deer hunting pistol suggestions

[BassAkwards]

I may be in the market for a deer hunting pistol come this fall. Looking for suggestions as far as the best brands. I'm thinking a 44 mag revolver will do the trick, but am curious if a 357 mag will work? any suggestions or experiences would be great.

Thanks

[Scott K]

The 44 mag would work, but i recomend not hauling the extra weight around and shoot it with your shotgun, or rifle

[BobT]

I use my .44 mag and carrying it isn't a problem with my holster. Actually, it's much less trouble than my rifle and in northern MN forest where most of my shots are less than 50yds, it's more than adequate.

I also believe the .357 is a good choice for deer.

I've also heard a lot of good comments from hunters using .41 caliber. I don't know much about them though.

Bob

[89Bronco]

The 44 mag is great! I used to hunt with a Ruger Blackhawk with a scope when I first started, and now I use a Ruger Redhawk, short barrel, open sights. I love my Redhawk.

My dad has taken deer with his 357, 44, and 454. He seemed to use a different brand and caliber each season. I do remember telling me that he thought the 357 was good enough, but a tad on the light side if you didn't hit it just right and the 454 was a bit overkill. Whatever you choose, practice, practice, practice. Everyone will say no matter what caliber you use, it's the shot placement that counts.

[PerchJerker]

I have a .357, a S&W with a 6 inch barrel and a red-(Contact Us Please) sight. I like it but it's pretty limited as a hunting handgun.

On deer its effective range should only be 20 yards or so, whereas a .44 would be double that. It's all about the amount of energy the bullet delivers when it gets to the deer. If you can live with the 20 yards or so limitation and carefully pick your shot it will get the job done, but I feel that a bigger gun would be better.

I've shot hogs with my .357. Even with top-of-the-line hunting ammo and close range shots, you could almost see the slugs bouncing off the hogs. I've also shot hogs with .44's and they are far superior.

Hope this helps, good luck.

[IRISHSOBNO4]

i shoot a .41 S&W deer hunter with a 7 1/2" barrel.

i believe tarus makes a deer hunter in .44 that is a nice

pistol and not as hard on the wallet with a lifetime warranty.

[WaveWacker]

I guess I'd first hav to ask if your planning on walking around with it or if your going to be using it out of a stand. If sitting in a stand, I'd look at the Thompson Center Encore Pistol in the 7mm caliber.

[jparrucci]

Does anyone know what caliber pistols are legal for deer hunting? I own an AMT autos in both .45 and 10mm. Would either of these be legal deer hunting pistols? Both have a 7inch barrel and are very accurate. I also hunt dense northwoods, where most of the shots are under 50 yards. I was thinking of putting a scope on one or both of them if I could use them for hunting.

[89Bronco]

Legal Big Game Pistol Cartridges (From the MN DNR)

At Least .23 caliber and case length of at least 1.285 inches

10 mm Automatic (shorter than 1.285" case but legal by statute 97B.031 subd.7c)

357 Herrett

357 Magnum

357 Remington Max

41 Remington Magnum

44 Remington Magnum

44 Auto Mag

440 Corbin Magnum

45 Colt (45 Long Colt)

45 Winchester Mag (legal by statute exemption, case is shorter than 1.285)

454 Casull

475 Linebaugh

460 S&W Magnum

480 Ruger

50 Action Express (legal by statute exemption, case is shorter than 1.285)

50 Alaskan

50-110

500 Smith & Wesson Magnum

*****Illegal Centerfire Pistol Cartridges ***** (Also from the MN DNR)

221 Fireball

22 Remington Jet

25 Auto (.25ACP)

30 Luger ( 7.65mm)

32 Short Colt

32 Long Colt

32 Smith & Wesson

32 Smith & Wesson Long

32 Auto (.32ACP)

38 Short Colt

38 Long Colt

38 Smith & Wesson

380 Automatic

38 AMU

38 Special

38 Super Automatic

9mm x 18mm Makarov

9mm Luger

9mm Ultra

9mm Winchester Magnum

357 /.44 Bain & Davis

357 Sig Auto

40 Smith & Wesson Automatic

400 Corbon

44 Smith & Wesson Special

45 Auto (.45ACP)

45 Auto rim

45 Schofield

460 Rowland

[mechanictim]

I have used a 44mag with a scope to take deer out to 80 yards with a good solid rest. With the same setup I also took a deer at 60 yards while sitting and using my knee as a rest. I have also flatout missed at 25 yards shooting offhand while kneeling. You definatly need to practice with a handgun to be proficient.

In my opinion the 357mag should be limited to no more than 50 yards shooting at a broadside deer that is standing still. If you shoot much past that, the round just doesn't have the energy needed to make a bullet do its job.

I have had good luck using Hornaday XTP bullets that are about as heavy as i can find for the caliber being used. The 300 grain 44 cal. XTP bullets I have used usually make complete pass throughs on deer. The one I did recover had opened up to about twice its original diameter and still had 290 grains of weight.

I have used a scope on handguns to take deer but was never that happy with them due to the time required to align the scope with the eye and then find the deer and line everything up for the shot. I recently started shooting with a Bushnell Holosight which is a lot faster to line up, and has no critical eyerelief like a scope. Haven't had the chance to take a deer with this setup yet, but at the range it does seem to be quicker than a scope.

-

[tealitup]

Quote:

---

I guess I'd first hav to ask if your planning on walking around with it or if your going to be using it out of a stand. If sitting in a stand, I'd look at the Thompson Center Encore Pistol in the 7mm caliber.

---

I have always wondered something.

If you have a TCE, in a 7mm (or like caliber) would it still be legal in the shotgun zones? Pistols are legal in the shotgun areas, so would a TCE in a rifle caliber be legal?

[lcornice]

Quote:

---

Quote:

---

I guess I'd first hav to ask if your planning on walking around with it or if your going to be using it out of a stand. If sitting in a stand, I'd look at the Thompson Center Encore Pistol in the 7mm caliber.

---

I have always wondered something.

If you have a TCE, in a 7mm (or like caliber) would it still be legal in the shotgun zones? Pistols are legal in the shotgun areas, so would a TCE in a rifle caliber be legal?

---

Yes, you can use a pistol with a rifle cartridge in the shotgun zone.

[tealitup]

And then a second question. How accurate a distance are we talking with a TCE? Comparable to a shotgun? Further?

Do we know why this law is this way?

[Jackpine Rob]

Those single-shot pistols will do the job out a lot further than your average guy is capable of hitting. Properly set up and off of a rest you have rifle-type performance.

My buddy has a revolving door of these things in various calibers and configurations, as he searches for the "ultimate" deer gun. Contenders, Encores, Strikers, XP 100's, he plays with them all! When he sights them in, most of them are put dead on at 200 yards, and he regularly shoots out to 300 to get himself comfortable with the set-up.

He hunts from stands or fixed locations, and the rests are carefully prepared and thought out well ahead of time. Sometimes he's using bipods, custom made rests on tree stands, or even a converted camera tripod.

You're not going to be taking off-hand shots or using these things on drives. Stalking is not a viable option either, IMHO.

Of course, we have an ongoing discussion (going on 20 years now!) as to whether these things are really "handguns" or whether we should consider them "short rifles". But that's another topic....

[Muthagoose]

Quote:

---

You definatly need to practice with a handgun to be proficient.

---

Thats all of it right there.

IF your confident,accurate and useing a good bullet its on..Im happy with XTP's the last bear got a 240g HPXTP's the energy transfer/shock vaporized the boiler room. After spinning and snapping at the double pumper it dropped within 10" of my ladder.

the one prior to that was shoulder/spine shot,broke the spine, mushed up the tops of both lungs on a hard angle down dropped like a rock death moaned gurgled and that was it.

Nice alternative in slug zone. A deer within a 100yds is

down.

The 357 will do deer efficiently..I would use either of the 2 I own IF I didnt have 44's to shoot...

IF you can hit with it the 44 rem mag is a excellent choice.