.50 BMG for deer?

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The 50 BMG is capable enough for 1 mile shots on deer. You'd have to find a place for 1 mile shot's with a mountain backdrop as a bullet backstop --- and snow covered --- so you can spot scope the deer against the snowy background.

Personally...if I had the chance, I would not attempt such a feat, due to the possibility of wounding the animal and the odds of accidently shooting another hunter.....
 
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Oh I agree Brian. Don't laugh but I have killed man of a deer with a.222 Savage(when I was younger). I have never lost one. Shot placement was the key. The .222 was better suited as a groundhog rifle, but I was shooting usually less than 100 yards. It was my dad's groundhog rifle. I saved enough to buy a Savage 270. It did a far better job of them not running or at least as far.

The only deer I ever missed was (believe it or not) with a 12 gauge with 00Buck. It was my first solo hunt (my older brother was hunting about a half mile away) and I got buckfever. Started shaking like a leaf. He walked right up on me. So take a good giggle over that. I was young 12-13 IIRC. When I pulled the trigger I shot well over his back and rolled backwards off the log I was sitting on... I honestly was watching squirrels and at first thought it was a squirrel making that racket.

I quit hunting about 15 years ago (unless I go to Alaska). I still am addicted to moose meat. I just grew out of the taste of deer, and I won't hunt something I won't eat.

The guy that lost the doe shot her with an LAR T-50. He now hunts with a lever action 30-30 or 30-06 bolt gun if he goes.


I shoot my 50 and my 300WM at 300-1000 yards. I wouldn't think of taking a shot at game at over 300 yards.. I just hate the idea of loosing game over a bad shot. It is just out of my comfort level for that.
 
I have a Sako in .338 LM that was just scary accurate however I was not reloading and the cost of ammo was insane so i went back to my trusted .300 WM. I have fired the .50 BMG and honestly I wasnt that impressed. However if some moron wanted to do this I think he should be fined for it. I live in Idaho and its illegal to hunt with any weapon that weights over 16 lbs. I believe this is to keep these idiots from doing this specific thing. I know a .50 cal will take limbs completely off people at over a mile. Why anyone would want to use this on a animal is completely lost on me. Effective? Maybe. Reasonable? Surely not. If you are willing to pursue a animal then atleast have enough respect for that animal to not make a mockery of it.
 
Video is about good old boys having fun shooting at deer. Can't explain why it does not seem like hunting to me.

An annoying part of this video is destruction of a car on a river bank. First you see rounds flying off the water then (tannerite?) explosion and car parts in the river. Most of us love being in the wilderness and become sad and annoyed when encountering trash heaps left by uncaring people. This fool of a shooter added pollution to a river for the sake of being able to do it. Like kids breaking windows because it is "fun."

Stupid video made by stoopid people.
 
One interesting point that is brought out by this discussion...

In another recent thread, we read at least one opinion that a .270win is marginal for elk. Implication would be that it's just about the perfect deer gun. Anything less would apparently be, and has been stated to be so on this forum, inadequate for deer.

Here, we have that shooting deer with a .50BMG is reckless, stupid, irresponsible, overkill.

We're beginning to establish a range of acceptable cartridges here.

If .50BMG is as stated, one would assume that a step down to .338Lapua would only remove one or two of those adjectives. Another step down, to .300WinMag maybe, might get us down to just "over kill". What's a step down from .300WinMag? Seems like a 7mm Rem Mag is about "one step" below a .300 Win Mag... that should remove the last adjective "over kill".

So there we have it. The Wisdom of the Internet has spoken. The range of acceptable cartridges for deer is .270Win to 7mm Rem Mag.

Use anything less, you're a fool. Use more, you're an idiot. Or is it the other way around?:rolleyes:
 
So there we have it. The Wisdom of the Internet has spoken. The range of acceptable cartridges for deer is .270Win to 7mm Rem Mag.
Click to expand...
But wait... this shows that .270 carries more energy than .300WM at 500 yards.
So therefore, the .270 is overkill for deer, and inadequate for Elk :rolleyes:
 

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Read about the mk248 mod 1 and you will change the statement about the 300WM. It is closer to the .338LM with this round.. The 300 WM is a beast when loaded correctly, but works great most North American big game.
 
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I could see using a .50 BMG if I were hunting Kodiak bear. However I'd rather not hunt something that would be just as happy hunting me...

If I ever get my bucket list moose hunt in AK, I'd also have a .375 H&H or .416 Rigby (with a muzzle brake.) For me hunts like that are what dreams are made of...

Tony
 
Brian,
Nailed it.
Except I think you could go a little tiny bit smaller than .270 to deer. .243 is the smallest caliber you can use legally in MI and I think that would be OK as long as shot placement is there, as always...
 
The perfect deer cartridge or range of cartridges is an argument that will never be settled because there's no right or wrong.

People are different, deer across the country are different, hunting areas are different, and what someone considers ideal terminal performance is different.

For me, where I live, and the deer I hunt, I consider an ideal range to be .22-250 - .308 +.35 rem for short action cartridges, .25-06 & .270 in long action, and .240 or .257 Weatherby in magnum cartridges.

YMMV, of course ;)

But .50 bmg, no practical use to me whatsoever. Hunting or otherwise.
Which is convenient because I'll probably never be able to afford one.
 
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Stupid idea.
I did once see a TV show about hunting in Africa. One of the hunters brought down an elephant with a .50bmg. He was shooting from a prone position using a bipod and hit the elephant in the forehead at about 25 yards, it dropped where it stood. Real sporting----not.
 
Art Scores! ^^^^^^^
Clearly the easy way to score 4 hits at 1 time (assuming proper deer placement). :)

In reality, if you haven't humped a .50 BMG rifle very far around a deer lease (+ ammo), you're missing the first hand reason to use something smaller.

CharlieDeltaJuliet is right, a .50 likely has a better chance of dropping any prey than. It's just a lot heavier.

If you're in a great vantage point or in a blind, not as big a deal.
 
I saw on The Military Channel that a FMJ .50BMG round produces a temporary wound channel larger then the human body. Since the chest cavity of a white tailed deer is approximately the same size as a human’s, or maybe slightly larger, I don’t think the .50BMG is a wise choice. But hey, if you want to save time and money making ground venison for burgers, be my guest.
 
Ever seen the video of the exploding Taliban fighter shot in Afghanistan with the 50 BMG. His arms flew off traveling in opposite directions
 
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