I was at the range this morning practicing with my ccp & it hit me… we talk about 223s being sufficient for deer but what about a 9mm? Seems like a 124 Gr HP would suffice? Anyone hunted deer with a 9mm pistol?

If the animal was ten foot or closer.

I killed a young mule deer with a 9mm. Using Winchester PDX bonded 124 grains. The bullet performed beautifully at 25 yards, through the lungs. After the deer ran at the shot, it went down, and as I approached, it got up, so I put another into it, hitting the ham, that bullet performed well enough, and put the buck back down. Not necessarily recommending it, but like most other scenarios, decent bullets in the right places work well, and bullets into the wrong places may cause rodeos.

Close, 9.3mmX62....

I don't think 9mm is legal in many states. I have put down critters with a 45 ACP pretty handily so no doubt the 9 can kill one under the right circumstances and good shot placement

AZ only requires it to be a centerfire. So - get your Saturday Specical in .25 acp out

Shot an adult doe with my J-Frame snub nose .38 Spcl Hornady 110gr Critical Defense at a, for the gun, long range of about 15 yards. She ran about 35 yards and fell over. Was a "stunt shooter" for sure, but was down to one last doe tag and knew I had to wait for the perfect situation.

I killed a big buck with a .380, it had been injured by a car. Busted a back leg and was crawling through a pasture. Highway patrol officer who had given me the salvage tag at the scene didn't want to use his AR, pistol or shotgun. I couldn't blame him though. That guy was dressed to the nines in a pressed uniform and probably didn't want to clean a gun just over a deer. All I had was a Glock 42.

That 90 gr. XTP round took that deer through it's swollen, rutted up neck at 15 yards and dropped him dead. As for actual deer hunting, no.

I did get a small one with a 40 cal Glock. Complete pass through

Wild hog hunts here in Florida are conducted year round as there are too many of them. I was hunting with a guide and two others. One man chose a 9mm handgun. He shot a medium sized hog through the brain at a distance of about 50 feet. Lights out!

Sherwood

I shot a hog in the head inside of ten feet with a 9mm 124 Gold Dot. The bullet ricocheted off the skull. Shot deer and hogs with .45 ACP 230 Rangers in the head and shoulder on a deer and they fall down dead. Convinced me to carry .45.

Yep. A .45 ACP will kill them dead.

9X57 Mauser is a great deer killer. So is the 9X56 M/S.





But joking aside, Phil Shoemaker killed a charging grizzly with a 9MM (several shots) so I would say a 9MM Luger will kill a deer if you hit them right with a good bullet that pernitrates in a straight line. It's got to be as good as a broadhead from a bow.. But I would also want to keep my shots at a range (just like with a bow) that I would be 100% sure of hitting within 2 of my intended point of impact.

Yes you can make a clean kill on a deer with a 9MM Luger, but I have to ask, 'why would you want to'? What is truly the point of doing it?

Many many many deer have been killed with 22 LRs over the years, many by poachers. A 9MM will out perform a 22LR in every way.

Still, I would never try it unless their was some real and pressing reason.

I used a three-pound Estwing hand sledge to put down a doe that had been hit by a car…

But I don’t hunt with one.

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Good point and well said

Myself and others have tried finishing hogs with 9's and 40's... Never seems to be a one shot proposition. I normally carry a 40 wit 2 mags, one with snake shot. May need a new holster and start carrying the 45.
I have taken to carrying two rifles- depending. My B92 44 mag in the interim. It does the job as a finisher.

To this day, I still haven't found a use for the 9mm. I understood the concept for it, during the "wondernine" years, and while fun for a beginner at a range, would NEVER use/recommend it for anything other than that. There are better calibers for ANY use, when one is considering 9mm.

As said 458 win had to do a brown bear with one but at the time I'll bet he was wishing it was something bigger. The 9mm luger round is immensely popular with the military and leo's. it's a cartridge that universally gets a recommendation by those folks to do a double tap on anything they have to shoot and when that fails they get a mag dump instead the leo a free pass. That should tell you beyond a reasonable doubt using it on deer is not to smart. Not every one who totes a pistol has the same skill level using it. You might want to reconsider your voyeurism desires into stunt shooting. Mb

Maybe from 5 yds or less

I’ve killed pigs with one. Shot placement means everything. Treat it like a trad bow and get in close, put it in the right place and when you can’t do that pass the shot.

This guy doesn’t seem to have any problem killing a pretty good buck with a 9mm. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ur-zAFDcZBA

[quote=LNF150]I killed a big buck with a .380, it had been injured by a car.

I had a friend who had to put down an injured horse. all he had was an Iver Johnson Pony .380 and fmj. He shot that poor thing with a full mag, finally had to cut its throat. He was using headshots...they didn't penetrate. I have "read" where some guys have used the 9mm Hornady XTP bullets for deer at 30-30 range. One guy used his for calling bobcats, even had to use it on a cougar. worked for him anyway.

As the name says I hunt deer and hogs with a 9mm. 9x56 MS that is. Kind of falls between the 358 win and the 35 Whelen. My first and so far only Mannlicher Schoenauer model 1905 is what makes it a special rifle to hunt with. As a hunter it is our responsibility to kill our game as quickly and with as little suffering as possible. Not sure a 9mm pistol round can answer that bell with any consistency. Is it possible, definitly. Is it ethical? Not in my estimation. But every hunter makes his own choices. Good hunting.