You cannot rely on a 44 Special to consistently kill deer unless you hit the deer directly in the brain or the heart. You may say that you can do that, but in a real hunting situation, the chances are that you will not be that accurate. I know some people will disagree, but how many wounded deer might have gotten away from them? Deer may look dainty, but they are a lot tougher than humans. I have seen deer keep running when hit with a shot that would have dropped a man like a rag doll.

I am strongly opposed to hunting any animal with any gun that is not powerful enough to drop it in its tracks. PLEASE give up on the idea of hunting deer with pistol cartridges, except maybe heavy loads with 44 mag or above. If you want to load up 44 Special cases to high velocity, then you should get a 44 mag instead.

You are correct--"some people will disagree". Deer are successfully taken every day of every season with "pistol cartridges". If it is legal to do so where the OP plans to hunt, he should do just that--regardless of someone else's moral judgement.


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Yep......One killed a buck with a 45acp 1911 with Federal hydrahoks.......Bullet went clean through.....Deer dropped......

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S&W Accumulator

[QUOTE=cjwils;139379947]
I am strongly opposed to hunting any animal with any gun that is not powerful enough to drop it in its tracks.

I guess you do not hunt. I am opposed to poor marksmanship VS caliber.
I know of no hand held weapon except maybe ( a barrett 50 BMG ) that will drop a deer in it's "tracks", 100% of the time with a perfect heart/lung shot. All the deer I have taken with my 629 were during real "hunting situations" and were heart/lung shots all were recovered and my accuracy did not fail because I was hunting, my focus was sharper than on paper. So the OP's 44 spl loads are on the light side, if the OP places the shot properly, ( heart/lung) I would believe he would have a good supply of venison. Be Safe,

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I BACK OUR BLUE

Right where I am is a handgun/shotgun only deer zone.
While I normally would be carrying an O/U with slugs, I have no doubt the backup, crossdraw, 44spl will do the job if I do mine.
The deer down here are not the deep woods monsters they look for up north with rifles.
I basically carry that same gun for deer, turkeys, geese and pheasants
which are all plentiful around here thanks to careful husbandry and smart farmers.
I bought my first revolver with hunting in mind.
It is a 7.5" Redhawk and has killed every deer I have hit.
35 yards is my basic maximum range as I use open sights.
I was also 30+ years younger then
My standard load for it is now 18-19 grains of 2400 under a Cast Perf. 260 WFNGC.
As a backup though it's pretty massive and I prefer the 696 for easy carrying.
I think of it as a black powder equivalent in terms of power.
And it is the magnum version of the 44 Russian.
Getting old changes some of one's options.

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NEMO
"Everything 44"

Thanks for all the comments - it sounds like I would be best served to use my 44 Special loads for target practice and either load up or purchase some factory 44 magnum loads with 240 grain HP bullets.