Stan;
Yes, I know that deer have been well killed with a 45 cal round ball but I still consider a 128 grain round ball on the Light side. The slow twist rate eliminates most anything other than the round ball in this rifle. A .54 cal round ball is around 230 grains, a lot of difference from 128 grains. My "personal limit" for a round ball on deer is about the 180 grain of a .50 caliber, but that's just me. I know they have been killed with .22 LR & I personally know of an 8 or 10 point buck which was killed with a shotgun loaded with a field load of # 7 1/2 shot, but I would like to think I would not have taken the shot, however tempting it may have been. I only have the word of a former co-worker that he did it. He had been hunting hard, though unsuccessful, for deer. The season had just closed & he went "Bird Hunting". His dog in circling a fence row jumped the big buck which came around the fence toward him. He stood still & the wind was apparently with him. As the deer closed in he threw up & shot it & killed it out right on the spot. He was spotted skinning it by an older gentleman who had an ongoing feud with his Grandfather who reported him & almost cost him both his car & his gun, but he managed to squeak out with just a fine & loss of the deer. Note I am not condemning any one for having made an illegal shot, have in the past made a few myself. First goose (A young Blue) I ever killed I had absolutely no license, either state or federal & not sure if season was open or not. He just happened to drop in on a little tobacco field all by his lonesome not far from my house which had been sewn in winter wheat. I picked up my little Richland 707 in 20 gauge with a 1 1/4 oz load of #4 & slipped up a fence row as close as I could get, around 35-40 yds, waited for him to raise his head & pot shot him, hitting the back trigger, full choke barrel. He just rolled over on the ground. I can assure anyone a young Blue properly cooked, which my Wife who had been raised on wild game & fish knew how to do, is delicious eating.
For a number of years the record, typical whitetail deer was killed with a .32WCF (.32-20) but I would not personally choose this caliber as a deer rifle either.
I guess what I am saying is in my developing years I read enough of The Old Man & the Boy by Robert Rurak that I adopted his philosophy of "Use Enough Gun". I simply do not like to feel I may be under gunned for the game I am hunting.
