357mag revolver for deer hunting?

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troy fairweather said:
i would think a fat point or hollow point would be best. i wonder if they will go through the shoulder plates.
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I think they are shaped like a stumpy bthp to fly a little flatter. The hollow points are not a huge cavity. Since they are swaged from soft lead wire, I'd bet they expand pretty well.....can't rightly say besides brains were leaking out her ears....hate that smell.

anyway, my point was if this airgun can do well enough on a pigs skull, and spine, with relatively poor performance as compared to a .357 mag from a 6" barrel, Id be comfortable with the revolver for body shots within reasonable distances.
 
newfalguy101 said:
MY only issue with shooting from a tree or ladder stand....is figuring out how to shoot accrately with my arms wrapped around the tree holding on for dear life.
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Haha, I get where you're coming from...
FYI, a good safety harness makes a great and easy place to mount a fixed blade knife and a shoulder holster to the straps.
 
Ive been shooting for nearly 3 decades, but I'll be bonest...Ive never been deer hunting. However, some friends are encouraging me to get into it.. Ive often tnought about how Id settle into it.. What usually comes automatically to my mind is to sit against a big rock or tree with a big camo pocho on and maybe a camo boonie hat or even a balaclava. Id just sit there with a 357 under the poncho near some grass where deer are likely to graze and wait. I realize when I finally decided to shoot the deer would be scrambling and id have to be quick. Id probably anticipate going for the neck in most cases. I used to have a friend who bow-hunted exclusively, and also seemed to go for the neck exclusively. He brought back many good kills that way.
 
Offhand McFlan said:
Ive been shooting for nearly 3 decades, but I'll be bonest...Ive never been deer hunting. However, some friends are encouraging me to get into it.. Ive often tnought about how Id settle into it.. What usually comes automatically to my mind is to sit against a big rock or tree with a big camo pocho on and maybe a camo boonie hat or even a balaclava. Id just sit there with a 357 under the poncho near some grass where deer are likely to graze and wait. I realize when I finally decided to shoot the deer would be scrambling and id have to be quick. Id probably anticipate going for the neck in most cases. I used to have a friend who bow-hunted exclusively, and also seemed to go for the neck exclusively. He brought back many good kills that way.
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What comes to mind automatically when you don't have clue about something is generally not automatically the best idea. Scrambling deer, handguns and inexperience are a mix for wounded and unrecoverable deer, So is aiming primarily for the neck with a bow. Hunting deer with a handgun is a challenge even for experienced deer hunters. I'm not pushing you away from hunting deer with a handgun, just suggesting you do a lot more research before you go.
 
The only sure way to kill a deer is shoot it in the heart. I am sure some disagree. No matter what you shoot make very sure you can hit with it. I have competed in and won some pistol matches. I don't know many guys accurate beyond 25 yards much less 50. I am good at 25 yards with my scoped 44, and my 4 inch barrel .357 unsupported. Not sure about a long barrel .357.
 
newfalguy101 said:
Of all the deer I have killed over the years, probably about 20, I have can only recall hitting the heart a couple of times.

Lungs are much larger target area and causes a huge loss of blood.
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True. But you should use a fast expanding bullet. I am not sure that a .357 would do enough damage. I have only shot one deer with a .357. But you have a good point.
 
d2wing said:
True. But you should use a fast expanding bullet. I am not sure that a .357 would do enough damage. I have only shot one deer with a .357. But you have a good point.
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To be fair, I have never used a 357 as a primary gun, only as backup to my SKS, one time.

I have used my 44 mag to take 2 or 3 deer, and I dont recall any of those hitting the heart, lungs for sure though.

My first hit with the 44 absolutely destroyed the close shoulder, destroyed the lungs and broke the offside shoulder....BUT failed to exit.

The chest cavity was FULLLL of blood.
 
If a 44mag is an option on the table, the 357mag should not be.

You reload both - making the 44mag into an inexpensive, low recoil plinker is possible (simple even), while it is NOT possible to make the .357mag into an appropriate 100yrd revolver.

Even at short ranges, the performance difference between the two is obvious. I’ve killed over a dozen deer with different 357mags, and thrice as many with 44mags. The mortal response from deer, especially big deer, is very different between the two. You’ll kill more and recover more with a 44mag than a 357mag.
 
Hookeye said:
Uh....traditional black powder.....like sidehammer . 50 w roundball? That for me was an easy 100yd rig and shot em even farther. Would not use a .357 mag wheelie at such distance.
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I agree.
My sister-in-law killed one last fall at 135 with a .490 RB and 90 of fffg. I definitely would try that with my 357.
Back to the OP. I'm possibly taking my for crack at 357 handgun hunting and have already learned my lesson on using hardcast in 45 caliber. Whatever you do, don't try it. It will leave a blood trail, but it will be long.
I'm going to be using a 180 XTP because my gun shots then better that 158s.
 
With the proper bullet "Placement" it won't limit the size of the deer. You will be fine!
 
I've hunted deer with a handgun in the past, but found it limiting my opportunities to short distances and slow-moving animals.

I hunt where I've killed deer from 10 yards to 400 yards. Several of them running at 10 yards to almost 200 yards away. However our favorite stand is in wooded land, with a blind stand on an old county road, turned into a snowmobile trail, then abandoned at that.

My go-to rifles have been .270 Win, Stainless Rem. 700s, with 3-9X Leupold scope in a custom stock. The cartridge offers nearly perfect ballistics and killing power for deer-sized animals up to 300 pounds, using 130 grain handloads, or Moose with 140 grain handloaded Nosler Accubonds.
700CDL a.jpg
 
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Picher said:
I've hunted deer with a handgun in the past, but found it limiting my opportunities to short distances and slow-moving animals.
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This is the exact reason I hunt with a handgun....same goes for my bow. I've gotten to the point in my life where taking a deer, any deer, regardless of size, at any distance I can see them at, is not a challenge, nor exciting to me. That is not to say I look down at folks that feel differently. A hunt is what we make it, and we get from it what we put into it. There was a day when coming home empty handed made me feel like a failure. Nowadays, letting a good buck pass because it's slightly out of range of my handgun or bow, but would have been a piece of cake with a rifle, makes my whole season a success. Used to be I thought I was a handgun hunter because I took a revolver along as a secondary weapon "just in case" I had a easy shot at close range. I still took the old ought-six for fear that the buck of a lifetime would appear just out of range and I would loose that opportunity. A decade or so ago, I put the ought-six away and haven't used it since(to hunt deer). That buck of a lifetime shows up now out of handgun range and I'll know I could have had him with it, just that it wouldn't have mattered that much. Others should not take my look at deer hunting as their own....they need to determine that factor for themselves. You have....good for you.
 
buck460XVR said:
This is the exact reason I hunt with a handgun....same goes for my bow. I've gotten to the point in my life where taking a deer, any deer, regardless of size, at any distance I can see them at, is not a challenge, nor exciting to me. That is not to say I look down at folks that feel differently. A hunt is what we make it, and we get from it what we put into it. There was a day when coming home empty handed made me feel like a failure. Nowadays, letting a good buck pass because it's slightly out of range of my handgun or bow, but would have been a piece of cake with a rifle, makes my whole season a success. Used to be I thought I was a handgun hunter because I took a revolver along as a secondary weapon "just in case" I had a easy shot at close range. I still took the old ought-six for fear that the buck of a lifetime would appear just out of range and I would loose that opportunity. A decade or so ago, I put the ought-six away and haven't used it since(to hunt deer). That buck of a lifetime shows up now out of handgun range and I'll know I could have had him with it, just that it wouldn't have mattered that much. Others should not take my look at deer hunting as their own....they need to determine that factor for themselves. You have....good for you.
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Carry a good camera as your backup. ;) That way you have photos if it's too far out.
 
buck460XVR said:
This is the exact reason I hunt with a handgun....same goes for my bow. I've gotten to the point in my life where taking a deer, any deer, regardless of size, at any distance I can see them at, is not a challenge, nor exciting to me. That is not to say I look down at folks that feel differently. A hunt is what we make it, and we get from it what we put into it. There was a day when coming home empty handed made me feel like a failure. Nowadays, letting a good buck pass because it's slightly out of range of my handgun or bow, but would have been a piece of cake with a rifle, makes my whole season a success. Used to be I thought I was a handgun hunter because I took a revolver along as a secondary weapon "just in case" I had a easy shot at close range. I still took the old ought-six for fear that the buck of a lifetime would appear just out of range and I would loose that opportunity. A decade or so ago, I put the ought-six away and haven't used it since(to hunt deer). That buck of a lifetime shows up now out of handgun range and I'll know I could have had him with it, just that it wouldn't have mattered that much. Others should not take my look at deer hunting as their own....they need to determine that factor for themselves. You have....good for you.
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Amen, brother!
 
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