Just saw the new Fed 350gr bullet. That might be what i'm looking for.

If I were a Colorado Elk hunter I'd be using a .45 caliber Green Mountain LRH barrel on a Renegade stock with a TC hunter peep sight loaded with Ed Meligh's 465 grain lead flat nose bullets over 85 grains GOEX or 80 grains Pyrodex RS and feel quite comfortable for any shot from 10 yards to 150 yards.

465gr bullet for deer? Bit of an overkill. Especially, when you can't take recoil.

Don't say it doesn't recoil bad with 80gr of BP. I've tried it.

I didn't say what you should do when hunting deer you crotchety frail recoil shy old man. I said what I would if I were hunting Elk.

There's no such thing as overkill. What there is is excessive meat damage. And that does not occur with those bullets coasting along at the speed generated by those loads.)

(The recoil really isn't bad. I'm not recoil shy, but hiking up and down mountains just might kill a flatlander like me. )

There is no such thing in my opinion as "too much" for a deer. Granted now we are not talking center fire cartridges as some of them are insanely powerful. I've shot a doe with a 460 grain .504 conical and 90 grains of T-7. The deer dropped in its tracks and there was not as much damage as I thought. But I did not shoot center shoulder either. And I never remembered any recoil when I shot. On the range there is some recoil but nothing I would shy from.

If you are recoil sensitive (as I am) you would think this would be a rugged load to handle. But its not as bad as you would think. A lot depends on the weight of the rifle/barrel and the shape of the stock.

Although to be honest after I learned how well 65 grains of T-7 and that same conical shoots and the penetration, I have sense lowered my standard hunting load FOR DEER.

Maybe, I only shot 4 Deer with them in NY with two 777 pellets. Found all 4 Deer but lots of tracking.

If case you forgot, or never read it.

I had cancer removed from my left cheek. Because I drove myself to Colorado Springs to have the operation they wouldn't knock me out, because they didn't want me driving after the operation. Of course I would have. So, I had to be awake for the operations. I had to have 4 operations before they finally got all the bad tissue out. 4 days, and 4 operations. They had to use a lot of lidocaine to numb the pain. They took out so much tissue it took 75 stitches to seal it up.

It left my cheek very sensitive. The doctor thinks it was a the lidocaine frying the nerves. That's what bothers me with recoil. I was never recoil sensitive before the operations, and thought shooting a Win .458 mag was fun.

Some stocks are much worse than others. Sidelocks are horrible with all the drop they have at the heel. The straighter the comb the better. That's why I bought the Optima with the TH stock. The comb is straight with the barrel. No drop at all. It helps a lot, but heavy bullets will still hurt my cheek. I don't want to start flinching.

btw It's why I was going to handgun hunt, and still might to save my cheek. I bought the muzzy in case the handgun hunting doesn't work out. I'll carry both guns on a hunt. I'll use the handgun if I can get close enough to use it. If not, i'll use the muzzy.

Less tracking if you stop taking the butt shots.

Didn't know that Muley. You have my sympathy. I know what nerve damage can do. I had back surgery years ago that left the front third of my right foot with a persistent "athletes foot" feeling and very sensitive to heat, cold and pressure. Something like that on a cheek must be pure hell with any recoil slap.

It is, and after writing it down i'm thinking the plan to hunt with a handgun only is a good plan. I won't get as much game, but at my age that doesn't mean that much. I've always enjoyed the hunt more than the kill.

It's the reason I put the Optima up for sale. I'll have to think about doing that again. I'll lose money on it, but at least I won't be feeding ammo to two guns.

I know carrying a 2.2lb handgun is a lot easier than a scoped rifle.