.38 Special For Whitetail Deer?

[Larry Gibson]

Redhawk1, Mikey, Skunk and anyone else who might have their dander up;

Please go back and read insanelupus' post. He is not asking what is the "best" cartridge or handgun for deer hunting. He already has a good idea of a good one as he's done it with his .44. He is not asking for anyones opinion on using his Colt .38 Special. What he says is, under very strict and limiting circumstances, he is considering shooting a deer with a very special revolver in .38 Special. He doesn't ask if it will kill the deer as he knows (as all of you know) the .38 Special will kill deer. He doesn't ask for anyones permission or advice to do so. What he asks for is anyones experience kiling deer with a .38 Special and recommended loads for his old Colt revolver. Some have answered his question with good honest answers. I didn't read here that anyone "recommends" purposeful deer hunting with the .38 Special and I didn't read that he was going to do that. What I did read was that under specific circumstance, while hunting with a rifle, he may want to shoot a deer with theold Colt revolver IF the correct shot presents itself. Perhaps we should try to keep the replys in context with the question then we wouldn't get our dander up.

Larry Gibson 

[Glanceblamm]

Larry
I just wanted to say that I greatly enjoyed the story of your first deer with the handgun.
Have read many over a lot of years about the kid down on the farm. These were hard times, but yet magical times that one wouldn’t trade for anything just because of the overall experience. Your own story rates right at the top. Thanks for a great read.
GB

Sorry for blowing the post people...Good memories is all and I did have access to the .38 special in my early years. Belonged to an Uncle who used to be in LE, Cousin would sneak it out now & again and we would trade off on shots at the ground squirrels. Sometimes one of us would actually hit one The ammo (cheap reloads) were usually provided by the cousins older brother but he would always want an extra quarter for hisself.  I now suspect that this was used to buy a gallon of fuel for his car
Deer numbers were way down back then and the State had only re-instated the Deer hunting 10yrs earlier. Not much else was safe from us in the form of small game but we we usually armed with those old Stevens pump rimfires.
Sorry For Blowing The Post
 

[no guns here]

I have an old Remington bolt-action .22 that was passed down from my grandfather.  Many moons ago he was a traveling salesman (wasn't everyone in the period after WWII???).  He sold Saladmaster kitchen ware in OK, TX, LA, AR area.  He told me the story more than a few times of how he "in 1952 I allowed an old Indian woman over in the mountains (SE OK) $12 for that rifle against a new set of pots and pans".  He said that she had come into a some money and didn't need to kill anymore deer to feed her kids.

Wouldn't reccomend it... could you do it?  Yep...  perfect shot placement.  Slight angle away, on-side foreleg stretched forward and the bullet hard up against it.  Should be a heart shot, probably no exit.  Run about 40 yards, fall over, kick twice and be ready for the knife.  If you screw the shot then you might be in for a long day of trailing with little blood to follow.


ngh

[Old Griz]

Knew a old rancher who used to put down cows with a .38 Sp. Said it was all the gun he ever needed. I guess if you're close enough, you can kill most anything with anything. However, I'm gonna save my .38s for plinking, small game, predators, and jackalopes!

[prairiedog555]

I've always been a big bore, big bullet fan when hunting deer.  I like to starch them.  BUT when I was a teen one of my hunting friends did a dumb thing, while squirril hunting he shot a big buck with a .22 lr.  the buck was running and it just sommersaulted and died.  Shot in the lung/heart area.
It really turned out to be bad because he was witnessed by a game warden and the judge gave him the choice of Army or jail.   He was severly wounded in vietnam.  Another example of one moment changing your life.
Anyway it never ceases to amaze me, especially after reading experiences of hunters here on GBO how hard or easy it is to kill a deer. 

[S.S.]

I am currently putting on my flame proof suit and eye protection for the responses
But YES, a properly loaded .38 special in the right place will Kill a whitetail !!!
But ...my experience with this is limited to a model 92 rifle, Not a handgun.
A 180 grain lead semi-wadcutter actually penetrates pretty well from a rifle.
I gained access to a tract of hunting land several years ago that is kind of small
and very thick cover. problem was, I did not really want to draw a lot of attention to myself
when I shot so I worked up a load for my .357 rifle with .38 cases and went to work with it. ( I was legal to be there, not poaching or anything. Just some "EVIL" neighbors)
It did what I wanted it to do. keep in mind that ranges were extremely short.
In all honesty, I would not try it with a .38 handgun though.

[Redhawk1]

I don't think anyone said that a .38 special won't work, but just not recommended.  Heck we all have probally seen a deer shot with a .22 LR, but then again, I would not use one of them either. 

[wallaby]

Insanelupus, looking forward to seeing the pictures.  It will be a deer you will always remember.

[shermbob]

I see they shoot 200# wild boars with air rifles so a 38 ought to take a deer. Check out www.gamoairguns.com  bottom of page.
shermbob

[Redhawk1]

I see they shoot 200# wild boars with air rifles so a 38 ought to take a deer. Check out www.gamoairguns.com  bottom of page.
shermbob

Here we go again. 

[shermbob]

  Not really i  just stumbled across that in the back of American Hunter. Personally I use 44mag 454 both with good  results and hope fully one with a 45/70 BFR.
shermbob

[Redhawk1]

Not really i  just stumbled across that in the back of American Hunter. Personally I use 44mag 454 both with good  results and hope fully one with a 45/70 BFR.
shermbob

Good, I am glad you weren't suggesting it. 

[BRL]

Very interesting. All when I am looking at a new handgun caliber barrel for my NEF Handi...I will still probably end up getting the .44 mag barrel in 20". But I always wonder about what is "just enough" caliber to do the job. As mentioned here, people kill deer with every different caliber out there. Of course, the question now is...define "do the job". One never knows the outcome until that scenario has been played out. Every scenario will result in a different outcome.

But, the question is not "what caliber should I buy to kill a deer". It's, "I have a very sentimental gun that I would like to use in a very sentimental activity". That would be similar to me saying "I have the hammer that my great grandfather used to build houses for a living over a hundred years ago. I'd love to build something with that hammer".

If you did kill a deer with that handgun, what a memory and story to pass down with that gun, espcially in that caliber. Although, the down side is...that caliber. I know my post did nothing to benefit anyone here. I'm just thinking out loud and just wasted everyone's time. Sorry.

[lil_hunter12]

the caliber is not that desirable but if you know your weapon and it's accuracy well enough a good neck shot would take it out and drop it in it's tracks. ive been taught since i was 5 years old if you are deer hunting and the shot presents itself shoot it in the neck. i wouldnt hesitate to use a .38 that i was well practiced with and took only perfect shots. saw deer taken with smaller guns. taken a couple myself with a 22-250

[Redhawk1]

lil_hunter12, there is a big difference between a 22-250 and a .38 special.  I would use a 22-250 over a .38 special any day.  The size of the bore does not make it a better choice. There are many other factors  involved. Also a neck shot is not the best choice of a shot on a deer. My son has been hunting for about 9 years now and I would never tell him to take a neck shot. In my opinion it is the worst choice to shoot on a deer or any other game animal.