I wouldnt shoot a deer in the vitals with a 22lr or a 30 cal, but that looks like a tiny deer.
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Confirmed lethality of Vulcan 3 700 mm in .30 Cal and JSB Hades on white tail deer.
- Thread starter Emu
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.22 LR will get it done… the OP has hunted extensively, so this isn’t his first deer. He took an ethical shot and made a clean kill…
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Sorry but I disagree with the premise of this thread. I dont condiser a 22lr "suitable" for deer, and the point of bringing up 22lr is its superiority to a 30 cal air gun. It can work sure, but a vital shot would not be my choice is all. And apart from this forum you wont find many hunters that consider 22lr to be suitable for deer. Its not even legal in most states.
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I did not say it was “suitable or legal” or even brought it up… and no one on this forum believes or advocates such a thing. You are reaching my friend. The OP got it done ethically in a controlled situation. Again stop your reaching for a non controversy.
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English is not the OPs first language, but I must agree with you on the thread title, it is misleading. Thanks.
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No one is “reaching”.
Number 1… It’s either a legal caliber airgun/power level to shoot a deer with or it’s not.
If it’s not legal then pictures of it sure the heck don’t belong on here.
And Number 2…“ethically” shooting a deer with a .30 Hades pellet that didn’t deform or penetrate the deer is certainly in question. The complete lack of deformation makes a person doubt the power level it had at impact on the animal there.
What are the regulations for deer hunting with airguns in New Mexico? I’m assuming New Mexico, correct me if I’m wrong.
I dont care what anyone does on their private property but if you post pics for public consumption then it’s an open topic for discussion.
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The OP stated he did it in a “controlled“ situation. His unfortunate use of the word “suitable“. He lives in Mexico. I believe he meant to show his .30 could kill a deer in a controlled scenario.. Not that it was “suitable” for everyone to do so.
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My take is that if it is legal then no harm no foul. Ethics is such a subjective topic in my opinion. The OP obviously proved that a lowly pellet at much lower FPE than what is common can take a deer without drama using a vital shot. If you understand the limits of your weapon, understand the anatomy of the animal, and consciously make a decision to wait for an optimal shot with small margins of error then I see nothing wrong. I actually plan to take a deer this next season with my .30 maverick. The only reason I wouldn't take a vital shot necessarily is because I don't want to track the animal. A good neck or head shot will be easy at 25-30 yards that I plan to shoot. Luckily I am in a state where I can take a deer with anything I see fit on private land. If I want to use a slingshot I can. I have also seen a lot of deer shot with high power rifles with good shots that ran several hundred yards before dying. Some of those weren't found right away either and spoiled so a high powered rifle can be "unethical" as well. Now I do have the opinion that a deer shot with a weapon that doesn't scare them often will lead to that animal not going far, bedding down, and bleeding out. Also for thought, often deer are shot during man drive or especially dog drives here in the south. These deer may be shot several times with buckshot and run for miles on broken legs and then caught by dogs and need finishing off often by way of knife. I would take a pellet to the vitals any day over that.
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Yeah I think it's a language thing, suitable is not the best word. As for legality, laws depend on where a person lives. If it walked 35y and layed down the desired outcome happened. And as Luis said Emu is from Mexico not New Mexico and could have been on private land on the request of the land owner so could very well be legal.
I'm really surprised how little it mushroomed at that power level even in flesh! But like another member mentioned fur might have effected this.
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Kinda seems like the 25/30cal Hades dont really expand very well, at least compared to the 22cal version. Still much better than a normal domed style pellet imo.
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Where I hunt is legal to hunt with that .30 Cal.
I do not understand what you mean with “not penetrate”. The hades penetrated and went along all the chest and stop after travel all the wide of the body and just the flexibility of skin avoid a pass through.
This is my fourth white tailed deer with air rifle. The other three were taken with .357. Two of them whit a chest shot and the story was exactly the same: pellet ended in the opposite side of the chest among the skin and the ribs making a lot of damage on vitals.
I feel more confident with the combination of power and diameter of the .357 with 81.02 grain at 140 fpe, yes. But what was demonstrated is that a .30 at 120 fpe with a 44.7 grain pellet can take a deer with exactly the same process after the shot, exactly the same: walking 35 yards after receiving the shot and bed to die. Exactly the same.
The other deer that took with the .357 was not hit in the chest, it was a head shot. That deer was stone dead before falling down To the ground without giving a step. You can watch the shot on my hunting videos on this forum.
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I have never weigh a deer. But clearly is was smaller that the last one I took (feb 2022).
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Emu you haven’t proven anything or demonstrated anything that poachers haven’t already done with a .22 rifle. The same argument being made here could be made if you killed a deer with a .177 caliber break barrel. Just because the deer died doesn’t mean that it’s a good idea. This is ridiculous. Congratulations on your deer.
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About 20 years ago I made some hunts with bow and arrow. What I found is that the number of wounded animals among archers is huge. If you do not have the accuracy of a champ the possibility of put an arrow on a deer just causing pain, is very high.
Hunting with air rifles and adequate caliber implies the difficulty of being close enough but for sure you achieve more accuracy with an air rifle that with a bow and arrow. Notwithstanding I took a deer with bow and arrow, I got convinced that it was not for me.
I think that making a well placed shot at 50 yards with an air rifle at the size of the lungs/heart if the deer is not moving and you have a rest, is not so difficult.
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