Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting anyone here hunt and kill a deer with a 45ACP?

New territory for me, I can shoot my 1911 good enough to hit a deer at 25 yards, thinking 200 grain gold dot bullets at about 1000fps, anyone every done this? Comments?

I have killed a deer with a .45 shooting lead cast solids. It died fairly quickly, but shot placement was key.

I am guessing this will then be a new thing.

I have killed pigs, no deer

I know a 10mm will knock them off their feet. Betting the .45 will do the same.

Ross Seyfried wrote about carrying his 1911 with him when he guided in Africa. He used it as all pistol packers do...for targets of opportunity. He wrote that he shot Impala and such for camp meat,etc. I "think" he used hardball or a hard cast, I don't remember. I've finished road(truck) injured mule deer with a head shot up close and MagSafe ammo out my 1911 LWT Commander. Made his eyes bug out on stems! A local rancher shot an old cow in the heart/lungs area with is 1911 and Glaser Blue Safety slugs! Dropped her. Go figure? ha

If you can hit with it, it will work.

-Jake

I've killed several deer with a 240-250 grain bullet at 900-1,100 fps in various different cartridges. 45 ACP should be just fine.


Okie John

I've got that article around here somewhere. He used the old Hornady 230gr Flat Point FMJ.

Got a doe at about 30 yards from a treestand. Glock 21, Gold Dot 230gr. She fell over kicking....

The 230 Gold Dots and the 230 Golden Sabre HP bullets have both worked well for me out of my 1911 & Glock 21 on close whitetails.

And I've killed a bunch of feral hogs at the Ranch with my 1911 and a 230 gr WFN LBT hard cast bullet. Several of them have been over 300 lbs.

I am thinking about trying it, the 10 is probably better, but certainly more expensive to practice with as well.

Killed quite a few injured deer over the years, with my .45 1911 and Federal 230 gr hollow points. It worked, but yes, shot placement is key.

Results were not as dramatic as when I hunted deer with a .44 mag revolver & 240 gr JHP Federal American Eagle hollow points.

Regards, Guy

When I was a serious hog hunter (with dogs), a .45 was all I used. It will thump them quickly at short ranges. I have shot one doe with it and it dropped her. Shot a variety of bullets and they all did their job. Used to shoot fmj's on hogs at close ranges because of better penetration into the head.

Can't say I ever specifically hunted for deer with 45ACP, but I have seen a fellow hunt with a Marlin Camp-45. It's a known fact you can kill a deer with just about anything if you hit it properly, but a gut shot deer is a gut shot deer whether you are using 22 shorts or 458 mag. You know your skill so let your conscience be your guide.

thanks for your insight, the question was more about has anyone here hunted with a 45 ACP pistol and killed a deer with one. I have killed one or two or maybe closer to 100 or so deer in my life, but never with 45ACP pistol. Just curious if so and what bullet was used, I am thinking 230 gold dots will work..

My cousin killed a button buck with his .45, but he took seven shots to do it. His load was pretty puny, to my notions, with a 185JHP (Hornady, I THINK) It was an older bullet, of pre-XTP design, and it did a poor job, but most of the problem was his load of Unique, which IIRC was 6.5gr. At the time, I was loading 8.5gr of Unique with another bullet, so I knew his load was puny. I had a chronograph, and he didn't.

I wouldn't be afraid to use a .45 on a deer, if I was close and the deer wasn't too fat, and I was 100% sure of the zero. I'd prefer the 230s, instead of 185s, though.

185 jhps and 230 gold dots. Never an issue.

10mm does more damage.

You can practice with anything, even a 22, its all teh same. sight alignment, sight picture, smooth press. FWIW.

Wife shoots 10mm quite a bit, practices a lot with a 22 upper on it. They both work well.

I will say I'm not overly impressed with 230 hardball, its all I had in a 3 inch kimber once while trailing a deer a buddy shot... finally he saw her behind cactus and I was trying to get to see her head.. when she bailed. I dumped off 4 rounds, and hit all 4, of course in the back end. Penetration was fine, but there was not much bleeding from those rounds. I think a 230 gold dot would have opened in the hind and she would have been dead shortly... later that morning another buddy was with us when his dog bayed her, she died from a 230 fmj, but that was a head shot.

I've killed piles of them with 45acp TC Encore's and 230gr XTP's.

Shot placement is key if you don't want to track them into someone elses yard...

45 acp, colt 45 long, 460 rowland, 50 bewolf, and 10 mm will all kill deer.

Yes, had a little 5pt buck hung up behind me, grabbed my 1911 45 from a left side crossdraw, leaned around the tree and shot him on the point of his left shoulder at iirc 18 yards, he then trotted past me carrying his left front leg out about 20 yards, stopped and fell over, one of the most nondramatic, or gentlemanly if you will, kills I've ever had, the pistol wasn't loud, he didn't get to exited, it just worked, the 185 gr Barnes TAC-HP left at iirc 1125 fps.

Yes, I killed a small buck with a 1911 and a 230gr Gold Dot at 950. He dropped in his tracks and the wound channel was impressive. Have shot a few hogs with a .45 as well. Like anything placement is key but it will easily do the job with a good shot.

I want to applaud all of you for your attitudes towards deer hunting with a 45 ACP.

I remember threads on here and elsewhere where admitting you'd contemplated hunting deer with a 45 ACP handgun would have been met with general derision and outright hostility. Hunting with a 45 ACP for whitetail was akin to eating your own children or having congress with farm animals.

I think the 10mm, though effective, just gets too much unnecessary hype.

I shot a wounded pronghorn with my .45 and Winchester 230 gr. HPs. I was dead instantly with a 25 yd shot through the ear holes.

I am glad for the information and the conversation, I had long contemplated a G40 and have tried two G20's, but due to my poor shooting and possibly the guns themselves I never felt good enough to try them on a deer. On the other hand my Kimber 1911 commander length gun from a rest will hit a deer at 25 yards without a problem. I know the 10mm has more energy and penetration but do I really need that on a 100 pound WT doe? All antlered deer will be served at 2700fps or faster.

I have used the 45 ACP on deer, but I like the .460 Rowland much better. It just hammers deer.

A 200gr semi-wad cutter cast bullets work very well also. Just as long as you do your job and they are very accurate in most non-polygonal barrels.

So, how did you pen this response?

Now you know the definition of "Ghost Writer"

Several years ago, I killed a large whitetail doe with a S&W 4506 and 200 grain Gold Dot ammo at 25-30 yards. No issues.

When I was young and had good eyes, I killed several Sitka Blacktails with hard cast SWC 200 Gr bullets in a Govt. Model 70 series 45 ACP lived on Kodiak at the time and deer were there in hi numbers.

Big difference shooting snowshoe hares with the RN and SWC also , big Halibut would not swim off with the SWC also where the RN they would. Close range on the deer under 25 yards.