Very very accurate guns and cheap to shoot, too
Gun writer Paco Kelly has an article where he was of the opinion that properly loaded and used within it's limits, the 30 carbine is effective on soft bodied whitetail deer. Having used the 9mm to dispatch damage permit deer in the past, I would not hesitate to use the .30 carbine to similar ranges, hunting in like fasion to a bowhunter.
Gun writer George Nonte did not have our well designed bullets to work with when he wrote in his 1975 work titled "Hangun Hunting" the following words:
"When it comes to a choice of guns and cartridges for deer hunting, one may select from a wider variety than for any other type of hunting. Assuming reasonable stalking ability and limiting shots to no more than 50 yards, preferably not over 40 yards, there is an extensive range of calibers quite adequate for deer."
Nonte then goes on to list the pantheon of what he considered suitable handgun calibers for hunting deer, among them the 9mm, 45acp, 38 Super, 38Special, 357mag, 41mag, 44 special & mag, 44-40, and 45 Colt.
His lighter choices & experiences with those both fly in the face of conventional wisdom and also *perhaps* make many of the the modern day rag-writers (who make their living writing about and promoting ever larger & faster products) look a little hystrionic regarding their absolute negativity and denial of these common handgun cartridges as effective, adiquate soft bodied deer dispatchers.
Keep in mind Nonte was also using bullets & loads available in the 1970s, and we may begin to have a new perspective & appreciation of the careful use of such calibers on deer sized game.
