I've shot exactly one deer with a .380, which it sounds like is one more than everyone else in this thread combined.
It was a 100#ish doe that tried to jump a wrought iron fence and got hamstrung. I shot her once, directly on too of her head from about three inches away. The bullet fully mushroomed, penetrated the skull, brain and tongue. I recovered it inside the hide below the bottom jaw. So I know a 90 grain Hydrashok will penetrate a skull and about two inches of soft tissue, from contact distance. Take it for what it's worth to you.
