Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns .40 for Deer Hunting?

Would a .40 cal pistol be sufficient to cleanly kill a deer with?

Sure, but the target presentation - distance, angle, etc. - where I would attempt the shot would be so limiting I wouldn't put up with the handicap. Kinda like me relying on a club or a big rock to fill my stew pot.

Loaded with something like this would no doubt work:

http://www.doubletapammo.com/php/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21_26&products_id=210

but depending on the platform I'd imagine the practical range would be limited. There's LOTS better rounds for hunting.

You can go with a .40 caliber but I would think the 10MM would be a lot better than the 40 SW (aka short and weak).

I'm sure it would but there are questions. One is what is your state game laws on the subject. I doubt the .40 S&W would qualify in Kansas, but I'd have to look at the laws again to be sure. The smallest commonly encountered deer is normally a Whitetail. The .44 Magnum is really less powerful than a 30-30, which is kinda considered a minimum caliber for sport-hunting. The .40 is considerably less powerful than the .44 Mag. Lots of deer have been taken with the .357. OTOH though, lots of handgunners consider it to be pretty weak. If I was hunting Whitetail, I'd want a .41 Mag. level load or stronger.

Kill a deer? Sure.

Good enough for hunting them? Nope.

NO , you will not be satisfied with the results.

Yes.


Travis

I live at the end of a paved road out in the country. Folks dump off dogs and cats all the time, and I have to dispatch them.

An 80 lb dog can take quite a few shots with the 155g Winchester Silver tip doing the fastest and most deadly job on the bullets that I have tried yet.

You could pretty much count on deer running off with you never finding them on most shots.

Also, most auto's are not very accurate with the average auto shooting 4-6" groups at 25 yards on a 25 shot group shot with the aid of sand bags.

I have two Glock 40's, a Model 35 and a Model 22 and it would be a cold day in Hell before I even tried to kill a deer with one...that's just me.

If you were hunting out of a deer stand in a tree, and a doe walked right underneath you, only 12 feet underneath you, that might be a shot worth taking. For that purpose, I would use 180g Speer Gold dots that have the jacket bonded to the lead core.

If it's taking you that many shots to dispatch an 80 lb dog with a .40, you may want to get a little closer, or consider hitting them where it counts.

Crazy Coot...I will say a Big NO to the .40 cal in a semi-auto pistol on deer! I have a Glock 10mm and would not try shooting a deer with this caliber and it is at least 25% more than the .40 cal. However, a good .44mag will get the job done in spades OK.

So you have two .40's that you use to protect you and yours but it won't kill a dog? Interesting....


Travis

Travis,

There once was a very large female lab retriever (large for a lab anyway) wandering our neighborhood and pestering livestock for about a 1.5 mile radius. Apparently she had been dumped out here for some considerate farmer to adopt. But she was wild as a march hare.

I watched that lab take a 41 cal 170 gr sierra jhc broadside to the heart from fifty yards. The bullet had been launched at 1875 fps and penetrated through and through.

And then I watched in open mouthed amazement as the dog leaped to its feet and ran full tilt for over seventy yards before stumbling head over heels and falling over dead.

I took two lessons from this
1: Nothing smaller than a 41 mag is fit for big game hunting.
2:For goblins at home defense ranges, do not expect instantaneous incapacitation with anything but a CNS hit.

I have been saying this for many years. I have seen numerous deer travel amazing distances with the heart and lungs totally destroyed from a 30-06 and a 165 gr bullet.

An armed man can inflict horrendous damage even though he be "walking dead". No handgun can incapacitate a human quickly enough to prevent that without taking out the spine or brain.

Not sure what you're saying....


Travis

The moral of the story is:

It is not surprising in the least that a forty won't kill a dog at across the pasture range. But that does not make it any less effective for home defense than any other handgun.

I don't know what across the pasture range is. I do know that a .40 will kill deer and coyotes at 25-50yds.

I've used pepper spray on dogs with great results. Maybe that should be my home defense weapon.

Travis

Hmmm...pepper spray for home defense?

effective on 99.9% of people

instantly neutralizes an attacker (the examples I have seen)

no over penetration issues

no legal hassles with its use (in any of the free states)

Do not know if you could say that about a 44 mag, might be worthy of its own thread.

My thoughts prezactly.

In the last 14yrs I've shot well over 100 deer and elk with a .40S&W from a Glock 22. They've all been easier, closer shots than you'd encounter while hunting because they were crippled by motor vehicles first. Long story short, the performance is not inspiring with anything other than head shots. Given half a chance I use a long gun instead.

Yep, I think you should go ahead and the defend the interior of your home with pepper spray then report back to us. Since it's non-lethal, please to a practice run with a buddy playing the bad guy so you can report back sooner.

Headshots are the only way to properly euthanize injured game animals. That is what I teach our officers. Tired of reading reports that state "I fired 3 rounds of issued buckshot to dispatch the crippled raccoon"...

As far as the thread goes, VAnimrod said it best.

I usually carry a Glock when hunting because I am always carrying a Glock. May try to set up a super short range doe shot and trumpet the results, however.

I believe writer and former Army gun Chuck Taylor has killed several deer with a Glock 17. Just ain't a good idea for most folks.

Have personally zapped a big feral tomcat right in the chest at less than 7 yards with a Colt GM; had a quail in its mouth and no tag...Saw blood coming out of the hole.

It ran off into the woods and I could not find it on our 40 acres.

Unlike most people, animals don't know they are supposed to lay down and quit when shot.