There is no way a .357 mag will take a whitetail.

[GodGuns&Guitars]

I"ve shot quite a few Arkansas whitetails with a 357mag. Then converted up to the 44 mag for a few years, then tried it with a 1911 in 45acp. If you know what you are doing, it is possible and a lot more fun and challenging than shooting one with a scoped rifle while he/she eats corn under a feeder.

 

[TehK1w1]

I saw a deer that was killed with a single heart shot from a 9mm luger a while back.
If a 357 mag is so deadly on humans, why would it not be considered enough for deer, which are as a general rule smaller(around here) and wear less clothing

 

[RDA 226sig]

My uncle has a "trophy" ten point he claimes he took with a 22lr revolver many, many years ago. It was a Key deer so you can discount for size as you desire but it is more a matter of shot placement than choice of weapons. While I don't recommend a 22lr revolver to hunt deer I certainly think a well placed shot from a 357 magnum will do fine.

Having said that, I will stick with my 454 because I like the noise.

 

[buck460XVR]

I had killed several deer with my 686 before I started to lurk on these gun forums and read how undergunned I was. But then, I still use a recurve instead of a compound also. A tool is only as good as the hands that use it.

 

[RE-15]

any cal. will work with correct shot placement and range consideration. 9mm has taken two medium doe for me. Both shots had exit holes that provided the nessasary blood loss to die. At 15 to 20 yd. what more do you need? I've used .44 mag, 9mm, .357 and 100gr. muzzy's at close range with the same result.... a dead deer.

 

[JohnKSa]

A friend of mine who passed away a few years ago used to hunt with a .357Mag levergun when he was in very wooded areas. The first time he used it, he reported to me that he was surprised at how well it worked.

 

[blackops]

I shot him out of a tree stand at under 50 feet. IMO pistol hunting is more like bow hunting... it's all about patience and shot placement.

Pistol hunting is nothing like bow hunting, as a matter of fact some of the earliest arrow heads ever found have been identified to be around 60,000 years old. IMO sitting in a tree stand and shooting a deer with any kind of firearm is about as challenging as feeding candy to a 5 year old.

 

[Art Eatman]

blackops, sounds like you never had a five-year-old kid. While I have stalked to within ten feet of an unsuspecting buck, in general it's the case that with short-range weapons, an ambush is the most effective method.

Per the archaeologists, the bow did not get invented in North America until around 1600 BC or later. Prior to that, it was spears and atlatls. Few actual arrow heads are more than an inch to 1.5 inches long. Anything longer (and thus heavier) is a dart or spear point.

 

[JShirley]

Didn't Elmer Kieth shoot African big game with a pre-model 27? (And a russian spy sattelite with a .44 special?)

Steveracer for the win.

Anything that can put a hole all the way through a deer will work just fine. A lot comes down to skill level: something that may work fine for an expert hunter may not be well advised for a neophyte. Years ago in Alabama, we hunted with some very skilled hunters that favored the .222!

John

 

[jbkebert]

I shot a large doe last year with a .357. I used a Fiocci factory load that was topped with a 158 gr XTP. I had to follow up with two more shots to finish the job. First shot was taken at around 12 yards and was a solid neck shot. The recovered bullet which I still have barley expanded. I really don't have alot of faith in the .357 mag for deer hunting anymore.

 

[scythefwd]

jbkebert, That neckshot... did it hit the spine? IF it didn't, then shot placement was to blame on that instead of the bullet or the caliber. Where were your other two shots? A good heart, heart/lung, or double lung shot will put the deer down just as effectively as a rifle but you might have to do some tracking. Then again, I have seen deer go off after a 30-06 took out both lungs as well so there is always a chance you will need to track.

 

[jbkebert]

My first shot did miss the spine and its my own fault for not providing a quick kill. THe other shots where lung and heart the second shot sealed the deal the third just to end it quickly. I am not blaming my poor shot on the .357 be any means. As solid as a deer neck is muscle wise that bullet should of shown more expansion. It did not shoot to low and just hit throat the wound channle was small with I would say little damage to surrounding tissue. The XTP is a great bullet so I am told. Maybe I need to find a diffrent load.

So no the .357 is not to blame for me missing my mark. However I was not impressed with bullet performance and or tissue damge.

 

[BBQLS1]

No reason it wouldn't be good on whitetail with a good bullet.

 

[Ben Shepherd]

Jbkebert: The shot most advised with a hangun round is to use a tough slug(like the XTP) broadside through the shoulder and into the boiler room. It takes a tough slug to get through the shoulder and into the vitals. But as you noted, it doesn't blow the meat all to kingdom come on the way in, and it usually expands well while passing through the shoulder hitting the boiler room opened up.

If it's a tough enough slug(personally I use HCSWCs from Oregon trail or cast performance) it will most times continue through the off side shoulder as well. This generally anchors the animal.

If I were to purposefully try a neck shot(not advisable), I'd choose a slug that expands more readily(like a Remington 180JHP), and at that point avoid a shoulder shot due to possible lack of penetration.

EDIT: Fiocchi loads hot, so that round should have plenty of steam behind it, just put it in a little better spot next time.

 

[hardluk1]

I have used a DW 357 with a 8" barrel and red dot for 33 years ,on and off for hunting deer but have killed many hogs with it. I use heavy bullets, 160 and up to 180. Hogs get 180 gr hardcast. and deer get barns from federal or Buffalo bore's heavy hot loads. This gun will shoot 3" groups at hundred yards and will kill out to that range but darn I need a great rest beyound 30 yards anymore.

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Pistol hunting is nothing like bow hunting

Yes, actually, for all practical intents and purposes, it has many similarities.

as a matter of fact some of the earliest arrow heads ever found have been identified to be around 60,000 years old.

So what? What's that got to do with anything? It doesn't change the fact that the effective range of a bow and a handgun are roughly the same - well at least a defensive-style handgun (not an encore/striker/xp100). And when the range is the same, the non-shooting skill (woodsmanship skill) need to also be equal.

IMO sitting in a tree stand and shooting a deer with any kind of firearm is about as challenging as feeding candy to a 5 year old.

And which one of these things have you done?
-Shooting a deer with a rifle?
-Shooting a deer with a handgun?
-Shooting a deer with a bow?


I can tell you that shooting one with a bow IS a *little* more challenging than a handgun because you have to move your body to draw. But it's still a lot harder than shooting one with a rifle, treestand or not. And shooting one with a rifle is by no means easy, tree stand or not. I would even submit that the difference in additional woodsmanship skill needed between to go from a rifle to a defensive handgun is greater than the difference in skill needed to go from a handgun to a bow (albeit not by much).

My 5 year old nephew will take candy EVERY time I give it to him (well, ok, he's 6 now).

But I and many other people do NOT get a deer every time they step in the woods with a license and a firearm to TRY to do this; not even close. So the fact is that you're wrong.

And by the way, Indians got into trees too, to hunt deer - this is not anything new.

 

[ColeK]

Of course you can kill deer with a .357 Mag and I might add it can be done with a .38 Special. I've killed them with both.
All you got to do is use good bullets and limit your range.
But I prefer a .44 Special.

 

[glockgod]

It's a good thing my grandparents didn't know a .22 wouldn't kill a hog or beef or they'd a starved to death!! It aint about caliber-it's about range and shot placement!

 

[sbdunc12]

I find this discussion interesting. I have never really considered the minimum caliber for whitetail. I have always carried my 9mm and have killed two cull bucks with it from 20 and 35 yards. It is not my first choice of hunting weapon, but it was on hand at the right time. Both deer dropped right where they stood with cheap ball ammo.

 

[BlayGlock]

There is plenty of good discussion. I was lamenting some of the stupid comments that one runs across on hunting forums. Here is a forum where the 2nd poster says that a .44 mag is the minimum for anything over groundhogs.

http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=284518

 

[azyogi]

I figure if you can kill it with a bow it can be killed with the lowly [ for the sarcasm impaired this is sarcasm] .357. Hey didn't Fred Bear kill both a polar bear and an elephant with a bow. Question is how long does it get to step/chew on you before it dies. Maybe the ones that say I wouldn't use a .357 for that know what kind of a marksman would be involved. For the record Fred's Elephant took 3 steps and went to it's knees. The polar Bear went 5 steps.

 

[schlockinz]

About to say, the damage that a bow does is completely different than what a fire arm does.

Longest I've had a deer run on a bow shot was 20 yds, and that was because of a poor shot placement. I've had double lunged rifle shots go much farther than that.

 

[HB]

About to say, the damage that a bow does is completely different than what a fire arm does.

Well, a rifle and a bow at least. I'd say handguns and bows kill by poking a big enough hole to let blood out. Rifles tend to turn organs to mush.

HB

 

[rhoggman]

Longest I've had a deer run on a bow shot was 20 yds, and that was because of a poor shot placement. I've had double lunged rifle shots go much farther than that.

I just arrowed a small doe yesterday w/ a rage 3 blade broad head. Had complete pass through, hit both lungs, and cut through the wall of the heart.

She ran 65 yards.

I'm not sure what you are doing that is so magical, but I would like to know. I'm tired of blowing through the heart and the lungs and not getting 20 yard lay downs.

 

[BADUNAME37]

I say if the deer is going to BOLT (run as fast as it can), then unless you hit the brain or the spinal cord, the deer will RUN, even without a heart!
Yes, it will collapse when the brain stops working with the blood removed, but that could be a distance away, as deer RUN FAST, in fact they run VERY FAST!

In several seconds (count five seconds) and picture a deer running through the woods. There, 65 yards, easily!

Now, if the deer was just going to stand there wondering what that noise was all about, then in four to five seconds it will drop where you shot it!

I blew the heart out of a coyote on two occasions. Fist-size hole where the heart was. Both times the coyotes turned and ran. One ran about 70 feet, the other one about 20 feet. Both completely without a heart.