Think I'm done with the 44 . . .

I actually bought a 44 Mag to hunt deer with. Have never taken a shot with it but I think it's plenty of gun. That said, if I hit two deer with it and couldn't recover them, I'd likely hang it up as well.

That isn't a reflection on the gun or the shooter, but we all own it to our game to hunt as humanly as possible.
 
I've shot a few deer with a 44 handgun but only one withe a 44 carbine. The bullets used in the handgun were mostly 240 grain HP and a couple of cast SWC. The ammo used in the carbine was PMC 240 TCSP and it worked perfectly. I'd say if this bullet doesn't exit a deer, your deer are huge or you shot it endwise.
I just got a call yesterday asking me for advice on a straightwall ammo carbine for Iowa's current quasi legalization of rifles for deer. My recommendation was the 44 mag with a range limit of 150 yards. Then I asked the caller if this was really an improvement over his current 20 gauge rifle bore slug gun. His answer, "No I guess not really". I suggested that a sight upgrade might do what he wanted more economically than a change of platform.
 
I'd gladly trade my slug gun for a pistol caliber carbine even if it didn't extend my range or power. Why? Because I could afford to PRACTICE with it 20 times as much!
 
The only way I'd ever attempt to take game with a handgun would be in a survival situation. I am simply not good enough handgun shooter to make it work for sure. I think a lot of people kid themselves that they are good enough with one to hunt with it. I was stationed with a guy in Montana years ago that was using a 7mm Rem Mag to hunt elk with. He shot one he claimed to have hit. It ran off and he declared the 7mm mag no good as an elk cartridge. He sold it and got a 458 Win Mag! Every time he fired it the floor plate fell open and unloaded it for him. Point is, it's not so much the cartridge as it is the skill level of the user. Me, I'm not good enough with a handgun!
 
IMHO, it's paramount to have confidence in whatever weapon we choose to take to the field. Just as important, be honest with ourselves and not only have confidence in our ability with that weapon, but know, and stay within our limitations with it. That's something that's often hard to do.

Used to do nothing but pistol hunt if I wasn't using a bow. Found that the two are very similar when it comes to range of game, the importance of shot placement and very importantly, taking the time to practice.

We all know soft/thin skinned deer aren't that hard to kill. In the perfect world, with a perfectly placed broadside shot, a lowly 22 will do the job. In the same perfect world scenario, the 180xtp will do the same. Problems arise with the not so perfect scenario,not having perfect broadside shot or not having perfect shot placement.
Hit the shoulder with the 180xtp will most likely results in an explosion of the bullet as soon as it hits bone with almost zero chance of much penetration or pass through and very little blood trail. The very reason most here have so wisely commented on using hard cast bullets.
Even at bow range, often times we just don't get that perfect broadside shot...so we need all the help we can get with a projectile that's gonna penetrate and hit vitals.

Guess the bottom line is if you are not confident going into the field with a handgun for whatever reason, I admire you for realizing that.
Kudos to you!
 
I think Shortwave is right . . .

Shortwave: I think what you describe is exactly what happened. That deer was one of a group of three that I've caught on a trail cam on a regular basis all fall. Well, she is there again and has what looks like a huge bruise, with a hole in it, on her right shoulder. I'll go back out with my crossbow and see if I can't finish the job.

In the mean time I put the 44 on commission at the LGS and it sold in two days. It was a fun gun, but I won't miss it.

Life is good.
Prof Young
 
Nothing at all wrong with that Prof Young.
I don't pistol hunt so much anymore. Eyes aren't what they used to be and Arthur in the wrists/fingers. So my confidence in a one shot-one kill with a pistol just isn't there anymore. And that really bothers me. Not much other hunting I enjoyed more than pistol hunting.

Sometimes hard, honest facts about ourselves are the hardest to take.

I hope you get a chance to finish that doe.
 
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Thanks . . .

Thanks Shortwave. I'll let you know.
I really enjoy all the kinds of hunting I do. Can still pistol hunt for treerats. That can be a lot of fun. And I guess if I wanted to work at it I could learn more about ammo, practice a lot and continue to hunt deer with a 44, but I feel good about the shotgun and muzzle loader and crossbow, so I'm just gonna hang with them. Sorry to hear about the arthur. We get old don't we.
Life is good.
Prof Young
 
Your experience is not typical of .44mag...and it is probably on you...you have shot placement issues.

250gr 429421 over 10grs of Unique with a decent shot = dead deer.

You need to be hunting with a rifle until you can consistently place your shots.
 
I have not had a problem with my Ruger 10 1/2". I can understand a short barreled 44 may not give the full powder burn to give full velocity/energy. Also If your bullet fragments loosing weight to penetrate that won't help.
 
As was pointed out the bullet choice may not have been optimal and we have no idea of shot placement. Lesser cartridges have proven themselves so it's certainly not that.
 
None went more then about 20 yards.
Click to expand...
The longest distance I ever saw any handgun killed game animal go was an antelope I killed about 10 years ago with a single shot from my 4" S&W 44 mag. Perfect hit being the shoulder in the ribs and it ran flat out for about 75 yards.
Click to expand...
Fish stories? Maybe the 20 yds was for white tails only.
The best shot I ever took, a through and through boiler room at ten yards that shredded a big portion of both lungs and pretty much the entire heart, resulted in a 75 yard run. After ten yards there was plenty of blood and the deer face planted, antlers caught, then flipped butt over head at full speed in the end, but it covered plenty of ground before BP dropped.

I am quite fond of the light single shot pistol caliber carbines.
 
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