Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns 9mm for deer hunting?

I have killed one deer with a 9mm, back in the 70's, using the Speer 125 gr. JSP bullet. The deer, a medium sized doe, had been injured by a car, had a broken leg, but was still mobile. I tracked it down and was able to shoot it behind the shoulder with a BHP from about 30 yards. The bullet went all the way through and the deer stumbled about 10 yards and fell.

Over a 25 year period I also killed dozens of deer under similar circumstances with .38 Special revolvers using 125 gr. HP and .357's using 145 gr. HP ammo. If a deer was properly hit in the heart/lung area it was dead within 50 to 75 yards. If it was hit improperly, a long chase was the result.

The .38's were a bit "less" than a 9mm and the .357 was a bit "more". The .357 always exited on broadside shots and the .38's usually did, at least for me.

Since you plan to use your 9mm at close range under ideal conditions, I suggest you load up with CorBon 115 gr. DPX+P or a similar modern 9mm load, shoot carefully and keep a sharp knife handy.

I used a lot of Win 296 and the 280 gr WFN(water dropped wheel weights) out of a Ruger 4 5/8 Blackhawk.
Shot great as I had firelapped the barrel,sized the cylander holes exactly to the bullet,LBT blue lube and just for sh.ts and giggles I roundbutted the grip frame .Could put a couple of rounds with this combo into 2 inches all day at 50 yards resting over the hood of a truck.
Just did not kill deer for me as well as either the Hornady 240 XTP or 300 XTP.BUT it did kill.

Thanks for sharing your experience with everyone.
I cant keep a sharp knife on my person though.If I do I wont see one!Now if I keep it in the truck and have to go to truck to get it everythings alright!!
A little along the same lines is you just let me forget Toilet paper !!
Oh well you know the rest of the story!

"......A little along the same lines is you just let me forget Toilet paper !!
Oh well you know the rest of the story!"



Yeah, that's when you come home with only one sock.....grin.

Im not sure what bullet he was using.. we pulled up to the camp and it looked like they didn't have gun with them...asked him if he wanted to carry my 41 mag as I had an AR with me.. he declined and pulled a Ruger P89 out of a coat pocket and pulled the mag to show me he had hp's in it.. I still insisted on him using my 41 mag. He refused. The dogs bayed across a big creek and he was the first one there 15 feet from the bay behind a tree with the gun held in the air (hiding actually as the dogs were fighting the boar and he was scared!) I couldn't get a shot as I was wading the creek.. hollered at him and told him to shoot the hog.. he jumped out from behind the tree and shot the hog a point blank range!! The hog never reacted to the shot and took off trying to jump the creek..my 80 yr old hunting buddy hit him in mid air in the back of the head with his SKS as he was jumping across the creek. The Goober that had the 9mm ran up to the creek and was hollering look at the hog I just killed!!! I have pics somewhere of the bullet hung in the hide.. My brother has killed a ton of hogs with a 40 cal G22 and 165 gr Golden Sabers.
If I was hunting on my own farm in Eastern Arkansas (I hunt in Nevada county) and wanted to shoot a deer with my 9mm.. I wouldn't hesitate. People don't realize that there are so many deer over there that the AGFC are begging us to shoot does. I hunted the late season and was seeing over 35 does a day!!

I've taken a small mule deer buck with a .40S&W at about 40 yards and ended up shooting him twice.

I've not shot a deer with a 9mm but I've seen it done, kinda. Out deer hunting with a buddy and he brought .270 shells for his 30-06 and decided not to try 'em. He had a Glock 9mm that he usually carried and I think it was loaded with some good SD ammo but don't know the brand.

He decided to hunt out of an abandoned barn with his 9mm or maybe he just wanted to take a nap, I dunno. Anyway another buddy and I took off with our rifles and had a nice hike. Didn't see anything with horns and upon returning to the barn and our truck our buddy was gleaming with a small mule deer buck that he shot with his 9mm at about 20 yards. He is a pretty good shot that practices a lot and he said it was a one shot kill. We only heard that one shot so it sounded good to us. Deer went about 60-75 yards and piled up with a lung shot, dead. It made for an easy pack out with just backing up the truck and throwing it in the back.

I was impressed with two things. One that he could hit it and two that a 9mm would do the job.

Yes it will work, no its not a good idea! Use it if thats all you have but there are so many calibers that are better. I did kill a large feral hog once with my Browning Hi-Power & a 120 gr hard cast slug but it had been shot in the spine by another guy. I walked up & shot it through the head & the cast slug buried in the dirt behind it. I wasn't hunting, just along for the fun of it.

Dick

I am amazed at the number of posters that feel the 9mm is good to protect their lives but not good for deer. IMHO if it ain't good for deer the it sure as he'll ain't good enough to defend my life.

Yes it seems that way.
With a lot of todays loads designed to meet FBI specs of Penetration from 12 to 18 inches of Ballistic gelatin doesn,t seem like a issue to go through a deers lungs with plenty of penetration and expansion.
I think some get preconcieved notions in their mind about this and other things in life and no amount of facts are going to change their mind.

I'm carrying a Nine as i write this, M&P Full Size with Hornady 135 gr Plus P Critical Duty Ammo. I never said i wouldn't hunt Deer with my Nines , it is that I have better weapon for deer at my disposable and use them instead . Another reason most oppose the 9 mm for deer is due to the type of handgun they carry chambered in 9 mm . I wouldn't hesitate to use my Smith M&P full size, but i wouldn't carry the small POS Kel-Tec for Whitetail Hunting that a lot of people choose for self defense

I checked out that load on you tube and it does indeed seem like it offers good penetration and decent expansion.

I've got 21 rounds of that ammunition in my Sig P226 Tac Ops right now. I saw the YouTube video too. I like the Penetration it was able to achieve.

I'm still looking to pick up some of the 147 grain Federal HST load as well though.

I agree there are better cartridges for both deer hunting and self protection. The fact remains that a properly loaded 9mm will most certainly kill a deer.

Almost there

The 9mm and the Hornady Critical Duty may be a good option for taking a Boar on the Hog Hunt

Will be very interesting to see how the bullet performs if you decide to do so.

IIRC [bleep] shot one with his High Power last year.....

If I had my choice for personal protection I would take a 12 gauge or a 30/06 but they're kind of hard to conceal in my pants! One needs to balance out what they need the gun to do. Deer are also much tougher than people. I've seen plenty of deer running around on three legs but a human stubs his toe and he's on crutches!

depends.....saw a PH take an errant bullet from a clients 458 during a buffalo charge on TV last night and the guy walked out of the bush to the truck.....granted it was a solid that went through and by the narrowest of margins didnt hit anything vital going through the upper chest but still.....