Hello. Managed to shoot a small doe today with my STI Trojan 5" in .38 Super.
The round used was a handload pushing a Remington 147-gr Golden Saber 9mm hollow point bullet to an average velocity of 1188 ft/sec.

It was raining and distance was about 15 yards.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid87/p8d104cb45a08cf0a17c2ee37f8c79d1b/fa9bde6c.jpg
At the shot, she jumped and ran about 15 yards before collapsing. You can see the entry wound on her left front shoulder. It exited just behind the right shoulder.

The doe is no "trophy" nor even a very large one. This deer was taken on property overrun with doe and the state has issued extra permits to the landowner to thin the herd a bit so this one was taken. Should be quite tasty as she's certainly not going to be old and tough.

Best.

PS: Did see one buck, not a shooter yet, that I'd estimate at 2 1/2 yrs. He had 7 points, an extremely high rack and should be a shooter in a couple or three years. I admit looking over the Trojan's sights at him, but didn't touch the trigger.

Nice shot - never heard of anyone using a .38 Super before!

You can bet she will provide some good, tender venison! Herd culling needs to take place far more than most people realize - especially does. There is such a problem back East with deer/auto incidents that it made national news the other night.

Awesome! Anything you get with a handgun is one to be proud of.

Fawn survival was very high in most parts of Texas this year and we have a bumper crop of deer. All of the deer I've seen so far this year looked to be in very good condition. Haven't seen as many roadkill as usual (yet) but the conditions have been such that the deer still have plenty of food and don't have to move much. In about a month the carnage will start on the highways.....

I may have an opportunity to take some 'management' does this year without using up my tags and will be experimenting with different loads just as you are.

Curious - do you have any rough measurements of the wound channel? Hit any bone other than ribs?

Hello. Well, I found one rib broken where it entered after passing through the shoulder, but it exited between two ribs. When I took the picture, the rain had paused, but started right back up with a vengeance so I didn't get any pictures of the entry and exit wounds. They were not really remarkable. Entry wound appeared a bit larger than expected, perhaps about forty caliber, which was a surprise and the exit wound on the inside of the rib cage looked about a little bigger. There was a huge amount of blood inside so I probably hit a major vessle. The heart was not hit.

Best.

Congrats on your deer and good shooting!

The .38 Super is a cartridge that few realize the potential of. A similar weight hard lead bullet with good frontal diameter might be a better choice for larger deer, but shot placement is the main thing with any firearm. I reccomend the cast bullet for complete penetration if heavy bone is encountered, not as a disparaging remark about the bullet you used. As MikeG pointed out, any animal taken with a handgun is a trophy.

Marshall has a .358" 160gr. LBT-type bullet with a bevel base that works surprisingly well in the 9mm. I have loaded up a few and they shot very well indeed. Might be an interesting bullet in the Super.

Hi Stephen, that is an excellent trophy you got. We were debating the merits of the .357 Sig as a hunting round on another thread and the ballistics of your .38 Super are very close to that so that was very informative. Congrats on your trophy and fine shot and good eating ahead!