Hunting Forum

Ok, my duck gun hunt is over and now i'm off to find a Handgun for deer. I've been out of the hunting loop for quite awhile and am ready to start getting back on scene. Let me give you a little insight of the areas I will be hunting and probably max distances i'd be shooting.

A friend of mine owns the property which is mostly river bottom. Old trees, new trees, and some brush. I was kicking around down there with him looking for some spots to hang his deer stands so I got a pretty decent look at it. I would guess my longest shot to be a max of 60yds. Most other areas in the bottom would allow for 40 or 50 yard shots.

The second area would have to only cover maybe 25 acers. It's kinda weird because it's maybe 75yds wide and the rest is made up in length. There is powerlines to the left, and a farmer puts in crops to the right with hardwoods at the back of the property and the other side of the powerlines. Some spots you can shoot the width of her property so I would say 75yds would be max distance. I'm not saying I would take a 75yd shot shot though.

I would preferr to keep my shots 50yds or less if possible, but if a big ole boy or a fat doe showed at 75yds and my skill would allow it I would take the shot. So heres what i'm looking at.

Ruger GP100 in .357mag
Super Redhawk in .44mag
TC G2 in either caliber

I have taken one deer with a borrowed handgun in .357mag and had good results. 40 yd shot and the deer went about 60 or so yards. At the distances I will be shooting (50yds or so) will the .357 with 180 grainers do the job well enough as long as I do my part. Also what do you think about the Federal Fusion 158 grain rounds? Or do you think I should just buck up and go with the 44mag. Thanks for any help on this.

.44 Mag.

If you can shoot a 44 well that is the better choice.

357 will work but 44 will do it better. Also, if I ever buy another revolver strictly for hunting, it will be single action. I rarely shoot my Redhawk in double action.

Dale

Both will work, I have hunted deer with both calibers. But the .44 magnum hands down stops deer better. Place the bullet well and they do not run far if at all. I use a .44 magnum Ruger Redhawk with the 7-1/2 barrel and would recommend that revolver. The Super Redhawk my friend owns, (after he shot my Redhawk) and that is one smooth revolver to shoot.

Shot a few with my .357. Don't like trackin'! Ain't never had to track with my .44 Blackhawk. I don't reccomend the .357, if ya don't like trackin'!

I've killed a few with a .357, and never had to track any of them. These days I prefer my Redhawk .44 mag. with the 7 1/2" barrel. Absolutely no tracking if they're hit right!!

Ok, looks like the .44 mag has it. Who makes a good handgun scope that wont break the bank? I have a Ultra dot red dot on my Browning and love it, do you think a red dot will hold up to the recoil a .44 mag produces?

An Ampoint for sure will but there are several red-dots out there that will work. I saw a guy a couple of yrs back using a 7.5" barrel Super Redhawk topped with a BSA red-dot scope and he was doing just fine. That scope probably ran him $70-$90. My 9.5" SRH is topped with a 2x20mmEER Nikon and I like it. It is not a red-dot but is easy to see even in low light and is crystal clear. Cost me less than $200 when I got it about 12 yrs ago but that model today is up around $275 I think last I checked.

Don't forget the G2! This way you are not as limited on what caliber to use. I shot the G2 in 35 Rem and it works very well an looks good! Let's face it you not only want to shoot well but look even better doing it!!

I have and still use the .44 mag for the last 10 years and I have not lost one deer or hog as of yet. I have the Ruger Super Blackhawk customized by Gary Reeder ( http://reedercustomguns.com ) and is listed as the Kodiak Magnum on his site. It has a 7-1/2" target barrel and 5 shot cylinder for shooting the +P and +P+ ammo. It also has a Bushnell 3X9 rifle scope mounted on it and it works great and I check the zero every year before hunting seaon and I have only has to make new adjustments to it once since getting it from Mr. Reeder. I use the Hornady ammo loaded with the 300gr XTP bullets for whitetails and hogs and for anything that can eat me I use Randy Garrett's +P and +P+ ammo ( http://garrettcartridges.com ) as he only loads the .44 mag and the 45/70 and his qulaity control is great. His Hammerhead bullets are the best bulletsw available for these calibers on the market today for the +P and +P+ loads IMO. Be sure and checkout both sites that I gave the addy's for and see for yourself what is available to us handgun hunters.

Garrett cartridges is not taking orders at this time. Check the web site.

Ruger Super Blackhawk .44 Remington Magnum, 7.5 inch barrel, Mag-Na-Ported, Custom walnut target style grips, Iron sights, rear sight notch narrowed to give finer hold, trigger and all action parts stoned out baby butt smooth. 250 grain Sierra Silhouette bullets loaded over 24.5 grains of WW296 and a CCI 350 magnum primer. Carried in a nylon Uncle Mikes all weather belt holster. Nuff said.

This is my Ruger Redhawk .44 magnum with a Trophy Red Dot on it.

Because of my eyesight, I need some magnification which rules out the red dot type of sights. I have a BSA scope on my Redhawk, and it's held up very well.

Could not resist: 44 Mag. Super Red Hawk 9.5" barrel; BSA 2x20 scope; and 180 grs never gave me any problems. Have it sighted @ 60 yrds.

your Ultra Dot will hold up just fine. Mine has done well for me for a few years now. As was stated though, you do tend to lose the red dot in low light, when aiming at brown targets. I have thought about switching to the Bushnell Trophy Dot, as you then have the option of using green or red dots, depending on conditions.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

ternera1, yours looks just like mine except mine has a Nikon 2x20 on it. It is sighter in at 75 yds with my own handloads using 320 grs LBTs and I have tested it on soaked phone books at close to 300 yds and had a good 4" penetration. Awesome power of a "simple" .44 Mag. It is underestimated as today folks find it boring and want the latest and greatest super-magnums for the sole purpose of punishing themselves in hopes of looking way-cool.

It's almost identical to mine, except that I have pachmyer grips on mine.

I'll have to go check, but I was under the impression that I had a version of pachmyer grips.
Sh. & rt: being that you have almost the same setup as mine, do you agree that that combo has an excellent feel when you lift it. To me is well balanced and feels almost like an extension of my arm. I had one deer that came in about 10 yrds from my ground blind(just material around some trees) and I just picked up the 44 and opened up(without using the scope) as it run by. Hit it 3 times inside 50 yrds. and the buck dropped right there. Talking about a mess to clean up! But like always, loved every minute of it.