I personally would NOT use a 45 ACP for deer. If it' s close range like you said it would probably do okay. I can' t see chancing wounding the animal.There are so many cartridges much better suited for Whitetails. I put the 41 Mag as a minium deer cartridge.The main thing we all need to remember is make the most humane kills possible.
Ruger Redhawk

I agree Ruger. I usually consider the 41mag as a minimum for deer. Sometimes my ambition and enthusiasm gets the better of me. The only time I would use the .45acp for deer is if I could get a reliable neck shot. I mentioned using lead bullets because those are the only ones I would think would retain enough energy to make a heart shot. It would take some testing though. Season starts in 2 weeks here though and that' s not enough time to work up a good load and test it for penetration. I mentioned a magazine article on hunting hogs with the 45acp. If it will take a hog I would be confident it would take a deer. Now if I can just find that article.

I' m with Ruger on this one also.

Now if you wanted to pump that .45 up a little and use the .45super express with a 6" barrel or use a 10mm with a 6" barrel I would say go for it.

One of buddies took a deer with a 45 1911. It was a head on shot in the chest. The whitetail dropped dead in it' s tracks. The range was less then 20 yards. That is the only one that I know of. Hope this helps.

If you' re hitting well with it, go for it, I' d use an all lead bullet like a keith or round nose, but if you' re hitting well with it, and understand the range capabilities of it, then there' s no reason you shouldn' t be able to...I' ve used .45acp in a thompson ondeer, great results, no, it' s not the same thing, but the bullets perfromed really well, I' d have faith in an accurate 1911 out to 20-30yrds with a good bullet and fairly heavy loads (nothing over pressured, but close to max), which I' ve used on coyotes to 75yrds and to put down sick cattle and buffalo, I don' t see any reason you shouldn' t be successful as long as you can insure ahead of time you' re going to hit what you' re aiming at.

If you plan on using a .45 pistol carry it with you if it is legal in you area and if you get a close enough shot I would say take it if you are sure in your shooting skills. But for deer a good rifle never hurts to have with you.

I did forget to mention, check out your state laws first, here in KS, the .45acp is legal for deer in a rifle only, not in handguns (we have a cartridge case length minimum law for handguns, but no such law for rifles/carbines, so a 16" carbine in 9mm built around the same action that the company puts out in it' s handguns is legal, while the handguns aren' t.

The .45acp doesn' t have a lot of muzzle energy, but at close ranges and on accurate shots, it doesn' t take a lot of energy to get the job done on a whitetailed deer...I' ve known lots of PH' s that take .45acp' s for boar back up, along with tactical shotguns usually, the hunter/client gets to carry the rifle or bow. They always affirm that the .45acp has plenty stopping power.