Hey guys,
I have been hunting deer with a shotgun for years, and have done a little bow hunting, but now I want to get into handgun hunting. I am in southern Minnesota, so we have quite large corn-fed deer. I am usually hunting on field edges or in thick woods, within a couple hundred yards of a property line. I can't decide which handgun I should use. I would like to shoot out to 40 yards, ideally.
Right now I have a 4.25" Smith and Wesson Model 69 44 Magnum and a 6" EAA Witness Hunter 10mm. I shoot them both equally well. I slightly prefer semiautos. I have done a bunch of milk jug testing, and no hollowpoint from either gun has gone further than the 5th jug. 10mm rounds advertised as jacketed soft points acted more like hollowpoints and only went into the 3rd jug. 44 magnum jacketed soft points did not expand and of course went through all 8 jugs that I had lined-up.
I think having an exit wound and a blood trail would be best, so I am convinced that hardcast is the way to go in my case. The wider the flat meplat the better, I would think. I have always been under the impression that handgun bullets just poke holes, there is no hydrostatic shock, so I figured velocity does not matter as much with hardcast in handguns. But lately I am finding that some folks say it works better at velocities 1300 fps and up. Is there any truth to that? I know its a complex topic and it is hard to predict exactly how a deer will react to being shot.
But, if you had to choose, which of the following options do you think would be the best for large deer? A 10mm 200 gr hardcast WFN with a 0.32 meplat, going 1300 fps? A 44 special/magnum 240-260 gr hardcast WFN with a 0.35 meplat , going 975-1000 fps? Anything much hotter makes me "flinchy" with this light weight revolver. Or, I always liked 1911s, why not shoot Montana Bullet Works's 45acp 230 gr hardcast LFN with a 0.335 meplat, loaded to 925 fps? It seems like a lot of 44 special hunters say to aim for 900-1100 fps, so this would be on the lower end but might still work.
So which route should I go? I'm guessing you guys will say to go with whatever I am most accurate with. I am probably overthinking it, but if a 250 pound buck walks in front of me, I don't want him to suffer any more than he has to, I want a blood trail, and I would rather not have him run onto my grumpy neighbor's property.
Thanks for any advice!