What's the least powerful legal caliber you ever shot a deer with .

[NYBowhunter]

243

[dbHunterNY]

i started out with a Winchester '94 30/30 with 150 grain Remington Core-lokt ammo.  also i've taken deer with a lighter loaded 50 cal muzzleloader. both of those had varying results to dropped where it stood to a reasonable tracking job.

[ApexerER]

I have taken several deer with a  12 GA slug before rifle was allowed and then went to a .308. Never hunted with anything else.

[mowin]

22-250... Dropped in it's tracks.  

TC pistol in 7x30 waters.  Few does. Most went less than 50 yrds. 

[The_Real_TCIII]

.270, it was a pencil hole going in and a pencil hole coming out. He went about 50 yards


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[NFA-ADK]

44 Mag:  Most don't go past 60 yards with average around 50 yards.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Nuisance tag filling. A little over 225 yards was furthest usually 100 and under.  Right behind the front shoulders and they folded right there.   It Jellied the internals. 

[ATbuckhunter]

1 hour ago, The_Real_TCIII said:

.270, it was a pencil hole going in and a pencil hole coming out. He went about 50 yards


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What ammuntion were you using?

[ApexerER]

3 hours ago, The_Real_TCIII said:

.270, it was a pencil hole going in and a pencil hole coming out. He went about 50 yards


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I had that issue with my .308 when I was Nosler ballistic tips.....Right through, never expanded. I went back to Fusion....

Edit: It was not Nosler Ballistic Tips it was Hornady Superperformance BT's

Edited June 17, 2019 by ApexerER

[Dom]

.22 on the front lawn after being hit by a car.I couldn't watch it laying there thrashing around suffering.

[grampy]

33 minutes ago, ApexerER said:

I had that issue with my .308 when I was Nosler ballistic tips.....Right through, never expanded. I went back to Fusion....

Wow, I'm surprised. Any deer I've shot with the Nosler BT's, 7mm-08 and 270, it was like a grenade in the vitals. Even destroyed both shoulders on one. And rarely get an exit wound, even at 50 yards, as all the energy is absorbed by the deer and it's lights out.

[turkeyfeathers]

It's interesting to see 50 caliber muzzleloaders considered as small  

[Hock3y24]

I exclusively use .243 for gun, however I’m gonna try my Ar with Barnes 5.56 tsx under 50 yards this year.

[The_Real_TCIII]

1 hour ago, ATbuckhunter said:

What ammuntion were you using?

Remington Core Lokt 150grn

[The_Real_TCIII]

9 minutes ago, turkeyfeathers said:

It's interesting to see 50 caliber muzzleloaders considered as small  

Right? Its like a soup can

[ApexerER]

56 minutes ago, grampy said:

Wow, I'm surprised. Any deer I've shot with the Nosler BT's, 7mm-08 and 270, it was like a grenade in the vitals. Even destroyed both shoulders on one. And rarely get an exit wound, even at 50 yards, as all the energy is absorbed by the deer and it's lights out.

Sorry Grampy. I was wrong....I went back and looked at a post I made about it and it was Hornady....

[grampy]

No apology necessary my friend. 

I was just scratching my head based on my prior results, wondering if they were unusual??  As I am prone to unusual results in many things.......grin

[Fletch]

Least powerful would be my 20 gauge Ithaca and it has dropped a lot of deer.

[turkeyfeathers]

Youth 20 gauge I borrowed from daughter last year. All my other deer were ML / 12 gauge and 1 with .44 mag handgun .


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[Pygmy]

3 hours ago, grampy said:

Wow, I'm surprised. Any deer I've shot with the Nosler BT's, 7mm-08 and 270, it was like a grenade in the vitals. Even destroyed both shoulders on one. And rarely get an exit wound, even at 50 yards, as all the energy is absorbed by the deer and it's lights out.

I have probably killed more animals with the Nosler BT , mostly 140 grain in my .280 Rem, than any other single bullet...

LACK of exspansion has never been an issue. I have however, usually had an exit on a broadside lung shot on deer...On slightly bigger critters like caribou, the remains of the bullet would be under the hide on the off side...Usually the bullet jacket and not much more..

[dbHunterNY]

2 hours ago, turkeyfeathers said:

It's interesting to see 50 caliber muzzleloaders considered as small  

caliber wise no. load wise as some relate rifle rounds to then it could definitely be. you can load down a 50 cal with a sabot that glides down the barrel to muzzleloader energy equivalent of a 9mm pistol. not crazy amounts of expansion some would like and you're limited to bow range. works well though for youth or people with bad or recovering shoulders that can't take the abuse and otherwise would sit out gun season. ML have a push more than a sharp recoil.

[dbHunterNY]

2 minutes ago, Pygmy said:

I have probably killed more animals with the Nosler BT , mostly 140 grain in my .280 Rem, than any other single bullet...

LACK of exspansion has never been an issue. I have however, usually had an exit on a broadside lung shot on deer...On slightly bigger critters like caribou, the remains of the bullet would be under the hide on the off side...Usually the bullet jacket and not much more..

my experience too. albeit remove "caribou" and not the quantity of critters i'd imagine.

[Dinsdale]

4 hours ago, Hock3y24 said:

I exclusively use .243 for gun, however I’m gonna try my Ar with Barnes 5.56 tsx under 50 yards this year.

Theres no need to limit yourself to 50 yds if you're thinking "energy" expansion etc, a 223 is more than capable of taking deer at distance.

Your bullet choice is excellent, all you need to think about is shot placement and accuracy. 

Culled a significant amount of deer with a 223 without a loss.

Personally I'd pick the upper end of bullet weight for caliber, thats not always the way TSX are recommended (often slightly downsizing typical weight for caliber)

 

 

[wolc123]

14 hours ago, Rattler said:

I assume you don't do any bow hunting then?

I have not hunted with a vertical bow, since the crossbow was legalized, but that is another subject for another thread.    Bows (vertical or crossbow) kill by "cutting", not "shock" like guns do, so their effectiveness is much less dependent on "power".  That is why it would be best to start a new thread if you want to discuss that.        

[Hunter007]

The only small caliber rifle that I shot a deer with was a 257 weatherby magnum  using a 120 gr partion bullet shot doe at 50 yards  from front in chest  wound Channel size of a fist almost all the way through deer  Dropped  all most immediately.