I've taken three deer with cast bullets while still hunting with iron-sighted 44 or 45 revolvers. Almost any bullet from these guns will kill a deer if it hits the vitals.
Where I hunt, most shots are within 30m. The deer are small, with a vital zone of about 6", so you don't need much power. I prefer a 250-grain cast flat-point at about 900 fps, but a 4" 38 loaded with wadcutters would probably work.
The deer are spooky and the brush is so thick that they can vanish in a step or two. Because of the trail systems, bed locations, vegetation and terrain, they see you before you see them. If they think they're hidden well enough, they'll sit there and let you pass. If not, they might stand up as they try to decide. In that case, you have 3-5 seconds to fire. If you don't have the gun in your hand when you see the deer, you have build your draw stroke into that time. To train for these conditions, I fire 1,000 rounds or more of my hunting load per season.
It's easy to work up extremely accurate loads with cast bullets, and accuracy gives me confidence. I don't need the expansion that jacketed bullets provide. The velocity that they need to expand brings with it recoil, noise and blast that I don't like, plus increased powder costs. Also, the flatter trajectory that higher velocity offers does me no good. And I sure can't afford to shoot as many of them as I need to be ready.
Cast bullets work well in my situation. If I were in a tree stand shooting a scoped revolver at big corn-fed Nebraska deer, I might use something else.
Okie John
