.45 caliber for whitetail deer

[Timothy Murphy]

Whats your opinions and experience on usig the .45 caliber rifle with  roundballs or conicals for whitetail deer hunting.Average size deer 125lbs to 200 lbs for a big deer.

[savageT]

Whats your opinions and experience on usig the .45 caliber rifle with  roundballs or conicals for whitetail deer hunting.Average size deer 125lbs to 200 lbs for a big deer.

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Jim

[KING]

TM....I would safely say that the .45 is too small for deer size critters.  I would sugest a minimum caliber of .50 for whitetail using a rb.  If you are using a conical in the .45 then it would move it up some.  For deer size i really prefer a .54 and kinda leave it at that.  Minumim for rb is a .50.  If ya gots a good accurate conical,then the .45 should be ok at a shorter range,with the max range at 125 yards fer a rb.  king

[Peddler Parsons]

Back in the early 70's I started using a 45 cap and ball long rifle with a bullet for a number of years on deer with very good results.   Just a year or so back there was a article about the 45 being better than the bigger bores  for speed and psi at impact  It all comes down to the shooter and GOOD placement of shot on game! and letting the game get within a reasonable  range for the shot.   To meny hunters these days think bigger is better;  in some cases it is but, that takes the true sport out of hunting, a 300 Win mag is over kill on a 175# deer.  Now days I use a 45 marlin for the woods and a 45-70 for open country but sill use The Holy Black
 :lol:  :lol:

[38-55]

Have shot a few with the 45 round ball.  Shot through the lungs, have never lost an animal.  I guess it sort of boils down to shot placement and waiting for the right moment.  No running shots and no south end of an animal heading north.

[Loozinit]

In the days of yore, the Long Rifle evolved from larger bore down to around .40 to .45 in many cases.  I doubt that this was because of ethical concern for the humane kill.  In fact, it was mostly because of the realization that lead and powder could be saved if the barrel were lengthened and bore reduced.  Yes, smaller RB's do retain a little more energy and fly a little flatter - but mostly as a result of the longer barrel.

Those guys probably took a lot of pride in the Perfect Shot, as do we.  But, at the end of the week, they would shoot the deer any place, and with any caliber, as long as it ended up in the smokehouse.  

They were not conservationists or animal fanciers in any sense that we would recognize.  Ditto for the Natives.

I would recommend a minimum RB caliber of .50 and I limit my shots to under 100 yards - in fact, I have never had to go over 80 and I've never had to track more than 100.  Most were dead in less than 100 feet.  The one that went the 100 yards was scary.  There was no blood at all as he topped a small rise.  I knew I hit him.  As I went over the top after him, there he was, dead as a log with blood everywhere.  That was the longest shot I ever took and I never did it again.

Years ago, a couple of my buds took longer shots and they were real ugly.  They, too, never did it again.  That's one of the reasons we still hunt together.

So, to me, caliber and shot placement is largely a question of ethics.  If you absolutely must use a .45 RB, then get super close and shoot accurately.  Otherwise, get yourself a more potent caliber.  Besides, you probably need to increase the number of toys in your locker, right?

[River runner]

I shot my first muzzleloader deer with a .45 Kentucky style rifle with rb. This was in the UP of Mich. and at the time the minimum legal for whitetail. Like Loozinit, I felt pretty certain I hit the deer, as the shot was less than 50 yards, but still there was no sign of blood or fur where I had shot. I followed the tracks for about 100 yards and even lost the track as there was so much track in the area. Just up ahead was a slight rise with a stand of oak, and I figured I'd check that out before I gave up on it, even though I had a clean shot, no brush in the way etc. Just at the top of the rise was my deer, a good 150 yards from where I shot it. Upon field dressing it I found the rb in the body cavity, it had punctured the left lung, and heart and the deer bled out from inside. Even where the small buck was laying, about 130# there was very little blood. Go with at least a 50 and a full power load. I now use a .54. RR

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

I wouldn't hesitate to shoot deer with a .45 ball.  I've corresponded with several folks who use .45 balls on deer and have done no tracking whatsoever.

I, on the other hand, have shot many deer with .54 ball and have had lots of tracking to do.  Never recovered a ball.

UNTIL I started shooting my .54 flinter.  Shot 3 deer so far with it.  Hit one between the eyes so that doesn't really count.  Hit the other two in the chest.  Second deer had a fist-size hole in the on-side shoulder (yes fist-sized entry wound), penetrated lung, liver and stopped in paunch.  Because it was only one lung, and I believe the shoulder and bone absorbed much of the blow it ran 100+ yards.  

Third deer was hit in the same spot, except the ball sort of skipped in and out of the shoulder, re-entered the chest, and stopped in the off-side hind quarters just-under-the-hide.  Didn't run far at all.

I think the .54 flinter is shooting the balls faster than my previous .54 caplock.

The velocity is what upsets the soft lead ball causing massive damage.

A .45 has LOTS of velocity.  2000 fps is easy for a .45.  Thus if you put a fast .45 ball in the boiler room the deer should go down.

However, in the case of my second deer, I don't know if a .45 ball could be relied on to penetrate so deeply AFTER blasting such a hole in the shoulder.  

So, in sum, a .45 roundball will take deer just fine.  You just might have to pass up a few more shots than you would if you had a .54 (long shots, and less-than-ideal-shots).

[rpseven]

This past deer season I purchased a .45 caliber muzzle loader barrel for my encore and to my surprise it shot very well. Although all this talk about the .45's and their twist rate have got me a little concerned. I did have the chance to take this gun to the field during a deer hunt and it performed real good. I shot a  doe she was about 40 yards from me I was in a treestand and the shot hit her high in the shoulder and she dropped like a bag of hammers. I used two fifty grain pyrodex pellets with a 195 gr. powerbelt bullet with fiberoptic sights. I am still experimenting with loads and bullets for this gun but so far what I have shot in it have been fairly accurate. The only bullets that I have tried are the powerbelts 195 grs and the 225 grains. I have just recently picked up some Hornady XTP 180 grs. to see how they will do. According to T/C these are the best ones to use. (the hornadys), we'll see!!! :biggun:  :gulp:

[Snowshoe]

My first black powder deer fell to a .45 cal rb. The range was 40 yards and the shot good, it fell on the spot. I have since gone to a .50 but miss the .45 for the inside of 60 yard shots. If you shoot a bullet in the .45 with 70 grains of powder, you have the power of a .45-70. The long range muzzleloader of yesterday where .45 cal and shot 500g + conicals at ranges over 500 yards. One of the finest long range rifles of old was the British Whiteworth, it had a twist of 1 in 21" I think and shot a 500 or 550g bullet. This combination has far more power than a .54 loaded with a RB. A very good book on muzzleloading is by Sam Fidalla. I am not shure on the spelling. Shoot strait and shoot often, have fun.

[msdh]

A .45 conical in the appropiate twist can drop anything.  I shoot 385 -460 grain conicals out of my White rifle and they are extremely accurate and deadly.  This same rifle and load is popular with elk hunters in Utah where it is legal for elk.   Most everyone is shooting .45 and .44 cal bullets out of sabots in their .50 cal inlines.  Buffalo hunters used .45 cal slugs in their Sharps rifles to kill millions of buffalo at long ranges.  But they were heavy bullets.  Bullet weight  and construction is probably more imoportant than caliber size except in roundballs.  A  heavy .45 conical would probably not take a back seat to many muzzleloading projectiles in terms of deer killing ability.

[JCM]

I don't shoot as much black powder as I used to, but I'll put in a word for .45 conicals here.

My father hunted with a .45 TC Hawkin for many years using both rounds and conicals.  He took many, many deer with this gun.  I shot the same rifle a lot, and when I was younger I used a .45 TC Cherokee (the gun I killed my first deer with).  As with any gun, bullet, or shot, placement is paramount.  I know that with good placement these two guns were great on deer, most at around 50 yards.

A quick story about my father's .45 Hawkin.  We were hunting here in AL in January about 16 years ago.  He was shooting about 70 to 80 grains (not sure exactly what is was) and a Maxi-Ball.  It was the rut and he saw a very nice buck moving very quickly, chasing a doe.  We were hunting a public management area.  He knew he only had a few seconds to get a shot off, in a thickly wooded area, full of hunters, with iron sights, on a buck trotting chasing a doe.  He decided he should attempt it, picked an opening (I think it was around 40-50 yards), shot quickly,...and knew he missed as soon as he shot......  

I've got to mention here, that this is the only shot I ever remember my Dad missing, this is after hunting with him for about 20 years now (only about 4-5 years at that time).  It's also a shot he normally wouldn't take, but he did............

At any rate, he reloads, shakes his head in disgust, and keeps watching.  About 10 minutes later he sees the same buck walking broadside to him at about 80 yards.  He picks an opening (this was a long shooting lane about 15 feet wide that had been cleared), gets a solid rest, smiles, and gets ready to shoot.  Right before the buck steps into the shooting lane, it turns and begins walking directly away from my father's treestand.  He doesn't even hesitate on the Texas heart shot.  Dad sees the buck running off through the clearing smoke.  He gets down, finds where the deer was when he shot, and finds no blood.  He is able to follow the trail in the leaves where the deer ran,  he follows it about 50 yards and is getting worried....still no blood.  He knows the rifle will shoot, and felt he had a solid rest, but knew that the base of the tail isn't the same target as a broadside deer. .....

A few more yards and he finds a beautiful 10 point buck.  The deer's face is almost grey.  It was aged at 10 years old.  It only weighted 150 dressed, but it was January and he was rutting hard.  The conical hit at the base of the tail, and ended up as a lump under the skin at the base of the neck/chest area.  Field dressing was ugly but the buck and the smile on my Dad's face were beutiful.  It's the only deer my Dad has mounted although he's taken many that most people would mount.  I think he had it mounted because of the hunt and the buck's age more than the rack.

Sorry I got so long winded, but the point is .45 conicals are excellent for deer with proper shot placement.  The .50 or .54 may be a better choice if you favor shoulder rather than heart/lung shots.  The .50 and .54 also carry a little extra that will help some if you aren't able to get the exact shot you want.  This is just a testiment to the accuracy and killing power of the .45 conical with good placement.

Man....it is a long time until October.  At least turkey season is right around the corner.

Take care,
JCM

[pyro maniac]

when i was 16 yrs. old I hunted with a 45. kentucky rifle.My cap drew moister crossing the river in the boat ( she wouldn't light)The next day I carried a 58 cal. zuave. We loaded the powder in the muzzle with a table
spoon.At the end of the day we drew straws to see who would be the luckyone to touch off this piece of artillary,I always lost.took a good thirty min. for the smoke to clear.Several 6" to8" locust fell to that 52"flame belching thunder stick



                     only when we are young did it not look foolish
                            pyro maniac

[mamaflinter]

Whats your opinions and experience on usig the .45 caliber rifle with  roundballs or conicals for whitetail deer hunting.Average size deer 125lbs to 200 lbs for a big deer.

Timothy Provided you keep mindful of the .45's range and don't try shots outside of this the .45 will do fine on deer provided that you do your part and only take clean shots.