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.45 ACP for deer?

29K views 52 replies 38 participants last post by  amadjuster 
#1 ·
Hey Ruger family, I'm wondering if out of a 4.5" - 5", with proper shot placement, and projectile selection, can you ethically bring down a deer within 25 yds with a .45 Auto loader?
 
#3 ·
IMHO, it would take both a skilled handgunner and a hunter with tremendous self-discipline to ethically do this. An excellent shot, and one who would only take THE PERFECT shot. The .45 ACP generally exhibits rather lackluster penetration, so I would not be willing to count on a marginally placed shot to consistently penetrate deep enough to reach the vitals on a large game animal.

I think one would have to be willing to pass up a lot of almost-perfect, or otherwise marginal shots. A survival situation might be a different story, but I would have serious reservations about using one in a routine hunting scenario, personally.
 
#6 ·
I've killed deer with a 22lr (legal here) while out hunting Rabbits so it's possible, but a shot would need to be pretty precise if going for a heart/chest shot but if the gun and your are accurate at 25 yards then it should be possible.
It's just about understanding your limitations and the rounds limitations.
 
#7 · (Edited)
The first question: Is it legal to shoot a deer with a 45 ACP in your state. Many states that allow handguns specify calibers. If your are going to limit yourself to 25 yards then use a bow.

Second question do you have something else to use? The only auto I would use would be one in 10 MM.

As to lackluster penetration of the 45 ACP then that must be the new physics as the 45 has done the job over 100 years and you don't need to load it beyond SAAMI specs to look good on paper. Penetration = momentum. Here is a calculator:

https://n4lcd.com/calc/
 
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#8 ·
A 45 acp is definitely capable. But yes, shot placement is what its gonna take to kill it. If you can get good enough with it, go for a head shot. One hit and its going down. That way if you miss you don’t have to chase down a wounded deer which you may never find. All my meat hunts are head shots using a 223 round. But I always use a rifle with a scope which makes it a more doable shot.

Hope you get your first hunt in and best of luck with it.
 
#9 ·
Will it kill? Sure. How good are you at tracking? How open is the areas you hunt. A seasoned bowhunter used to searching for downed game won't have a problem, but arrows typically pass through whitetail deer leaving two bleeding holes. Your .45 with expanding bullets will likely only have an entrance wound. I hunt with a 7.5" .44mag and have once been unable to locate a buck that took a chest hit at 45yds with a 240gr JSP that didn't expand. There was no blood trail. He went over 150yds through swamp and brier thickets . I found him a week later. I'd use my 6.5" Blackhawk .357 for deer before my 1911 .45acp.
 
#10 · (Edited)
The ethical use depends on your skill and abilities but state regulations may dictate regardless. In Illinois for example you're limited to centerfire revolver or single shot handguns, 30 caliber or larger and minimum barrel length of 4 inches. And hollow point/expanding bullets only. So a semi-auto is not an option or common FMJ ammo. I would start with your state's hunting regulations first and see what is allowed.
 
#11 ·
Gargoyle, please dont take this the wrong way, but if you have never been hunting, I would not use a .45 ACP. Can it do it? Yes, see all the good comments above. But if you are new to hunting, there is a skillset that can only be developed by doing. As a new hunter, how do you know what a perfect shot looks like? Also, shooting on the range and shooting at an animal is completely different. Have you heard the term buck fever? Adrenaline can do strange things to even seasoned hunters causing strange things to happen to their marksmanship skills. Without ever having hunted, do you know how you will react and the experience to know how to overcome the emotions and adrenaline that you will certainly be feeling? And even after executing a perfect shot, do you have the required tracking skills to follow up a deer with a scant to non-existent blood trail? These are all skills that are very learnable and I applaud your desire to hunt. I really do. I hope you take up the sport and introduce hunting and shooting to all your friends and relatives. There are not enough new hunters taking up the sport. I would just recommend using something different, at least until you have built up some experience. Good luck and let us know how your journey goes. There is a lot of good people here with a lot of knowledge.
 
#12 ·
Funny a caliber that earned a reputation as a man killer in war would give some pause on deer.

In Ohio .45acp is a legal deer hunting caliber but then so is 45Colt so six of one half dozen of another.


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#15 ·
45acp is the modern version of the old black powder 45 colt. Many a deer fell to that round. I’d go with a Hornady critical duty +P 220gr or the buffalo Bore 230gr +p hollowpoint. Be well practiced, and disciplined when taking the shot. Consider angles, I would not want to risk hitting a shoulder.


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#16 ·
Ideal? No.

Adequate? Yes.

Ethical? If you gotta eat, yes, but for sport hunting I say no. You do what you have to do when you're in survival mode but when hunting for recreation IMO it's unethical to unnecessarily risk wounding/losing game. YMMV.
 
#17 ·
I have been told that my 44mag rifle isn't adequate for Deer, although it seems a Lot of deer were unaware of that fact.
Shot placement is always key and using a bullet that will perform best for the shot and placement that you like to take.
I like a side on chest shot, on the shoulder if I'm using a hard bullet, but I prefer a 240gn boiler room shot, it releases so much energy in the vital organs that it really puts them down quick.

But as a mate is fond of saying "kill em dead, shoot em in the head" and he has shot a hell of a lot of deer, some years he's shot more then most Hunters that rely on tags would shoot in their life.
The rounds have been as small as the 233rem, heaps with the 6.8spc and a lot with the 308win too.

All work if the shot placement is dead on. Shooting a deer with a 45apc will require either a head shot or a good heavy hollow point in the vitals.
But I hunted a chunk with the bow and got some good kills but I realised that if I can get into bow shot range then I could kill them with any gun.
You just HAVE to do your part.
 
#18 ·
I believe a firearm should suit a purpose. A handgun with a 4 1/4" barrel is not designed around hunting wild animals, unless they have 2 legs and are in your house. If you want to hunt deer, get a shotgun or a rifle.

IF I was being charged by an angry deer, I believe a .45ACP would stop it, and probably kill it with a shot to the chest. The real issue here is not the power of the cartridge, but the effectiveness of the gun itself. Hunting deer with a handgun IS possible, but requires more skill and experience than using a long gun.

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/Mossberg-500-Pump-Action-Shotgun
 
#20 ·
This bunch disappoints me. I’ve been checking off and on looking for one response and I haven’t seen it. So here goes.

The OP states he’s never hunted. To that, my response is start by going squirrel hunting and learn how to play the “game”. Isn’t that how most of us started, I know I did 50 years ago. These responses make it sound like everyone is giving a seasoned hunter advice, not someone fresh out of the box.

As unfortunate as it is there are seasoned hunters who miss/wounded deer at 25yds every year with a rifle. The average in Missouri is 37yds. To think a new hunter is going to opt for a headshot at 25yds or less when it’s broadside is silly.....it won’t happen. I won’t do that with a rifle or pistol, it turns into a low percentage shot regardless of how well you shoot.

OP, if you really want to hunt deer start with a rifle, when it gets to easy and you want more of a challenge, then pick-up a pistol. Do I hunt with a pistol? You betcha I do, but it’s chambered in 7-08 Rem.

I respect the game I hunt, and as a hunter it’s my responsibility to put that animal down as fast and ethically as humanly possible. Threads like this bring out the worst in me. Sorry for the rant.
 
#25 ·
Nothing wrong with your first hunting experience to be for deer. Check my earlier post and I did recommend starting with a rifle or shotgun. Since the OP stated later that he would be hunting in thick brush with close shots, I would actually rescind the advice of a rifle and say use a shotgun. Not everyone begins with squirrel.
 
#23 · (Edited)
I returned to hunting deer three years ago, after more than 20 years away. I have hunted a lot of small game on our farm, mostly nuisance varmints, in the interim. My feeling is that a hunter should use a rifle, scoped or not, or a shotgun. Yes, it is more ethical. A handgun, to me, is a poor choice except for finishing off wounded game. I hunt in the woods on the ground with shotgun slugs up to about 40 yards or in an elevated blind, with a scoped .30-06, out to 100 yards, not my 1911. Elmer Keith, the patron saint of big bore handguns, writes of handguns for larger game:

“With factory loads the .357 Magnum, .44-40 and .45 Colt are all superior to the .45 auto rim and .44 Special in actual killing power but hand load them and the picture is greatly changed. The .44 Special is the cream of the crop.”

He had a lot of experience hunting with all sorts of weapons, also noting:

“The most powerful sixgun loads are far under ordinary rifle loads in actual killing power, so one should use the most powerful sixgun he can get if any big game is to be killed with the short gun.”

Both quotes are in his book Sixguns. He also disliked scoped handguns. In Southern Indiana, the old-timers who taught me were mightily ticked off when the state first allowed handguns for hunting. Felt that more animals would end up wounded. It does happen with long guns, but if one practices hitting vitals and can follow wounded game, that is how I got taught to hunt. As with self defense, a rifle with the right caliber is a better one-shot killer.

A long arm will be better for filing the freezer with meat.
 
#24 ·
.45 ACP in Hornady 185 JHP +P should do the trick, provided you can hit a 10" diameter paper plate set out at 25 yards (your self-imposed maximum range) EVERY SINGLE TIME.

You also need to calibrate your eye so you reliably know what 25 yards looks like, or set out some kind of range marker so you won't inadvertently take a shot that is past 25 yards, or both. It can be easy to misjudge range when you get excited.
 
#27 ·
Mark204, I, like most of us on the forum are not here to disappoint you. From what I can clearly see we were just answering the op’s question. And most of us being hunters felt the importance of giving him some advice. I think the op is clearly mature enough to handle any advice from any of us. Just because you don’t agree with are answers doesn’t make us wrong. Maybe next time instead of calling us all out and expressing how wrong we all are. You should just post your opinion on how you would go about hunting your way. Just like we posted our opinion on how we would do it our way.
 
#29 ·
GunsmokeSam, Hmmmm, first I never said anyone was wrong, did I? I thought being disappointed was expressing my opinion, you seem to be the only one who took it personally though.

I realize you're fairly new to the forum, I suggest you grow thicker skin if you plan on sticking around. A personal attack on a member is a big no-no, not agreeing with the content of your post or anyone else's for that matter is fair game.
 
#28 ·
I've never been a believer in starting on small game, I did when I was a kid but I've introduced a number of people into hunt where the 1st game they ever shot was a pig, goat or a deer.
Nothing wrong with starting big, just practice until it's second nature and don't get worked up.

Best way to do do that is scout a lot in the off season, once you get used to deer everywhere then buck fever will e reduced as your used to seeing them at hunting ranges.
 
#32 ·
Mark204, its the way you started your post by stating “this bunch disappoint me. And then ended it by saying “threads like this bring out the worst in me”. Not cool. Looks to me you are the one that needs another layer of skin. Try not to be so negative when your referring to your fellow members.
 
#34 ·
"A commonly accepted threshold for the*minimum*amount of kinetic*energy needed to kill an elk is 1500 ft-lbs. For whitetail*deer, the*minimum*amount of kinetic*energy*is 1000 ft-lbs."

COMMENTS:
The above is talking about using high velocity rifle hunting in the West, and at longer ranges. And it REALLY is talking about a MINIMUM number. So, MORE is better. The above doesnt even consider the 'shock' factor where it is MUCH better to be HIGHER also(as in bullet performance).

If deviating from above, such as at lower handgun velocity, personal experience is... I prefer heavy bullets that are capable of going through both shoulders of a deer, that would also allow a high probability of a quick kill, one way or another(as in quick approach to safely dispatch). I just DONT see that 'reliably' happening in rugged country or near an adjoining ranch/property, using under a 300g projectile. Just wanna avoid a long tracking ordeal, for many reasons.

On elk, have shot 2 bulls that went well over 100yards in heavy cover, with a double lung/heart shot, using 375 & 416 with reliable jackets, these arent ultra high velocity calibers, even at max, BTW.
Another younger bull anchored with 375 shoulder shot, it took all of 5 minutes to finish while it took me 10 minutes to get there. Have also seen a buddy's 30'06 round explode inside of an immediately dropped elk shot at 100yards, but have seen a number of elk lost too, with 308 caliber. Have seen more WT deer lost as well, with .243 heart/lung shots in 1980s.

So, to me... only 'highly' experienced handgun hunting on big game - and should be capable to deliver at least as well as a big caliber muzzle loading rifle (& its accuracy), plus with needed broadside shooting/hunting skills. Range such as 100 yards max (or so) depending on shooter, shooting REST, hunter and of course proper gun, bullet-weight & sights. Under 60 yards is much better, JMO.

With scoped 475 in 400g, perfect conditions and I mean PERFECT, In past, I would not have shot beyond 140 yards at deer, 70 yards at elk(and for Bull, I'll stick with rifle). I dont archery hunt anything bigger than deer, and have missed every time. Chagrin.

I say 45acp is out, unless surviving or a very rare setup.
 
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