I have been thinking about deer hunting with a handgun this year. Been thinking about getting another 686 4''. What do you use? What do you think? Info please!

I use an 8" 686 with 2X Leupold for our 100# does at relatively short range.

For those big Michigan bucks, I would want a .44 Mag with long barrel.

Some state have restrictions on barrel length and ammunition energy levels. Check your states hunting laws. I know at one time in Georgia it was 6" barrel minimum and 500 ft lbs of energy at a certain yardage.

I've had many successful deer hunts with my Colt Anaconda 8" fitted with a red dot sight and using Cor-Bon 240 Grain Jacketed Hollow Points.
A 629, or Redhawk would also be a good choice IMO. I prefer a stainless model because of the inclimate weather we typically have in Northern Michigan mid to late November.

I would use my 29-3, 8 3/8, shooting 250 SWC with 20gr of 2400, sighted dead on at 50 yards.

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beaver

I used to hunt with my IHMSA handgun.....an XP100 chambered in FL308....

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Dum vivimus Vivamas

My choice would be a M-57 8" or my M-629 6" both loaded with a good handloaded hollow point.

More important than what gun you use is how well you shoot it!

I've taken deer with .357 magnum,.44 special, .44 magnum, 44-40, and .41 magnum. I'd echo what everybody else said already, but I have gravitated toward a keith-style bullet in stead of a hollow point. I want holes on both sides of an animal, and you don't always get the best pennetration out of a hollowpoint.

i have taken several wild boar and a 4-horn ram with my model 500 pc...more then adequate for the task

Hi Marshall,
Most everyone is giving you good advice on the larger calibers.
I know many have taken deer with the .357.
My first was shot with a .38 and a couple after w/ .357 but one that I knew was hit hard and close with a .357 left the scene with out a blood trail and I'm certain it died out of sight somewhere.
I never had to worry about a bloodtrail after one would leave the scene with a hole plum through him from a long Colt or .44 mag. I like a cast semi wad bullet over a hollow point too.
Good luck
Mike

Dispatched a doe one year with my Python. It made the mistake of standing under my postable tree stand. I think I singed the hair on top of her head.
Could have dropped a rope around her head, wooohoo!

I did use a Ruger Blackhawk .41 Magnum, but this year i finally got my Model 29-2 4-inch which I really want to take a deer with, I also have a Ruger Blackhawk .44 Magnum Flat Top that is also very accurate. Here in the Adirondacks, shots are around 25-50 yards on average anyway.

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Vaya con Dios

I've been using a Model 29-2 8 3/8" bbl for years. Open sights. A 240gr HP is very unforgiving.
f.t.

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South Carolina-God's country

The last couple of years, I've taken my 6" 29-2 hunting in rural Missouri. I'm more comfortable with the .44 than with my 6" 27-2.

I've taken deer , antelope and elk with the .41 mag, .44 Spcl, .44 mag and a .45 Colt with +P loads. All but the antelope were taken with Keith style lead slugs. Even on the elk you seldom find the slugs. They sail right through giving you a nice double lunged trail to follow.

I've posted this many times before...but learn from my mistake... Be very careful of whats BEHIND your quarry as the big slugs can penetrate through the intended quarry into victim #2 very easily. DON'T ask how I know.

LOTS of fun hunting with a handgun. A real challenge with an iron sighted pistol.

FN in MT

In my state any handgun used to hunt big game has to be .35 or larger and produce at least 350 ft/lbs of muzzle energy. I have mainly used a stainless Dan Wesson .44 Magnum with the 8" barrel installed and a Burris pistol scope. I usually carry it in a nylon vertical shoulder holster. I like having hands free when moving through heavy brush and steep terrain in the mountains where I hunt most of the time. I use a good 240 gr. JHP and it does the job pretty well. I prefer handgun hunting to hunting with rifle or shotgun.

I've taken lots of deer with .44 Magnum handguns. My latest, which is now a couple of decades old, is my hand's down favorite . . . a 6" Model 29-5 with the "Endurance" package that's now standard.

After shooting lots of deer, I've abandoned the fast 200 grain, and yes, even the 240 grain Hollow Points.

Since switching to flat nose, hard-cast lead bullets everything I've shot for years has gone straight down . . . or not run far. Those that run have massive blood trails, for a heavy, flat nosed bullet blows right through with massive knock-down power too.

No more lost deer . . . like one shot with my old Thompson Contender and a 240 grain Hornaday XTP hollow point in 1998. Distance? Right below my stand . . . maybe ten feet! Another hunter on our club harvested that fat doe in a foot plot two weeks later and didn't know it had been shot . . . until my XTP bullet fell on the ground when he skinned it out! It hit bone immediately, mushroomed harmlessly and didn't penetrate at all. A real weird thing to see indeed.

Nope, make mine a hard-cast Keith style bullet running fast. It will blow through a deer end-to-end they say, at 500 yards.

I'm decidedly partial to the fast Federal "Castcore" 300 grain hunting ammo (shown below). Supremely accurate . . . totally reliable and effective.



T.

I use a Ruger Super Redhawk .44 mag loaded with WMN 300 gr. LBT DCG bullets seated long and 22.5 gr H-110. After missing a nice 8 pointer a few years ago at 70 yards with open sights, I mounted a B&L 2X scope and gave it to my gunsmith for a good trigger job. Haven't carried it for a couple years, but plan to this deer season.

I think the 300 grain bullets are overkill (if there's such a thing) for deer and plan to go back to a 250 gr. WFN.

I have used my .357 with 158 gr bullets with good results on white tail and mule deer out to 50 yds. Model 19 6'' with Aimpoint. Carry in a nylon shoulder rig.

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I use various S&W 41 magnums.I use handloads with a 255 grain cast bullet with a gas check.Have also had good results with the 357 magnum using 185 grain cast bullets.

I suppose you can get by with a 4" barrel, tho' I always used a 6, or 6 1/2" on my .44 mag. And regardless of caliber, be able to use this weapon effectively before hunting big game. Maybe it'll take a .22 to get more proficient, maybe a .357, but you have to be able to shoot well enough to take one down at 50, 60 yds--much more often than not. But, following that--good luck!

The Lounge is getting to be like deja vu again

P.S. I kill a lot of deer with a 4" 686. You HAVE to shoot to a set of points through the deer instead of some point on the deer.
Know your quarry -- Inside & Out.

Where I hunt if you can see something 50 yards away you aren't where I hunt anymore - You're somewhere else entirely.

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In dog years I'm dead.

My mod 25-5 45 colt, with keith swc cast from wheel weights does an excellant job deer and elk usually under 75 yds. They leak a lot of red stuff for a short ways.

Keeping the analogy within reason, one should approach hunting with a handgun (especially such a minimum as a 4" 357) as you would if you were hunting with a bow. Yes, I know about all the amazing pistol assassins of antlered game that make 200 yard shots that a mere mortal such as myself that has been hunting for 40 years wouldn't attempt, but that's my opinion.

Get close, get closer if you can. Use a rest - shooting sticks or a cane type brace. Use as much gun as you can realistically control and shoot WELL. PRACTICE shooting from field positions. Learn deer anatomy and only make high percentage well placed shots. And use HEARING protection. Amazing how many first time handgun hunters learn that one too late . . . .

High powered rifle bullets for the most part incapacitate/kill by shock to a great degree (think of the flesh as wet sponge that the bullet treats as if driving the liquid away from and out of the impact area); pistol bullets actually are more akin to arrow impacts in the way they kill - tear blood vessels through a vital area and try to penetrate with a pass through shot to let air in and blood out. High speed hollow points are not always the best choice. Old Elmer had it right using as big a solid bullet as possible with a blunt edge that impacts a wallop while driving through and leaving a large hole.

Deer can certainly be easily taken with a 4" 357. In the right hands and right conditions they can be taken with a .22 or even a high speed pellet gun. But none of those are quick killing choices without precision placement and maximum damage achieved from the shot. Under excitement (duress) and field conditions it's best to plan on having a little "overkill" at your disposal for when things don't go exactly right. There is a component of shooting a wild animal with a handgun that many (usually who have never done such) overlook - when a man receives a wound from such his mind tells him "I've been shot !" and depending on how "hard" and where the wound is, his mind will tell him "I'm might die!" and shock begins to set in from the mental as well as physical aspects. A wild thing such as a deer on the other hand, only reacts with fight or flight reaction from being startled and hurt and doesn't know that when you shoot it it is supposed to lay down and die. Even a mortally wounded deer with only seconds or minutes to live can cover a LOT of territory QUICKLY and "disappear" more easily than you can imagine if you've never had to track one. The idea then is to get the job done as quickly and efficiently as possible. A 357 hollow point slug may well be fatal in a shot not immediately incapacitating - but you may never see the deer again, either.

But there's nothing more satisfying for an enthusiastic handgunner than to bring home venison with one of his favorite tools. I've just seen too many novice bow and handgun hunters wound and lose too many deer. Best to start out with the right tools, attitude, and skills as much as possible.

There's not much shocking power in a handgun. Inside of 50 yds. a 6-8" .357 S&W Magnum gives good results on small/medium game up to deer. Use a heavy SWC bullet and avoid raking shots. If you can use it effectively a .44 S&W Magnum or a .45 Colt is better as they use heavier bullets that will give better penetration on less than ideal shots. I'm looking forward to working up a good load for my S&W 24-4 using a good 240 gr. SWC. I figure it will work well inside of 25-30 yds. Recently out walking in the woods with my wife we got to with 10-12 yds. of a nice doe. She never saw us. It would have been a very easy shot. Hopefully come deer season I'll be able to get just as close with my handgun.

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NFrameFred has it down pat.

Lots of good advice in his post. I especially like the analogy to bow hunting. Practice mainly at 25 yards but shoot at 50 yards too because it's not always possible to make an accurate assessment of distance while hunting. That's where you have an advantage when hunting from a stand as opposed to still hunting...you can determine ranges to specific points around your stand beforehand.
Never use HP's, especially with a 357. They expand too fast and lack penetration. Full penetration is better, more internal organ damage and two holes to leak blood. Want to drop 'em dead with one shot? Use a rifle. It can be done with a handgun but you can never guarantee that it will happen that way.
If a deer has been chased and shoot at all morning nothing but a spine or head shot will bring it down in it's tracks. I've seen deer run flat out for more than 100 yards after being shot through the heart by a 30-06. They were dead on their feet but their legs didn't know it.
The hardest part about hunting is knowing when to shoot and when not to take the shot. This is especially true when using hand guns.
John

460XVR and a good scope (AND practice) can make 200yd handgun hunting a reality. I find, though, that iron sights lend a certain charm to a handgun hunt (not to mention making packing the gun around much more enjoyable). This gun puts true rifle-style knockdown power in your hands, but DON'T forget the earlugs!!!!

My first handgun deer was killed in 1972 with my customized Govt. Model shooting Super Vel 180 grain JHP. In and out behind the shoulder and down in fifty yards.

Nothing wrong with that but I would never do it again.

There has been some great advice here, some I would like to repeat.

Practice, practice and then practice somemore.
Two holes are better than one.
Big, heavy and with a flat point are good.
Practice

460 xvr.......8 for 8 in 4 years from 30 to 175 yards and ZERO tracking......I don't know how you could have a better handgun for deer....every deer went straight down......

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millbilly

Ive used a 29 the first year Ohio allowed handgun hunting (1986) and Ive used several 629's in Bbl lengths from 5" - 8 3/8" over the years. Ohio requires a minimal Bbl length of 5 inch's. All my hunting revolvers (for deer) are sighted to hit dead on at 50 yds. So far ive had about 25 deer kills with a .44 and havent had to track one yet.

I shot a 8 pt Whitetail buck with my wife's old 686 6" and 180grn Winchester HP. Made it about 50 yards.

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M&P .40, M&P 9c & Shield 45

I've killed 2 good sized feral hogs with a 686 4" revolver and 158gr jacketed softpoints..it works pretty fair.

Lately I've been using a 6" 629 and Winchester 240gr jacketed softpoints..works great too...however..the pigs are getting smarter..and forcing longer shots..so I bought a Rossi stainless .44 mag carbine..and have used that this summer and fall with the same ammo....soon, I will have to break out the scoped .30-06 'cause the hogs are fewer and even farther off!!

Do you hunt varmits, squirrels and rabbits with a handgun? If so the 357 can get it done. If not reaction to game, hitting moving targets, waiting for their head to go down etc. make using a larger caliber easier IMO.

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Front sight and squeeze

Have shot several deer with my 6" M-686. Have always found the .357 to be a marginal deer cartridge at best. Now I hunt with a M25-5 with cast 270gr SWC HP's at about 1050fps. A MUCH more suitable cartridge for deer IMHO.

Don

Taken many deer with a handgun, several hogs, and a few turkeys. 357,10mm,44spl,44mag,45colt. With proper placement and bullets all calibers will do nicely. Lots of good advice mentioned earlier on waiting for your shot, comparison to bow hunting, and knowing your limitations(yours and your guns). The only two deer I've lost with handguns were with heavy for caliber bullets. I tried 10mm 200 grain black talon when they first came out and lost a doe with a good shot. Found it by the buzzards 2 days later. The 170 norma and 175 silvertips worked very well. The other was with a 180 grain partition .357 out of a 4" mountain gun. I finally found the doe and the first shot was well placed but it took another shot to end it 3 hours later. Much too long. Both were factory loads. I now usually carry a 5" 629 44mag with 240 JSP very effective if I do my part. Its a great way to hunt. We can kill 2 doe per day so sometimes I take my rifle along and get a double. First shot with handgun on closest doe and when they scatter they often pause at the edge of the foodplot to see what happened and the rifle takes #2. When I'm not taking a deer for myself or friends they go to Buckmasters hunters feeding the hungry program. If you have extra deer meat its a good way to help those less fortunate.

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PTLAPTA!

I've taken Michigan whitetails with a Super Blackhawk in years past with a red dot but now use a Model 57 in 8 3/8 and open sights.
I treat it like bow hunting too and go for the up close shots which sometimes you must wait for. I also carry a shotgun or rifle for shots beyond 50 yards as that is my comfort zone with a handgun.

I have taken deer with a 10in 44 contender and a 6 in 657 with a 2 power lepold. I also like to keep my shots under 50 yards.

OP,
Double check your state regs for Barrel length and minimum cartridge allowed. Some states have these as requirements.

I started with a 6" model 66 and switched to a 44 redhawk and a 44 contender the contender scoped with a 2x Leupold.
The Contender can be a little tuff on the hand. Have not hunted in a few years now.

I've done sum handgun hunting over the years...

I quess a feller could shoot a deer with just 'bout anything.

There in lies the rub...Shootin or killin'? There's a differance ya know.

So, if'n a huntin for meat, I'm picking the bigger cartridges.
But then again, this jest me talkin here.



Su Amigo,
Dave

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"IN GOD WE TRUST"

I've taken several deer with a 4 inch .357. Generally it's near the end of the hunt when the bucks have been far and few between and a doe gets close enough for handgun shot for some camp meat. I always carry a concealed handgun when I'm hunting, most always a .357 magnum.

This year I took my Glock 23 (.40 S&W) as my concealed carry gun with no intention of shooting any game with it. Hunted all opening week and didn't see a single legal buck, but lots of does. Last afternoon of the hunt a couple of does are grazing on white oak acorns very close to me. I finally eased out the Glock, loaded with 180 grain Winchester Ranger SXT's, took my time and made the shot. Doe dropped in it's tracks at 18 yards.

A .40 S&W wouldn't be a recommended round, but in this case it did the job.


(Disclaimer: The taking of does is encouraged in south Arkansas. The limit in some zones is six deer per season, two can be legal bucks.)

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The mini spot-lite is a cool trick for them late evening and early morning shootin opprtunities.



Jest joshin y'all a lit'l

Su Amigo,
Dave

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"IN GOD WE TRUST"

Last year was my first time out with a hand gun. Left the rifle at camp half the time and ended up seeing more nice buck than ever before. They musta sensed that I was a neophyte with a revolver. Finally ended up getting a doe on the second week with my model 27. This year I've acquired a nice 6" 657 and have found it to be a fine shooting partner. Using 210 grain hard cast SWC, it makes me look good at the range. Offhand, at 25 yards, I can put 6 for 6 into a 6 in circle every time. It's going out with me next week and I'm looking forward to the hunt!
John

I gave up hunting a few years ago due to health and laziness issues. I hunted with a blued 6.5" M29-2 for a good number of years. I went to a Dan Wesson SS .44 mag with an 8" vent rib barrel. I had a Tasco pistol scope with a lighted recticle mounted with a SS base that clamped to the vent rib barrel. It was very accurate and I took a few deer with it using various 240gr JHP as well as my handloads with 240gr SWC using Unique at about 1200 FPS out of the 8" barrel. I saw some .357 loads fail to make clean kills and never felt comfortable with .357 for deer hunting. I would also consider a good .45 Colt like the Ruger Blackhawk/Redhawk with some proper factory or handloads. The recoil is not bad and it is effective. I also tried a .454 Super Redhawk but didn't use it but one season.

It helps you to aim the Trijicon sites between the reflective eyes . . .

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