Benjamin Bulldog .357 Deer Hunting?

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BenBigBore

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Aug 11, 2021
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North Carolina, United States
So here is my situation:

I bought a Bulldog after watching a ton of videos of it taking down bigger game with no problems. I come to find out, while doing more research while waiting for it to ship, that many hunters have lost deer due to a lack of blood trail and lack of power around 40-60 yards. I was skeptical until I watched a video of a well placed shot that resulted in a small blood trail that died out; and the deer was never recovered and the hunter claimed to spend hours and hours searching (It was good placement from what I saw in the video and the thud was audible). 

So, I know it can kill and that the 200 FPE is enough with the proper shot placement, but should I sell it back while I have the chance and buy something stronger; such as the Texan .457 SS? I've only had it for a few days

SUPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Also, I'm in North Carolina. Not sure if that is useful information but I'm just trying to cover all my bases.



In advance, Thanks you so much!!! This will be my first time hunting if everything works out this season. 

"Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future."


 
If you’re concerned about the stock Bulldog being powerful enough to create adequate internal damage and a large enough would wound channel to leave a decent blood trail, I suggest using a projectile giving the desired amount of a energy and expansion to hunt with. This will require some testing. Hopefully you have a chronograph.


To be sure you’re good to go, perhaps contact @bthurman (Brian) with Veradium Air (www.VeradiumAir.com) to discuss tuning your Bulldog to your specifications in preparation for deer season. You can discuss fps, fpe, and the desired grain projectile for the task. Bulldogs have the potential to put out some serious power. If you only plan to be sitting down in a blind, you may want to try a Texan. If you’re going to be walking, hiking, or riding an ATV or something I’d opt for the shorter Bulldog. I own both and that’s my take.
 
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the bulldog has about .38 special pistol power if your familiar .. would you body shoot a deer at 60 yards with a .38? .. no, 30 maybe ... the bulldog is accurate .. skull crack the deer and you got it .. goes for most pellet guns they arnt high power rifles but they are accurate .. if your tree standin now you could probably punch all the way through a smaller deer under 40 ...
 
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My thought process for the Texan .457 SS was that I could use 200-250 gr and get a flatter trajectory due to the high fps. Mr. Hollowpoint was getting some amazing grouping with 180 and 200 gr at 50-75 yards and that would be perfect for deer hunting.

But I also don't really want to give up the repeater aspect of the Bulldog. I feel like having multiple shots just makes it all around more fun for plinking. Do you have a quick answer to how much the power upgrade for the Bulldog would be and how many "useful" shots you could get?
 
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My thought process for the Texan .457 SS was that I could use 200-250 gr and get a flatter trajectory due to the high fps. Mr. Hollowpoint was getting some amazing grouping with 180 and 200 gr at 50-75 yards and that would be perfect for deer hunting.

But I also don't really want to give up the repeater aspect of the Bulldog. I feel like having multiple shots just makes it all around more fun for plinking. Do you have a quick answer to how much the power upgrade for the Bulldog would be and how many "useful" shots you could get?
 
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I have a veridium air tuned .357, I also have the .457 Texan CF, and have the .50 pre-ordered, I have lost 2 deer making shoulder shots, much easier to shoot them in the head!! Need to ask experts what kind of expansion they get from an HP traveling at 900 to a 1000 fps. It's not going to do a lot, and just not enough damage internally. About the same as shooting traditional black powder. That is my humble opinion. 
 
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But wouldn't you want the deer to bleed off to clean the meat?
Click to expand...

You cut the throat after you make sure it is DEAD . Being a newbie to hunting best watch some vid's on how to -clean a deer- how to take the hide off -how long to hang it- how to cut it up . If not done properly it is a waste and will taste like --well you can guess that one .

edit : tag it when you know it's dead first
 
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Thanks for the heads up. This is not my first time down the "I'm going to go deer hunting road," but this year I am determined and am taking the required hunting safety classes for getting a license next week.

Glad to have a supportive Air Gun community! I've herd the double lung shot dispute a lot, but I guess everyone has their own style.

Back to my main concern, my Air Rifle; should I just go for the safer option and get the Texan .457 SS. I like that it is light and shorter than the regular Texan .457. Also, if anyone thinks I should get the Texan .50 please feel free to give me suggestions. 

Sorry for all the questions, just trying to learn and get the proper setup for a humane kill



Thanks,

Ben
 
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I have a Bulldog, and I added the Pitbull Power Spring ($25) and that gave 880 fps with the NSA 110gr .358 HP DB slug. You'll do 80-100 yards easy with a 3 mil holdover or so. 

With that said, I have two suggestions:

  • Get a suppressor like the DonnyFL Emperor or Ronin. I have the Emperor and it significantly quiets the airgun down which helps not to spook deer. If you decide to go for another gun, this will easily go with most all other airguns.
    20210701_141916.1628739918.jpg
  • Use the NSA 142gr HP BT which fly out of my gun at 820fps with the Pitbull Power Spring.



So a question to the deer hunters: Do you think the my Bulldog would be able to take a deer with a scapulae shot? That should incapacitate the deer and deliver a shock to the nervous system through the spine. The reason I ask this, is with the scapulae being as long as it is, if I'm off on my range, I still will get a good hit that I expect to do damage to the lung also. Or is it just safer to go for the lungs and do the tracking? I am considering going to Michigan, since here is Ohio we are behind the times for deer airgun use. 

Any thought? Edit: Never mind, I just read an excellent response to my question above.
Deer-Anatomy-Diagram-for-Best-Shot-Placement.1628740694.jpg

 
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You don't necessarily have to get a .457 ss if you do go with an airforce gun. I've got a .457 long that I made into a carbine and added an emperor with the extension and its extremely quiet. I also own a bulldog but when deer hunting i would use my texan only because it being a bigger, more powerful caliber. I've taken a mule deer at 80 yards with the texan (lung shot) and wouldn't attempt that with my bulldog. 
 
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i have killed deer with my bulldog and texan 457.. airguns dont leave much of a blood trail. yes bigger slugs will help but if u dont get a pass through u wont get much blood. but if u put a donny on the end at 50+ yards that deer wont know what hit it and good lung shot you will watch it drop. neck shots are great to most of the time they will drop in there tracks.
 
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The videos I've seen of the bulldog taking large game have been chest shots that did not go all the way through. That will definitely kill an animal but not as quickly as a pass through and it won't leave as much of a blood trail. Even for small game with an air rifle I test penetration of my projectiles, typically at 25 yards. If you plan on shooting big game you should probably test further away. For brain shots on big game penetration through 3/4 plywood is recommended. For body shots on big game I want at least 12 inches of penetration in wet paper. I doubt the bulldog can pass the wet paper test but I bet it can the plywood test. If I have to choose between penetration and expansion, I choose penetration. I'd rather have a solid 357 slug go through a deer than one expand to half an inch and only barely get into the body cavity.
 
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BenBigBore said:
So here is my situation:

I bought a Bulldog after watching a ton of videos of it taking down bigger game with no problems. I come to find out, while doing more research while waiting for it to ship, that many hunters have lost deer due to a lack of blood trail and lack of power around 40-60 yards. I was skeptical until I watched a video of a well placed shot that resulted in a small blood trail that died out; and the deer was never recovered and the hunter claimed to spend hours and hours searching (It was good placement from what I saw in the video and the thud was audible).

So, I know it can kill and that the 200 FPE is enough with the proper shot placement, but should I sell it back while I have the chance and buy something stronger; such as the Texan .457 SS? I've only had it for a few days

SUPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Also, I'm in North Carolina. Not sure if that is useful information but I'm just trying to cover all my bases.



In advance, Thanks you so much!!! This will be my first time hunting if everything works out this season.

"Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future."
Click to expand...
The Bulldog stock is essentially a 150 FPE gun, yes you can get nominal higher FPE by using heavier bullets but it will suffer on other departments.


Not a gun I would choose to go for Heat/lung shots,...Brain shots ? no problem.
 
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