Bomberman, much of what you say agrees with my observations, but not at the 100%-of-the-time level. Which was my point; why I said I am always learning something new. For example, when you wrote...

"...but a heart shot deer will usually leave a very wide blood trail. You should not be losing deer if they are properly hit. Yes, you may have to trail it, but it won't be far."

The key words are "usually" and "should not be". How true. But I shot one squarely through the heart and it took off running through brush; also thought I missed. Started following, but no snow. Couldn't find blood, not a bit. After about 200 feet, I found a few droplets, on saplings. A little further, it was as though somebody with a big red brush had painted all the trees on either side. Then about 100 yards from the shot, there lay the deer, dead. This was "but sometimes", and "in my personal experience", and "when solidly hit in a vital area".

I guess it gets to one's definition of "far" and "long distances". I think 100 yards, especially in dense growth, is "far".

Where you quoted me out of context:

"And as for your statement "It has nothing to do with "aren't hitting them right".", it has everything to do with hitting them right. You do your job and you eat venison. There's nothing magical about a deer...hit them in their vitals and it's over. Period."

If only life, and all of this world, were black and white.

That quote of what I wrote narrowly referred to specific examples of accurate, should-be-fatal hits in my personal experience, doing the job "right", by anybody's definition...the context was deer hit solidly, such as heart shots. By no means do they reliably drop, virtually always, as you imply. Sometimes yes, but quite often much later and further away. Neither you nor I can accurately predict which it will be. About that I have no doubt, again based on experience. And not because of poor hunter skill. Nothing about deer hunting is so cut and dried, clear and predictable. It's just how it is. I think most guys here would agree, and have their own stories to tell.

The point of my postings was to relate some unusual personal deer hunting experiences which have taught me that dropping deer instantly, using good equipment and good skill, is not nearly as predictable as you so adamantly contend. You may disagree with me, but your opinions do not cancel out my personal observations.

Nobody here, or out in the field, has deer and deer hunting all figured out and rendered predictable. It's a lot of fun, but full of surprises that don't fit anybody's rigid prediction of what is going to happen, under what circumstances, when, and no exceptions. Good skill, preparation, and equipment hopefully tilts the odds in our favor, but there are still some wild cards. And I guess that makes it worth buying the license.

And all of the above makes me consider the original question, about use of the .45 ACP round to hunt deer. To all of the built-in uncertainties of hunting deer with the best of weaponry, why add to that the use of such a marginal cartridge, even if you load it to the very maximum limits of its potential? Around here, we go through too much to even get a good shot at a really fine deer. Why stack the odds of bagging it against ourselves?