Here in KS, the case is too short, so it isn' t legal, the only Semi-auto' s legal to be hunted here are the Desert Eagles (.357 mag, .44mag, .50AE). Now that I say that, thay might just be the handgun regs, I' ve never really checked it against what the rifle regs say? Our min caliber for deer is .230, but I don' t recall now that the rifle regs say anything about the case length? I' ll have to check that out!!! If it isn' t a law, I think I' ll be callin somebody!!

Just to give it a fair shake, I' m going to judge the cartridge on what it should be capable of, based on real life performance, rather than the numbers on a chrony sheet.

Even if it were legal, the only time I would do it would be in one of my 9x19mm Carbines, never in a handgun, and I' d limit my range to under 25yrds with a scope. I would only use the carbine because I know what they are capable of, I' ve used them on coyotes for years, with great (even surprising) success out to 125yrds or so, given that performance, I would probably consider using one on deer if I HAD to for some reason, out to only about 25-30yrds though. That said, however, any round properly placed can kill a deer at 25yrds...so I' m not really saying anything supportive for the 9mm. Remember, all of the above is based on its performance in a carbine, NOT a handgun, NO 9mm handgun is a hunting gun, but the carbines offer increased velocity, and accuracy, plus the capability to shoot heavier bullets more accurately.

There' s just not much good going for the 9x19mm as a deer round: there aren' t ANY good deer hunting bullets currently loaded for the 9mm parabellum, it' s too weak to get the job done unless you put it right through the heart and they' ll still probably run even if you do, it' s screwed if it hits bone, because the bullets will have to be very soft to expand at such low velocities that they' d just get mangled on bone, the bullets are too light for as slow as they travel (a fat @$$ bullet can mess things up bad even when going slowly). Basically, the 9x19mm is about as useful as a .22lr, it' s just not strong enough to do the job. The only way I would feel it were an ethical choice would be if: it' s legal in your state, it' s a carbine and NOT a handgun, you have a good scope, you limit your shots to under 30yrds (not longer under ANY circumstances), you handload some good hunting bullets for a .38spcl or .357mag into your 9x19mm cases and sit them down on as much powder that your gun can handle AND shoot accurately, you can hit an orange at 45yrds on nearly every shot (probably 95/100 is necessary, and probably take 500shots at least), and you take a buddy with a real deergun, then it wouldn' t be an unethical choice, a bad one still, but not an unethical one.