40cal. rifle for deer and small game

[roundball]

You're probably right...the occasional thread does morph now and then  ...sorry for my part

[Red Badger]

LOL I think we'll let this one run it's course... Now if someone wants to start a new thread, I'm all for it...

[hank-aye]

The one thing about the ORIGINAL topic that it appears that everyone agreed with is

             SHOT PLACEMENT is most important

             KNOW YER FIREARM

             PRACTICE,  PRACTICE,  PRACTICE

Now hows 'b we all follow Hanshi over ta his NEW TOPIC   

[voyageur1688]

  New post or not, I will continue to eat wild game as I still consider it to be safer than anything I buy at the store.  At least the wild critters aint chock full of steroids and what not.
Voy

[Spitunia]

An OLD injun friend of ma Great Gdaddy (back up in Maine), said he never used nuttin biggern a .22 fer MOOSE. Asked him (I were only 9 at the time), why he didn't use sometin bigger. Said he didn't NEED anythin bigger. Asked him how he did it.
His answer was;

"Paddle out beside the Moose while him swimnin (hard ta paddle a canoe on land), stick the muzzle in his ear, pull trigger, tow moose to shore".

By yimnie that be shot placement!

[voyageur1688]

 Knew a few up here that did that for deerhunting. Its amazing how well a deer that hasnt been cut open will float.
Voy

[hank-aye]

Yep, jest keep his head above water an hope it don't fart...

[Tom Threepersons]

Why is it some folks want to hunt with the smallest caliber the law allows? The little .40 is fine up to anything weighing in at 40 lbs. Some one compared a 95 grn .40 RB to a .41 mag 220 grn flat nose.  Now that is a real streatch. If you have every really hunted you know better.  Its better to use a .62 on a mouse. Ole Tom hates to see wounded game.

[Hanshi]

Well, they both make a .40 (+ or -) caliber hole, so I suppose they are about equal on that level.  I'd have to check but muzzle energy may be similar, too.  Now, I've never killed a deer with a .40 but have killed them with a .41mag revolver using both cast and jacketed bullets.  The .41, depending on bullet type, may have the edge in penetration or it would certainly seem so.  I normally use a .45 prb on deer and can only recall one that didn't penetrate through and through; it was flattened under the off side skin.  So, equal?  I don't know.  Would I hunt deer with a .40?  Without a doubt if legal.  I really like my flint .40 rifle and the gun, not the caliber, is the reason I say this.

[alsask]

I don't want to start an internet war or something but if you hit a deer in the vitals it doesn't take a lot to kill them.  More moose have been shot with a .30-30 around here than probably anything else.  Given a choice I would use my .54 of course.  As far as a .22 rimfire goes I had always heard the old wives tale of shooting them in the eye with a .22 to kill them.

I had a deer head from a Whitetail buck I had shot, with a .308, and was going to cut the antlers off and thought I would try the .22 for penetration to see if it was true.  The .22 would not penetrate the eye socket.

The .40 muzzleloader if close and a heart/lung shot should drop a deer no problem.  That being said I believe bigger is better when muzzleloader hunting.

[beowulf]

what kind did you use ,short ,long ,or long rifle ? dont know about the eyesocket thing ,but I do know my father shot one at better than 100 yards with a .22 ,and dropped it ! depending on skull thickness a .22 may or may not penetrate , angle the bullet strikes can have an effect on it also !  personally ,I prefer .45 or larger for deer when shooting soot belchers !

[alsask]

It was regular long rifle .22.  What I noticed the skull is heavy right where the antlers grow out, probably to support them when the bucks are fighting.  The skull is much thinner back from the eye sockets/brow portion.  I don't know if a doe would be the same, kinda doubt it.  It would be inhumane to hunt big game with a .22 rimfire unless it was your only choice ie. after an airplane crash out in the wilderness or something.  I have seen people butchering steers shoot them right between the eyes and they drop...but I suspect sometimes they are only stunned and die once the butchering starts.  Gruesome subject

[Tom Threepersons]

Thats a true fact. Shooting big game with a .22 is a terrible thing. Ole Tom rode up on a Bull Moose in a patch of dog hair Aspen. The bull could not move, he was slowly dying. I was able to place a .44 mag. slug behind his ear. We field dressed the critter and found a .22 Mag slug under his hide. The little slug had went thru the lungs. The old fellow was waiting to die as his lungs filled with blood.  Ole Tom would  have hanged the SOB with that Damn .22 if he could have found him.

[Hanshi]

Thats a true fact. Shooting big game with a .22 is a terrible thing. Ole Tom rode up on a Bull Moose in a patch of dog . The bull could not move, he was slowly dying. I was able to place a .44 mag. slug behind his ear. We field dressed the critter and found a .22 Mag slug under his hide. The little slug had went thru the lungs. The old fellow was waiting to die as his lungs filled with blood.  Ole Tom would  have hanged the SOB with that Damn .22 if he could have found him.

Ole Tom must be quite a man.  I wouldn't get close to a bull moose much less try to ride one. 

[Hanshi]

  Not much CWD up here in Mn. Do have a couple spots with bovine TB though. Not a big problem yet--- but it is there and they are givin out licenses for those areas like candy on Halloween if ya wanna hunt there.  They say it isnt able to be caught by people as long as the meat is fully cooked.
Voy

Actually the disease is caused by a "prion" which resides in nerve tissue (brain, spinal cord).  It's not alive so cooking has no affect on it and does not make the infected meat safe to eat.  As long as you're careful to stay away from the nerve tissue, there is little chance of contracting the disease.