ect.

I think you did pretty good. I wouldn't let one incident swell your head though. I truly think that the .41 mag should be the average hunters starting point for a deer pistol. And I mean a real pistol not a 16" mini bolt rifle. I shot my best ever antelope in 1986 with a 6" S&W 57 , .41 mag at about 50 yds. Complete pass through and a short dash later he piled up. Took two small whitetails with my old M 24 Smith too, a 6 1/2" .44 SPECIAL. 245 gr Keith bullets at maybe 900 fps max. Both of those were bow range, and did the same thing the antelope did, short run and thats it.
But I do have to say that in the hands of a good hunter who can stalk close and REALLY place his shots ; you could probablly take all the deer in the world with a .357 mag and good bullets. I routinely shoot two dozen or more muleys and whitetails each year with my 9mm duty gun; 147 gr sub-sonics!! Considered a widowmaker load by the high velocity fans , scorned by much of LE, but in the right spot it kills them easily.

Placement is the key......we say it here all the time.

Congrat's on a good shot!

FN

i used a custom S&W 1006 10mm with 200gr hard cast bullets to harvest a 172lb buck this year but i passed up 6 bucks to wait for a shot i was comfortable with. i shoot this pistol ALOT and know my limitations.
shot placement is the key!

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born on a mountain, raised in a cave, hunting and fishing is all i crave!

Well first off I have a 40S&W ,and I wouldn't take it hunting. I personaly think it's way to enemick for big came.
As for some of the coments above. I must respectfully disagree. The big bore handguns in use today (41mag and up) are more than capible of both killing deer sized game and no less a good choice than some of the rifles people take into the feild to do the same. I punched a hole all the way through a deer at 70yds with my 41mag, and it went through both shoulders

As for them being less accurate and only being used at bow range at best. Wrong it is only a matter of how good of shot you are with that weapon in your hand. Practice is the key! When I used to practise all the time (before marrage)I could hit a 30gal drumm at 400yds at will(open sights)6" S&W model 57, 41mag. No I would never try it with an animal.

Elmer Keith killed a muley buck at 600yds with an open sight 44mag! Now granted it was a desperation shot on a wounded animal to stop it from being lost, but my point is this. That would be one hell of a shot with a bow! Granted also very few people could have made that shot.

Bob Mundenn in his shooting display used to shoot 10" plates swinging at 100yds with a snub nose 38 sp.

I'm sorry I think that a handgun hunter is every bit as responcible of hunter as anyone else. Infact we have to be better at it than a rifle hunter if we are to make the shot.

Many times I have heard this argument that handguns are not as good for hunting as rifles. I must respecfully say that is hog wash. Get out your relaoding manuals and look at the ballistics on some of these hunting handguns. Then compare them to some of the samer rifles people hunt with. ie 22-250, 30-30, 243, Then start reading about wound chanels, and the fact that they say 40cal and bigger wound chanels bleed better because they don't close in on them selves. Look at the down range energy these big, heavy bullets retain. Man your throwing freight trains at deer.

I have hunted with handguns for years and nothing has walked away yet! I'm not even that great of a shot, but I make sure I can make it before I pull that trigger. Just like we should all do with any weapon. JMHO
Respectfully X-Ring

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Praise the Lord, and pass the ammunition!

[This message has been edited by X-Ring (edited 12-15-2001).]

well i just happened upon this deer while out checking around,i just carried my pistol as a last resort finish them off gun.

rlineb
Nothing wrong with what you did, or carry. I had a High Sanderd 22lr I carreid for years for that same purpose. I never did have to use it to finish one off so I quit taking it. Since then I have had two times I wish it was there, but someone thought they needed it more than we did and stole it four years ago
I was just saying that I wouldn't take a 40 S&W as a primary weapon, and from your post it sounds like neither would you. Infact it doesn't sound like anyone here would.
There is no doubt in my mind it will kill deer just fine, but the margine of error is just to great for me
JMHO X-Ring

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Praise the Lord, and pass the ammunition!

A friend and I have both shot deer with the 9mm and 147 gr bullets. Both deer ran 10- 20yrds and dropped dead. Both shots were broadside and through the lungs. One was about ten yards and the other might have been 20yrds at the most. When I took these pistols with me it was to shoot deer with them. I planned on not shooting farther than about 50 feet even though I could easily make the shot to 25 meters (which is the max distance of the local indoor range).

How big was the deer? I lived in NC from '84 - '86 and while there was with a guy who killed a buck that when dressed weighed less than 50 pounds. I've no doubt your handgun would've been big enough to kill that deer.