Each to his own...but here's some add'l info for your consideration.
My Smith M629 Classic with its 5", full lug bbl. weighs in at 45.4 oz., unloaded and is a beast to carry on the hip. Cross-chest, in a "Tanker" type of holster rig, it's doable and would probably be my first choice for secondary armament if I was still chasing elk across Colorado's high country.
The gun is a sweetie with enough weight that it's pretty comfortable with house 240 gr loads. And it sports a superb SA trigger with a smooth surface that makes DA shooting a lot easier. So if you can handle the weight and want that amount of heft to steady your hold and absorb the recoil, it might make a good choice. And BTW, yesterday's offhand work from a Weaver stance, produced 25 yd groups hovering around 2". The current iterations of that marvelous piece of engineering are fitted with the $)*)%&$)*%& internal lock...which in all fairness, hasn't malfunctioned nor does it affect the gun's superb accuracy.
Another choice if you want less weight in the holster, but can handle the recoil, is Smith's model 69. Mine, in 4-1/4" bbl. length is as accurate as the model 629 described above....but does batter your hand/web with full house loads. For the most part, I load up with Skelton's old .44 special prescription: 240 gr LSWC backed by 7.5 grains of Unique for 950 fps. It's a great all day load, effective on anything short of the big bears and has done the job required on several large stock we've put down here on the farm. For all day carry, it's ~38 oz. unloaded heft is an easy chore to tote.
Given a choice, where recreation and some hunting for deer might be considered, I'd go with the model 69 Smith for its svelt carrying characteristics. YMMv, Rod BTW, just thought of this....the supplied S&W rubber grips go a LONG way towards making heavy recoil manageable. My size "L" hands do well with them, as they eliminate the severe whack in the web and knuckle that makes S&W's usual wood target grips so miserable.
