Deer hunting with a .45??

[MIR]

Been using my .54 for deer hunting for a while now, so Im going to take the .45 out and hunt with it this season instead for a change of pace.
I know accuracy counts more with a .45, the .54 is a little more forgiving. My .45 is more accurate though. The only drawback to my .45 is that it has a 44" barrel on it and it murder toting that long smoke pole up in a tree stand. Anybody hear hunt with a .45 and get good results?

 

[gmww]

Placement is everything. I had a doe two years ago get shot double lunged. It went down after about 50 yards. That was with a RB too.

A doe this year went 100 yards plus after a double lung shot with a .50 maxi-ball. Go figure.

 

[roundball]

Anybody hear hunt with a .45 and get good results?

Yes...and you probably already know this but shot placement and distance are probably more critical due to the balls relatively small size & weight...sort of the .243 of muzzleloaders if you will.

 

[rich pierce]

I now limit my shots to 75 yards and good placement with the .45- will not take certain angles as I am not sure to get the same penetration as with larger round balls. I have killed 4 deer and lost none with the .45 round ball- farthest was 120 yards (misjudged range in open over snow) and took 2 shots; the other 3 were one shot kills with the deer not making it 40 yards. One was a doe climbing a ravine. I hit her too far back and high- in the kidneys, nicking the backbone. She went down like a pile of rocks but needed a little tap with the tomahawk.

I would no longer take strongly quartering shots or a frontal shot with the .45. With the .54, if I could be sure of angling the bullet to the boiler room, I take those shots.

 

[nchawkeye]

The first deer I ever took with a muzzleloader was back in 1977-8 or so...I had bought a Bob Watts gun in Atlanta, loaded with 75grs FFF, I killed 25 or so deer with it...I never really had a problem, but I was also a bow hunter back then...I didn't usually get pass throughs but the ball usually ended up under the hide on the other side...

Went to a .54 when I had an encounter with a bear...

I don't know how you get your gun up in a tree, but I use a shotgun sling, climb up and then pull the gun up...I also have the hammer down and a cover over the frizzen for safety...Good Luck

PS...On those downward shots, keep it in the bottom third of the lungs so you will have a blood trail quicker, whether with .45 or a .54...

 

[Kentuckywindage]

Will you be using roundball or conical?

In Colorado i have to use a minimum of 170 grain projectile so i use the 225 grain powerbelt. 80 grains T7 or 100 grains FFFg Goex work for my .45

 

[xxgrampa]

yep,

took a deer low in the lungs. didn't see the small doe behind it, got that one too.

that was the only time i got two deer with one shot. good thing had a block permit for 40 deer.

the rifle was a tc seneca 65grFF .445prb. sure wish someone would make a flintlock like a seneca..

..ttfn..grampa..

 

[Britsmoothy]

Deer no but I have shot rabbit to 150ish paces many years ago with a CVA kentucy. I was young and green but I could not get it to shoot to good at first so bought a book from S.Fadala and soon realised it needed to run in and so stuck at it and sure enough the barrel came in and boy was it good. I remember it shooting under three inch for three shots at 100 paces of the shoulder regular. It shot a few foxes too, I remember one at 100ish up the pooper! It went down but not out, It got it,s own back before the knife could be administered as it bit through my friends new boots :rotf:
I remember at the time that I would not have a worry on a deer this side of a 100yds.
I like the bit about the tomahawk-cool, a small axe is a great tool.

 

[MIR]

I will be shooting roundball and probably about 75G of 3F.

I need to get me a .50 but I keep putting it off, I need a smoothbore more though, alot of turkey around where I hunt.

But I never guess you canhave enough rifles, can you?? :grin:

 

[gmww]

I've got me a smooth .62 that I need to start working up a load for birds. .50 cal. is going to be a challenge on turkeys.

 

[MIR]

No..what I meant to say is I need a .50cal rifle --AND I need to get me a smoothbore, dont know which gauge yet though...

 

[paulvallandigham]

a 20 gauge smoothbore is a good combination gun for both turkey and deer. With a .600 RB you can easily kill deer to 75 yards, and if you can hit them, well beyond that. Most deer are killed at well under 75 yds.

 

[tg]

I used different .45's for several years with very good results I did like to keep the shots in the 50-60 yds range which is a long shot in some of this country, I passed on a lot of 100 yds shots with the smaller ball when hunting clearcuts, but I figured there was always another day.

 

[KyFlintlock]

I used one last year, for an hour and shot a doe. It worked fine.

nchawkeye gives good advice.

Good luck and take some pics
Wess