Anyone ever deer hunt with 4 inch 357?

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Varminterror said:
I started hunting with revolvers almost 30 years ago. My eyes started going bad in my early teens, and have been on a downward spiral since. Iron sights aren’t my friend, but it really doesn’t matter whether I use a 10” barrel or a 1 7/8” barrel, iron sights suck for me.

Red dots and scopes - life is grand (tolerating the bug splatter shape of my red dots, naturally).
Click to expand...

Sorry for you eye problems. I never had to deal with any until my early fifties when my arms became too short for me to read the newspaper. They degraded pretty quicky after that and I became a fan of my handguns with 8" barrels and reading glasses. Scopes on pistols and I just don't get along and I suspect having essential tremors has something to do with that. Red dot's had become fuzzy dots but with cataract removal recently they are sharp again and with no magnification they are much less a problem than a scope. I just can't shoot worth a damn anymore---with anything, but I'm going to keep on keeping on. Now being over half way thru my nineth decade might be a factor in my problems.
 
While the .357 is a capable cartridge I never considered it to be my go to deer pistol. I have instead used a 4" M25-5 Smith in .45 colt on numerous occasions and never found it lacking.
 
I’ve taken deer and a pig with 4” .357’s.
Two deer with a S&W 686, a pig and deer with a 4” Ruger Sec-6.
Shots were 40yds and under.
Not to mention several put down road hits with a S&W Model 65 4”

Either a 158gr JHP or JSP, or a Lee 165gr LSWC-GC .
Most were heart lung pass through with a Lee SWC-GC recovered from a 140lb pig.

Shot placement! X3!
 
I had a S&W 586 that was a 4 inch gun.I killed one deer with it and I finished one off that was crippled by an arrow.The deer was laying in a hayfield and appeared to be dead but when I kicked him in the butt he took off like nothing was wrong.I had the pistol out and ready,so I put 6 in him double action and he ran another 50 yards after the sixth shot and piled up.I have a 4 5/8 Blackhawk in 357 now,but I don't think I'll try to kill a deer with it.I would have to say the 357 in a short barrel gun like that is the bare minimum for the deer around here.I'm going to try my 10MM this year,but only if I can line up a good shot.I have a little Marlin 1894CP in 357 and with 180 grain Nosler Partitions,it's great out to 100 yards,but a 16 inch barrel will make a lot more steam than a 4 inch.
 
WVRJ said:
I had a S&W 586 that was a 4 inch gun.I killed one deer with it and I finished one off that was crippled by an arrow.The deer was laying in a hayfield and appeared to be dead but when I kicked him in the butt he took off like nothing was wrong.I had the pistol out and ready,so I put 6 in him double action and he ran another 50 yards after the sixth shot and piled up.I have a 4 5/8 Blackhawk in 357 now,but I don't think I'll try to kill a deer with it.I would have to say the 357 in a short barrel gun like that is the bare minimum for the deer around here.I'm going to try my 10MM this year,but only if I can line up a good shot.I have a little Marlin 1894CP in 357 and with 180 grain Nosler Partitions,it's great out to 100 yards,but a 16 inch barrel will make a lot more steam than a 4 inch.
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6 shots after an arrow and he still ran? One tough ungulate.
 
I’ll take it a step further. Many (I’m not admitting how many) decades ago when it was legal my favorite deer (and turkey) gun was a .22wmr over 20 gauge. One shot between ear and eye from either barrel dropped them drt.
It’s more about stalking close enough and competence placing your shot and knowledge of anatomy than the power of the firearm.
Hundreds if not thousands of Caribou are harvested every year with .22lr. There are threads about it on this forum.
If I were to attempt deer with .357 I think I would use a soft cast monolithic projectile
 
125 grain is not a good choice....I would go
158 or 180 grain for better penetration
 
I've killed a lot of small game with various 4" and under 357s and I've killed quite a few deer, watched even more harvested.
I've seen a few double lung shots with rifles that traveled quite a distance so I'd want to be reasonably sure I could hit the heart or head.
 
I have a 4" sp101 in 357 mag and even though I have not hunted with it, I would be comfortable hunting with it out to 50 yards or so. I don't hunt with it because I have 2, 44 mags and a 460 s&w
 
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