What's the standard or recommended deer hunting caliber?

[Paddlefoot]

Dan, What range do you zero your sights at to be able to hold dead on at 130 yards?  Obviously different in .50  & .54.

[Paddlefoot]

Guess I worded that poorly. Zero would be to use 130 as a point blank range .

[Daryl]

According to my comp. program - front sight .75" above the centre of the bore. .175gr. ball guessed a BC of .075  I didn't have the exact BC # handy -  doesn't matter much - close enough.
50yds. is + 2 1/2"
100yards is + 1 1/8"
125 yards is - 2.0"
130yards is - 2 3/4"

That covers a kill zone of only 5 1/4 ", ie: all balls (centre of the group) will be inside that area size, from the muzzle to 130yards - ie; point blank - no holding low or high.   That leaves some room for error on a kill zone that's a good 8" in diameter.

A .54, with the same speed of 1,800fps will shoot a bit flatter adn a .58, same speed, a bit flatter yet. All it takes is enough powder.
A .45 will shoot his flat, but requires a faster send-off due to it's lower ballistic coefficient. This is easily accomplished in the smaller bores - but - they don't hit as hard and won't penetrate as much bone if necessary.  If IT can happen, IT will.

[bob in the woods]

I've shot more deer with a .50 round ball than anything else. Probably has a lot to do with my love for a "B" weight swamped .50 barrel , which to my eye makes into an absolutely beautiful long rifle.
I' ve used the same barrel in .45 , and a friend loves it for deer, but, I don't think that you can ever say that a .50 is wrong when deer hunting. Now..throw our Black bears into the picture, and I'd opt for a .54
The way I see it, a .45 is to deer , what a .50 is to bear. They will do the job , but there might be a time that you wish you had something more.

[roundball]

What's the ideal deer hunting caliber?
I've been told 40 or 45 will easily take a deer,... others told me stick with something larger?
 

A lot of times caliber selection depends on the game being hunted and average shot distances encountered.
IMO, since you're starting out and this will be your first, and maybe only ML for a while, I would suggest the .54cal.

I've taken whitetails with .45/.50/.54/.58/.62cal PRBs and they'll all get it done...but for the first caliber to get, and the flexibility it provides over a variety of hunting conditions, a .54cal would be a top choice for me.

And, for what it's worth, last year I posted / conducted a poll on a few different muzzleloading forums asking hunters to rank the very calibers I mentioned above and the results were:

First choice = .54cal
Second choice= .50cal
Third choice = .45 / .58 / .62 were all tied for 3rd choice

[Dphariss]

Dan, What range do you zero your sights at to be able to hold dead on at 130 yards?  Obviously different in .50  & .54.

Daryl is about right. I am zeroed for 2" or a little more at 65, or where ever Garbe puts the backstop for the monthy "chunk" match. I guess I should use my laser on it
Its also dependent on patch lube. I shoot a pretty high drag patch lube for matches. Patches soaked in a water soluble oil mix then dried and lately tallow for hunting. The tallow seems to be a little higher at mid-range having shot it in match or two.
But you need to shoot close to 1/2 ball weight of powder to make it work.
I suspect the 50 is making over about 2000 but I have not checked it. Too lazy to pack the chrono around all the time. But now thinking about the patch lubes I may have to just for curiosities sake. Higher bore drag does not always mean lower velocity.  Dern it! Now I WILL have to check it. Fortunately the wind is running about 35-40 and the temp was about +7 when I got up so I won't have to do it right away Hope the wind takes it to +50 degrees, tired of snow and ice. And you guys from Prince George don't be making fun of me . A friend seriously broke his leg, both bones below the knee, on a hidden patch of ice last month at the Cody match.
With 90 gr weight of FFF Swiss my 38" barreled 54 makes over 1900.
ALL hunting zeros for big game are "point blank" zeros or should be.
The powder charge needs to be pretty high for a long point blank range. If the hunter never shoots over 50 yards he can zero differently and maybe use less powder.
Another guide is 1" high at 25 which will give a decent point blank with a HV load and works OK to headshoot squirrels to 35 or so.
This is dependent on the height of the front sight of course.
Dan

[hanshi]

Any time you start off with your first rifle it always pays to go a bit heavy rather than a bit light, IMHO.  I started with deer using 50s before switching to a .45.