Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire 45 ACP and Deer

I went out yesterday morning to get my pop up blind and seat so I could leave So. East Ohio and head for home. I had seen nothing for two days. I needed both hands so I left the shotgun in the truck, packed up with all my other gear. I strapped on my P97 Ruger loaded with Winchester white box 230 grain bullets. (I don't go into the woods without a gun, ever.) It had been snowing, off and on, for a day and a half after raining for better than 12 hours. I saw no tracks, nor even tracks in the mud, the area looked dead.

As I picked up my gear I heard some shots on the other side of the holler, some ways away. I walked out about 200 yards and stopped, to put a dip in, at the bottom of a hill top covered with a pine planting of trees about 7 feet tall. Here comes this doe, she gets to within 12 yards of me, broadside. I pulled the P97 and fired two shots into he chest, rapid, then she turned and I fired another into the other side at an angle from the rear. She went down the hill about 20 yards and died.

When I recovered her I found no exit wounds. Gutting her, I found that both lungs had been penetrated and that my last shot punched a hole in the top of her heart. That hole did not go all the way through, I cut the heart open and recovered the bullet, which had stopped just before exit. There was one broken rib on each side, and a hole between two ribs. One of the lung shots broke a rib, as did the heart shot.

When I got home I couldn't hang the deer because it would freeze. I skinned it and broke it down, putting the parts in the refrigerator. I found one of the bullets that went through the lungs between two ribs, the tip of my knife just popped it out.

I'll not do that again. The P97 is one of my CCW guns, carried in a shoulder holster under my coat. I think I'll go ahead and get a 6 inch long slide for my EAA 10mm, and a shoulder rig for that.

Murdering a doe with a 45ACP... I like it!

Been tempted to try that myself... though, as you conclude, I'd probably chicken out and use my 10mm instead. But it'd still be fun.

Well, I would not do it again, even under the exact same situation.

Crosshair-

It's been over a decade since I hunted in Ohio, so I was wondering if they did get around to legalizing semi-auto's for handgun hunting? Way back in the day when they first legalized handguns, it was revolvers only, I believe, and limited to .38, .357 Mag, .41, and 44 Mag. I ran out and picked up a 10 1/2 inch .44 Mag Super Blackhawk and quickly learned the deer were pretty safe when I was carrying that gun. Good shooting-hope it eats good for you.

Geeze it didn't knock her off her feet!! You know the old 45 story I'm sure..just figured it would do the same thing if you hit her in the hoof.. Just a little funnin this am ,I love my 1911 and shoot it a ton and always thought about trying what you did ..but was unsure what the result would be...Tnx now I get the drift

Where I hunted in North Carolina, you couldn't fire a deer rifle off the ground. You had to be 10 feet up. So, everyone is shooting down and bullets won't travel as far. That's a good law for populated places. Well, the guys all carried pistols in case they walked into a deer going in or had to follow up a wounded one. I brought a .44 mag. I shot one doe with it and she fell dead. Guys carried .45's though. I'm sure they had good reason. They must have been capable of doing the job. I wouldn't shoot a deer at 50 yards with one, but if I bumped into one, I think I would.

Wow! That is not impressive performance! Wonder how hollowpoints would have done, like some Win Rangers.

Looks like I'll just stick to revolvers.

Why not, seems to have worked fine?

A couple of question, 1- where the Winchester white box ammo hollow points or FMJ 9hard ball)? 2- What did the wound channel look like?

I killed a Deer a number of years ago with the 45 ACP at a distance of 40 to 50 yards. Worked fine

Seems to have worked fine to me also.

What do you figure the doe weighed?

I've shot several with a 45 acp. I wasn't impressed with 185 gr. hollowpoints but had pass throughs with 225 gr hard cast at 900 fps. No expansion, but decent size hole all the way through.

Bullet choice is of course pivotal to exits with handguns and rifles for that matter. I have some 255 grain hard cast flat points from Buffalo Bore at 920 FPS that most certainly will exit on Deer

VERY unsportsmanlike thing to do, subjecting an animal to four shots to kill it. The weapon used proved itself to be totally inadequate for the task and should never have been brought into play.

I killed one...just one....with a .45. Forty years ago, on a lease we had on the south border of Ft. Hood. The old guys were all napping at midday, so I went out walking around. Jumped a big doe from under a cedar where she was taking her siesta and shot her at about twenty feet....hardball went through and through. She ran a good fifty yards before she keeled over, but she was stone dead when I got to her.

I'm not so sure. There were three shots and the first two were rapid succession with the third within a few seconds. Maybe the deer would have died after the first shot. Lots of hunters make the judgement to keep shooting as long as the deer is standing.

Winchester whitebox 230 FMJ's or hollowpoints? Either way, it sounds like they worked perfectly. With FMJ's, I would have expected an exit but not with the hollowpoints. Either of the first 2 shots would have probably done the trick by itself, but the follow-ups were good insurance. I've had deer run farther than 20 yards hit through the lungs with a rifle at close range. What were you expecting, her to flip upside down at the shot like she'd been hit by the hammer of Thor?

You were using bargain basement ammo and got good results. You don't have anything to complain about. If you want an exit, used a +P bonded hollowpoint or better yet a handloaded 230 grain cast flat nose bullet.

Post up the pictures of the recovered bullets.

Deer often run even when shot through the lungs with a rifle. Bullet holes through both lungs is fatal. The only sure instant death is with a CNS hit.

truthfully, i don't think you really need the six inch slide unless you just want it that is.
I am packing a glock 20 tomorrow up in bear country. I have a aftermarket kkm barrel for it, also a six inch aftermarket kkm barrel. I get a little more velocity by just switching out the glock barrel, and about another 75fps or so from the six inch.
but, i have xtp bullets 200 grain loaded to over 1200fps. I think that will give all the penetration needed. Or you could buy some of double tap or others if you dont reload.
Double tap makes a flat metplate heavy bullet hard cast for the 10mm that i think would go right through most anything.
translated tho i have the six inch barrel it aint on there much.

Crosshair, what you need is one of these:

http://www.wilsoncombat.com/p_4602.htm

Just use a full size 1911 in .45ACP and you will be alright.

I shot one with the exactly same gun...my Ruger P97DC 45.

I'm not sure that I would do it again, but that is because of my skill level. The doe that I shot was directly beneath my stand. I fired twice in rapid succession and she ran less than 25 yards before falling over dead.

12 yards with a 45ACP - that's OK, but on the marginal side as energy drops pretty fast.