The 50 Beowulf is a caliber that is growing in popularity. And with its growing popularity comes the question: Can you hunt deer with a 50 Beowulf? In this article, we will be looking at whether or not you can hunt deer with a 50 Beowulf.
Here is the short answer:
At close range, the 50 Beowulf is a great deer hunting cartridge. It has high energy making it ideal for hunting deer in thick country where shots under 100 yards or through brush are common.
With the short answer out of the way, we can take a closer look at the 50 Beowulf, why it might be good for deer hunting, why it might be bad for deer hunting, are there better calibers out there, and see how to increase your odds of killing a deer.
Why it might be a good choice
So is the 50 Beowulf a good choice for deer hunting, and if so, why?
The 50 Beowulf has a lot of energy at close range. This means it will be able to take down a deer fast. So if you put a good shot on a deer it will probably drop it if not it will not go far assuming you shot it at close range.
The 50 Beowulf has a 50 caliber bullet that moves pretty slow, this means it is an ideal brush gun (a brush gun is a gun that has a caliber that will punch through thick brush and make an ethical shot on the game on the other side of the brush). So if you are in an area where the brush is dense, you may want to look at 50 Beowulf.
Why you might not want the 50 Beowulf
So we have looked at why it would be a good choice, but what are some reasons it may be a bad choice.
The 50 Beowulf has almost no long-range capability. The 50 Beowulf will drop a lot past any distance beyond 200 yards. So if you need to be able to shoot deer at any distance beyond 200 yards, you will want to look elsewhere.
50 Beowulf is expensive and ammo is hard to find. While 50 Beowulf might be growing in popularity, it still is hard to find ammo, and when you do find ammo it is expensive. Not to mention how expensive and hard-to-find rifles in 50 Beowulf are.
Are there better options out there
Since we have covered the pros and cons of 50 Beowulf, let’s find out if it is even worth your time.
The 50 Beowulf can not kill deer at any distance beyond 200 yards meaning you are not going to want this for long-range shooting. Instead, you should look at a 30-06, 6.5 Creedmoor, 25-06, 240 Weatherby, 7mm-08, 308, 243 Winchester, or 270 Winchester.
If you are looking for a more available cartridge that will have similar performance, fear not my friend you have options. You could go with the 450 Bushmaster, 458 SOCOM, 35 Remington, 45-70, or a 30-06 with 200+ grain projectiles.
How to increase your odds of killing a deer with the 50 Beowulf
Now that we have thoroughly covered the 50 Beowulf, we can see how you can increase your odds of killing a deer with it.
Get close. If you want to kill a deer with a 50 Beowulf you will have to get close, ideally within 100 yards. If you get within 100 yards, you are way more likely to kill a deer. As long as you get close, you will probably kill your deer very quickly.
Conclusion
If you get close and don’t mind having to pay a little more for ammo, then you should go with the 50 Beowulf. It is a unique cartridge that may just work great for you. And if it doesn’t you still have plenty of other cartridges.