How much energy (foot pounds) to kill a deer?

KDX

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
97   0   1
For some reason I got to thinking this tonight and didn't know the answer so I thought I would put it to the experts. How much energy is required to kill a deer assuming proper shot placement, ie the vitals?
 
I have read, don't remember where , that 700lbs was the minimum, I am sure there are many other factors too.Bullet performance , construction, shot placement.

Look at some ballistics tables and where those numbers lie for distance, most likely WAY outa range for where 99% of us would be shooting anyways.
 
where allowed, people hunt deer with 357mag pistols.
considering 1400fps muzzle velocity, that's about 450ft*lbs energy at 100yds
 
I've never really understood how its energy that kills things. I saw a 1 1/2 year old doe shot with a .300 weatherby and it made it over 100 yards before stopping. Isn't it bleeding/massive organ damage by the bullet that causes animals to die?
Maybe I'm missing something.
 
Not many foot pounda of energy in a 22 long rifle, like about 120, but lots of deer have been shot with the 22lr. I have seen two so killed.
I have even seen a large whitetail buck that was killed with a 22 with shorts to the lung area.
I helped butcher it.
 
Last I heard, deer were not checking the "energy" charts to see which chamberings they should lay down and die for and which they could just shake off, since they were short on energy.

Seriously, though.......anyone who makes a claim that it takes a minimum of ### amount of energy to kill a Deer, Elk, Moose or whatever just has too much time on his hands.

As H4831 says, they can be killed with a 22 rimfire, so if you poke a hole in the right place, the animal will die, and be damned the energy figures.

Eagleye.
 
I think we can all agree that anything can be lethal. We're dealing in generalities and discussion regarding is as purposeful as you allow.

He might just as easily asked 'what bullet is most lethal' and gotten some nonspecific response.

Energy that can be delivered effectively and absorbed into the tissue creates hydrostatic shock.This effect turns vascular tissue into jello. Yes, bullets make holes that can kill, bullets that cavetate and cause destruction in orders of magnitude greater than the hole created by the bullet, is why a discussion on energy is relevant.
 
I've never really understood how its energy that kills things
Energy is the only way a bullet can kill, apart from choking or lead poisoning. Stationary bullets have no energy, and are therefore ineffective against deer.
If a bullet has energy, it can make a hole in something. No energy, no hole. And a hole in the wrong place can kill you.

http://www.chuckhawks.com/game_range_caliber.htm
 
Actually bullets kill deer, not foot pounds.

In mathematical terms we can express the energy needed as a function of the square root of fA:

D=Bp*Bd
....(Be)
..
where D= dead deer, Bp=bullet placement, Bd=bullet design, Be=bullet energy, fA=f**k all

Using this formulae it is possible to quantify energy requirements as follows: for a brain shot approximately 50 ft pounds from a 22 lr will kill a deer, but to kill a deer by shooting him in the ass will take approximately 18,000 foot pounds from a 88 mm howitzer.
 
Penetration now? An FMJ from a 7.62x39 will penetrate much further than an expanding cup and core bullet from a .308. Which has more energy and which kills better but which penetrates further. ;)
 
Back
Top Bottom