Reliable Deer Killers

[Hanshi]

   If you're like me and been at it long enough you've likely used more than one caliber for hunting; I'm specifically talking about deer and small game/varmints.  But what about a specific gun?  What gun(s) are the one most used for deer, and the one that's the little critter go-to.  I'll start off with mine.  Admittedly I no longer have the Crockett .32 I used so much so lets stick with THE ONE(S) you do have and use above all others.
Lancaster style G. silver mounted .45 X 36" X 13/16" straight barrel X 7 lbs.

SMR iron mounted .36 X 38" X 3/4" X 6 lbs 4 oz.

Both of these have taken squirrel & raccoon but the .36 is much better for that purpose.

[Dogshirt]

Wait, hold on thar! You mean they make rifles in calibers other than .54 and .58? What has this world come to? 

[Hanshi]

  They started making them in response to the demands from, AHEM! sophisticated and discerning shooters.  Plus it was discovered the .54 was only the .45 reversed, VOILA!  While the "rabble"  did indeed require the .54 and .58 in order to kill a squirrel at very close range, the true cognoscenti  only needed .54, .58 and .62 occasionally and only on tough Maine snowshoe hare and the big Deep South hogs.

[Hanshi]

  Hmmm...Well it appears no one owns a piece that provides them with any game, large or small.  Nor does anyone apparently possess any kind of front loader worth mentioning or worth shooting.  You guys are just begging for another chapter from my memoir!

[beowulf]

parted with those guns many moons ago , have`nt done any hunting with my newer pieces !

[Cherrybow1]

Well, I don't have my favorite yet but it's coming this summer and looks something like this 

[Hanshi]

parted with those guns many moons ago , have`nt done any hunting with my newer pieces !

What the h*%#!  Doesn't anybody around here know how to lie? 
In the last four years I've been in the woods with my rifle exactly one (1) time.  Haven't even been to the range to shoot in a year and a half!  Truth is I can't swear that I'll hunt anymore at all.  With all the pain & physical problems it just takes too much effort.  And due to all that the fire has died down to a smolder, taking with it that old can't-wait-to-get-out-there drive.  It's just so darn hard to drag myself out of a warm, cozy bed, rush to get dressed and go out into the cold morning. 

Not saying I'll absolutely quit for good; I'm still too easy to get stirred up about hunting just listening to others, etc.  Let's just say it will take a good kick in the butt on any given day to put me out there in a (ground) stand.  It's been a passion for around 65 years or more. 

And I have plenty more stories chronicling my adventures, and a fair percentage of them are true. 

[Patocazador]

It seems I don't have a photo of my favorite Hawken clone, so here are the others that have hunted deer.

[Hanshi]

I'd say you are gonna have to shoot it, post photos, the whole works.  Who is building it?  What are its vital statistics?

That little .45 in my earlier post was my very first hand built gun.  I still remember opening the box and pulling it out.  It was the sleekest thing I ever saw, a real beauty to my eyes.  I had expected "real nice" but that rifle took my breath away.  And man, but it has taken deer!  Your experience will likely mirror mine.
My .40 in the cleaning cradle back when I lived in Virginia.

On the left is me ( no, not George Clooney) holding that .45 and a target shot a dozen+ rounds.
A friend and I alternated shots, most offhand, at 60 yards and produced two groups less than an inch apart.
Quite a few years ago.
ON THE RIGHT is a photo taken half a century ago with my first FLINTLOCK, a Numrich Arms "Minuteman" .45.
Picked it up in '69.

[Cherrybow1]

TVM in Natchez is building me a Natchez Poor Boy. Upgrading to a Chambers late Ketland lock, 42"  Colerain 45 cal, plain maple in their dark brown stain with aged steel furniture.  [conf]Style. Probably won't get it until August.

[Hanshi]

Excellent choice, Cherrybow1.  My poor boy has a Late Ketland, too.  It's a nice little .32.  Try to be patient, really tough, I know.

[flintboomer]

My TC Renegade in .54 has taken the most deer & elk, but the Pedersoli Kentucky in .50 has taken its share. The Blue Ridge flint 50 has also taken a few and the generic half stock .40 I built took a couple of deer but it didn't do the job very effeciently so I stopped using that one.

[William]

Probably going to be my first Mongrel rifle, Big Red.  I still haven't shot my TVM EV flintlock so next in line is my other Mongrel built Bown reproduction, this one in .50 as opposed to the other two which are .54's.

[William]

Bown 50 cal.

[Cherrybow1]

Man! That brown 50 is gorgeous. He sure built some nice rifles