What can you hunt with a 9mm?

[L_Killkenny]

Is there actually people that think there is nothing that can be effectively and humanly hunted with a 9mm? Unbelievable. Guess coyote, fox, coon, etc. now wear armor.

 

[alex0535]

I'm pretty certain I could live off of 1 or 2 squirrels a day for quite some time. I'm not going to go a week without eating something here. Whether it is a squirrel, deer, pig, rabbit, cat, dog, raccoon, or fox if I was starving I would eat just about anything that came in front of my rifle, even if it was just a .22. With a week of hunger I would probably be too shakey to make a clean shot on a deer with a 9mm handgun.

With a 9mm carbine I could feed myself if I had to. But there are better tools for the job, it's a bit too overpowered for small game, and a bit to underpowered or big game. I'd rather be carrying my .17 HMR over the 9mm in this state. I feel like I could take a deer with it if I was starving, and anything smaller would be easy pickings. Would it be legal? No, but if I'm starving I will take what I can get.

If I was going after deer I would take a deer rifle. If I was going after small game I would take one of my rimfires. The 9mm is one of those last resort hunting options.

 

[born2climb]

Okay...let me state my position a little more clearly. When you say "hunt", I picture leaving the house, embarking on a mission of seeking game. I can think of no reason why I would leave the house armed only with a 9mm if I were in pursuit of game. I COULD shoot deer with a .22, though I never have, and likely never will. I value the deer as a game animal too highly to risk a wounded animal simply to satisfy me ego that I COULD kill one with a .22. I think we, as hunters, owe it to the animals we hunt to use a sufficient method of humane harvest.

 

[Doyle]

When you say "hunt", I picture leaving the house, embarking on a mission of seeking game.

Because you have only one game in mind - deer. The OP was asking what kind of game he COULD hunt with 9mm. Obviously deer isn't the answer. Certain smaller game, however, is quite doable with the right 9mm.

 

[buck460XVR]

Because you have only one game in mind - deer. The OP was asking what kind of game he COULD hunt with 9mm. Obviously deer isn't the answer. Certain smaller game, however, is quite doable with the right 9mm.

I think the reason deer have come up so much in this thread is because of this statement by the O.P.............

So what do you think? Survival situation only? Would anyone pass up a deer shot if we were lost and hadn't eaten in a week?

Obviously, there is small game, varmints and pests that can be killed very well with 9mm.

 

[Bezoar]

hunting is for rich people. pest control is for hill billies.

mention a squirrel/raccoon hunt to just about anyone and they start thinking "jed and ellie mae clampett go hunting for dinner".

Talk about fox hunt, and its rich gentry on 20,000 dollar horses and 5000 dollar suits running down little foxes.

 

[NCummins]

Ever legal caliber is ethical to kill a deer with. You put a 9mm through the heart of a deer it is just as dead as the one you shot with your 990ultrabigmag. It is an excepted practice to let a deer lay overnight while bow hunting to let them expire. I've seen deer go 150 yards on a double lung shot with a bow. How is that perfectly ethical but hunting with a 9mm is not?
Shot placement is absolutely everything, I would hunt with a 9mm but would limit my shots to less than 30 yards and stick to neck/head shots.

 

[born2climb]

I would hunt with a 9mm but would limit my shots to less than 30 yards and stick to neck/head shots.

I would shy from a head shot with a 9mm myself. I helped a friend blood-trail a deer he couldn't find several years ago. (He hit it a bit far back.) I took my Nite-Lite and hand-held spotlight and went to help him find it. When we came up on the deer, it lay bedded down watching us like nothing was wrong, about 30 yards away. I offered to let him shoot it with my S&W 686, but he told me to go ahead. I eased forward a bit, adjusted my cap so I could aim while illuminating the deer as much as possible. I aimed between his eyes and pulled the trigger. He jumped up and ran off..... I looked at my friend, dumb-struck. I have killed a rabbit with that gun at over 90 yards. We heard him crash and went to him. The bullet hit right between his eyes, a little low. It had fully cleaned out his sinuses (if deer have them), and exited the back of his head, but below the brain. A 147-grain hollow-point .357 THROUGH THE HEAD...and the deer jumps up and runs off. I would pass on a head shot at 30 yards with a 9mm.....

 

[MJN77]

and exited the back of his head, but below the brain.

Well, there's your problem. You shot the deer in the face. Kind of defeats the purpose of a head shot if you miss the brain.

 

[Art Eatman]

Summary: Useful for the smaller critters, say coyotes on down. But not really a wise choice for such as deer, with too much chance for wounding and loss.