1911 for Deer
 

Who has shot a deer with a 1911? If so, how far? What was bullet performance like?

RE: 1911 for Deer
 

I dont think a 1911 would meet Wisconsins minimum barrel length for pistol

RE: 1911 for Deer
 

I'm sure it can be done, but that's not the right tool for the job. Does it have a 6-inch barrel? I have stalked through some thick pines with my 6-inch .357 Magnum revolver. I jumped a couple of does but couldn't get a cleanshot. I wouldn't get up at 4 AM, drive out to the woods, walk a mile in freezing temperatures, climb a tree, then plan to shoot across a field with a 1911. It's justnot the right tool for the job.

RE: 1911 for Deer
 

Maybe I should clarify. This is for spot and stalk hunting a a small tract of woods. The last time I moved slow through this woods, I saw a couple of deer, but they were usually under 10 yards and required a quick shot to get the drop on them. My Ruger SA, left me cocked watching a deer run off. All shots would be 20 yards or less. If I get in a treestand, I'll go back to my Ruger SA in 45 Colt. I'm sure I can hit and kill with it to 50 yards.

RE: 1911 for Deer
 

I don't know if a .45 auto round will have sufficient power at 50 yards for a whitetail, and to be honest I'm not sure if it would be sufficient on whitetail period. I'm sure you could do it but i think you are better served using something with a little more oomph. I'm curious to see what other people think though

RE: 1911 for Deer
 

I also wonder if the 45 ACP is legal in any state to hunt deer with?? Here in Indiana handguns must have a barrel length of 4 inches and .357 dia. or larger and there is also a minimun case length(not sure what that is). I think a 1911 in 10MM would be plenty powerful enough but again the case length is too short here in IN.

RE: 1911 for Deer
 

a full size govt model 1911 has a 5in barrel and .45 dia is larger than .357. dnt know about your states case length limit. but in OK a 1911 is legal, and although not the best tool for the job i have seen several deer killed with 1. up close and personal, with good bullets, and better shot placement yes it will kill a deer.

im just curious tho. if you cant get on the deer with your ruger 45lc what makes you think youl have better luck with a 1911?

RE: 1911 for Deer
 

In ohio it is a minimum of a 5-inch barrel length, so a full sized 1911 would qualify.

Balistically speaking the 45 ACP in my opinion does not pack enough punch to drop a mature whitetail at any decent range.

Kimber makes a 10MM 1911 specifically designed for hunting, this would be a better option.

RE: 1911 for Deer
 

If your talking about jumping deer at 10 yards and unloading on the deer with a 1911. I'd say not only is that not a good choice but poor hunting.

Now will a 1911 in 45 acp kill a deer. Oh yeah. But make sure the deer is standing still when you take the shot. Otherwise you'll likely loose the deer after wounding it.

RE: 1911 for Deer
 

[align=left]Wisconsin Handgun Regualtions:[/align][align=left]• To be legal for deer, handguns must use center-fire cartridges of .22 caliber or[/align][align=left]larger and have a 5½ inch minimum barrel, measured from the firing pin to the[/align][align=left]muzzle with the action closed.[/align][align=left]• You may not possess a concealed handgun.[/align]• It is illegal to hunt with a handgun if under age 18.

RE: 1911 for Deer
 

any .45 cal will kill a deer, just like a .22 will kill a deer. it all depends on distance and shot placement. Perosnally i would't use anything smaller than a .357 mag. now it's true that a .45 is a larger bullet, but it does not have the power that a .357 mag has. to be honest...if ur gunna hunt deer with a pistol get a 454, 460, or 500. Those hand guns will kill the deer no questions asked. do the animal a favor and take it out cleanly.

RE: 1911 for Deer
 

Wow! What a response. No, not unloading. . .making a single fast well aimed shot on a deer which is getting ready to move. I believe that I am faster leather to well aimed shot with my 1911 than my Ruger. It just fits my hand better and the sights naturally come into alignment better for me. My Ruger is close and more powerful, but the deciding factor is the thumb safety vs. cocking the hammer on the SA. We'll see.

I'm the type of hunter who would rather not shoot than make a bad shot.That has caused me to hold off before and I would again. I have plenty of experience saying no to shooting because of the angle,distance, animal movement, rest, etc.

RE: 1911 for Deer
 

I'd bet dollars to donuts that no one here could hit a running deer at 30 yards with a 1911 without it being considered extreme luck. There, I said it!:D

I'll go one step further, I'd bet that half the people here couldn't hit a deer that was standing still at 50 yards offhand with a 1911.

RE: 1911 for Deer
 

Thats a good way to be. That being said I have thought of geting a 44 mag and trying for deer. It would be a fun way to do it

RE: 1911 for Deer
 

Here in Iowa, a 1911 in .45 is perfectly legal during gun season. I got one recently for the purpose of carrying while on drive. Going up and down ravines, etc. toting a shotgun can be a pain. So, I got a 1911 (which I wanted anyway), and luckily at at show I was at, won a drawing for a real nice Safariland military thigh holster. My plan is to carry it while on drive as I have previously many times come up on deer not 10 yards away, just standing there looking at me that I've had to do jumping jacks to get to move. That said, I haven't yet had the opportunity to try my crazy experiment yet. But, a .45 with a Hydra-shock on a deer at 10-20 yds is putting it down.

RE: 1911 for Deer
 

.45 ACP for deer? Wow! Can't see even considering it personally. That's before I even get to the legality here in Ohio. Ohio requires straight walled pistol cartridges .357 or larger in addition to the minimum 5" barrel length. That rules the ACP out.

Now what I wish Ohio would do is make it legal to use rifles chambered in those same LEGAL straight walled pistol cartridges. Can you say Marlin lever .44? Now that would be awesome! Anyway... back on topic, sorry.

RE: 1911 for Deer
 

I cannot do either reliably with a 1911. I think I could have got the one which stood up 5 yards away last year, turned broadside and bounded off. With the Ruger, I drew, pulled the hammer back and decided not to shoot as the deer was moving at that point.

Maybe I'm a yahoo, but with a Ruger SA, I'm looking at 3 - 5 secs to draw, aim and fire. With my 1911, I think I can do this under 2 sec in the field reliably.

RE: 1911 for Deer
 

Actually a 1911 is legal in ohio .45 is greater than .357 and all mil spec 1911's have a 5-inch barrel.

Having said that, I don't think they are a good choice.

RE: 1911 for Deer
 

Im going to have to disagree with you on part of your response. Its not necessary to use a 454,460, or 500. Especially the 500. I have shot the 500, 460 and 454 and the 454 is the max anyone would need to go. the minimum being 357. The better all around choice would be a .44 mag. Ive seen so many deer taken with a 44 and dropped on the spot its not funny. The 460 and 500 are just too much to carry. I shot the 500 once and will never shoot it again, I love shooting the 460 and 454.

RE: 1911 for Deer
 

work on ur draw and sight picture. it should not take no more the two second to draw and fire. if it takes longer get a different holster. using a pistol well is all about sight picture and muslce memory.

RE: 1911 for Deer
 

Pointy stick would work better!;) It doesn't jam either!

Sorry, I couldn't help it. 45acp is slighty better than throwing rocks, and not good as a 22lr rifle. 41mag and up is what you need if your going handgun hunting. If you have to do it with a semi get a 10mm. I've learned this the hard way with more gun than a 45. The 357 isn't enough to do it IMHO. I lost two deer(my only two lost)by lack of a good bleeding exit wound, or my lack of tracking skills. If I had used more gun the deer would have been recovered by me rather than buzzards. A 44mag does it way better.

RE: 1911 for Deer
 

I gotta disagree with y'all who thinka .45 ACP isn't sufficient for a deer. Here's my rationale: it's sufficient for a 200lb. man, why wouldn't it be for a 200lb. deer? (and that's a decent-sizeddeer, even here in Ohio).

Range is a whole other issue. The first question, before you even think about shooting at the deer, is this: at what range can you consistently hit the boiler room? I was telling a war story once about hunting with a .357. 'The deer was at 30 yards.' My buddy said 'that's within handgun range.' My response was 'not for me, it ain't.'

To put the two criteria together, I suspect that the .45 will do the job at any range at which you can consistently put the slug where it needs to go.

RE: 1911 for Deer
 

I'd say with the right load that would be just fine, maybe some buffalo bore or something. I carry a .40 Glockas a sidearm to my 6.8 AR-15 hunting and should a deer come by under 20 yards I wouldn't hesitate.

RE: 1911 for Deer
 

Pg. 8 of the 2008-09 Hunting Regulations:

Allowable Hunting Equipment Please note the bold, colored text above. The .45 ACP is NOT a straight walled pistol cartridge. Wouldn't want you to get yourself in alot of trouble and loose a firearm because of a mis-understanding on your part.

RE: 1911 for Deer
 

The 45 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol) IS a straight-walled pistol cartridge. Matter-of-fact it is a "rim-less" cartridge, the only one I can think of off the top of my head.

A straight-walled pistol cartridge refers to the fact that there is no necking (down) to a smaller caliber bullet, such as most rifle cartridges. The intent of the rule is to rule out the use of single-shot pistols which can shoot rifle cartridges, such as the TC Contender chambered in a .308.

So by definition (ethics regardless) anything with a straight-walled cartridge, larger in diameter than or equal in diameter to .357 inches is perfectly legal. This makes something like a 9mm, .40 S&W, and a .45 ACP legal.

RE: 1911 for Deer
 

I'd have to agree with newguy23's interpretation of the rule and say that all of the above cartridges are "legal" but that doesn't make them ethical in my opinion

RE: 1911 for Deer
 

I would have to say I am an advocate of hunting with a pistol. I carry a Taurus Tracker .357 mag on my side, in addition to my CVA optima elite .270. I killed a 6 point last weekend with my pistol at 30 yards. I had a perfect broadside shot and dropped him. I did the same thing with a doe last year.

RE: 1911 for Deer
 

Haha.... I get to tell one of my more memorable stories...

Back when I lived in SC and worked in the gunshop there. I carried a Kimber Ultra CDP everyday on the job. It was a deterrant more than anything else, and I sold a lot of them just because its what I carried myself... as if I knew what I was doing!

Just about everyday, I'd work through lunch, take off an hour early and beat feat to the farm down the road about 15 minutes. Change at the parking area (a logging/skidder pad) and then jump in the stand for a few hours. Great way to end the day.

One day after work, I pulled into the farm and brother I had to take me a crap. I went off into some high grass to a tree that looked like it would be leaning at the proper angle. I was just about to the tree when I heard something in front of me. I figured it was a deer, and I broke out the Kimber as if I'd even see the thing anyway, and as if I could actually do something other than scare it worse (I'm a rotten pistol shot... but I can throw one pretty hard).

About then a BIG doe (in SC thats over 100#s) bounds right up in front of me and stops not probably 15 feet in front of me. Stupified, I didn't really take careful aim, but kinda pointed at her upper torso and let fly with a 240gr Gold Dot+P and she dropped like she'd been touched by death... I shot her right slam in the head.... probably the luckiest shot in my personal history of hunting.

Bullet performance was .... well.... terminal.....:D And so was the effect on my hearing... I'll never EVER do that again.

RE: 1911 for Deer
 

And for those of you who question the lethality of a pistol round on a deer... I also killed a doe out on that same farm with one of the bosses FN PS-90s chambered for the 5.7x28. Hate the sights on that thing... and again..... LOUD. But keep in mind... I'm mostly a bow hunter... getting close ain't a problem, and for shooting deer standing still at under 20 yards... it works just fine.

I was going to get a high point carbine in .40 S&W for the singluar comical effect of killing a deer with one (we had a side bet going), but I didn't want to come off over $150 to prove I could do it... but I'm sure it can and will get it done. Oh for the good old free fire doe days again!

RE: 1911 for Deer
 

my grandfather carried a 1911 in his truck for killing coyotes and deer while working his farm, now he was shooting them as a nuisance to crops and cattel so i dont think he cared if he hurt or dropped them but i know he killed both with it at up to fifty yards. so i would say your fine. aparentlly they have a trajectory like a basketball freethrow according to him.

RE: 1911 for Deer
 

Have you considered just holding the handgun instead of having it holstered when working this area just like someone with a long gun would do? Just curious, because that revolver is a better tool for the job than a 1911 IMO.

RE: 1911 for Deer
 

handguns would be fun, in Canada you can only have a handgun if you belong to a gun club and have to notify police everytime you take it out to gun club. You have to give them path to club and you can't go anyother route to club or you get charged. Very strick rules on handguns

RE: 1911 for Deer
 

It is a shame that people live under these kinds of laws anywhere in the world. Even worse that most people would consider Canada a free country.:(

Thanks everyone for all the good debate that this thread has achieved.

RE: 1911 for Deer
 

Canada's not a free country, it's a Marxist Socialist state that has done a good job convincing everybody that it's a free country.

Mike

RE: 1911 for Deer
 

I havent killed one with a 1911 nor do i know anyone who has, but id for dang sure give it a try..