Deer hunting with 44 mag

[Willie]

What it will not do is hit deer at long distance. I shot at a very large deer yesterday morning. I had been seeing mainly small deer all year so far. No range finder deer standing broadside fence post for a rest. I shot low under the deer. I waited swing around the woods and walk off the distance on the way back. 239 steps. Way to far of a shot. The deer was big enough i misjudged the distance. The bullet was low.

Other than that all the deer I have shot with mine have been one shot one kill. I have harvested about 3 a year since They changed the rules to allow PCR's and the long shot was my only miss.

They will "hit deer at long distances" if the aim is good. Not sure about enough UMPH left to get adequate penetration though. I do agree that 239 steps is too far to shoot at a deer with a .44.

My personal limit with my Ruger .44 Carbine is 150 yards. It is an older tube fed style and I dearly love it. What I like is the fact that I can go shoot it 40 or 50 times at the range and never have a sore shoulder. 4 or 5 shots with the 12 guage slug gun is about all I want. I had to sight in my Remington 870 (Illinois doesn't allow PCRs) as I had to change scopes and went through 10 shots. Brutal!

I highly recommend the .44 for anyone - including women and kids.



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[snapping turtle]

Yes it was a range misjudgment on my part 100%. Shot was very true but low. Drop was just more than i figured and I though deer was closer than what i ended up walking. Just can not see aiming above target to hit target.

I will not be going back to shotguns unless mandated.

 

[x10]

This thread has been going several days and it looks like some of the point being expressed here is

People with 357 know they don't have enough gun so they limit their shots to be ethical

People are happy with 44 mag with the accuracy and cost of ammo, plus it does the job within its intended range (like all calibers no matter what caliber) the 44 isn't majic its just a good match to Indiana deer/ ranges/ conditions

I'm surprised the 454 crowd hasn't jumped in which is a better caliber yet but gun are limited and ammo is high

slugs have had their day and its coming to end due to accuracy,ammo cost, and recoil

The 41, 458 are great cal's but gun availability and ammo cost limit them

No amount of facts will change some people's mind, they have a financial or emotional attachment to what ever they are using and you can't talk logic or sense to them, Also the work accuracy means so much different things to people your never going to get people to agree on that. I'm in the school that because you can hit a milk jug at 30 yds does not mean you are accurate enough to hunt deer but there or 1000's people who think I'm wrong,

As a hunter you need to be honest with yourself You need to know your limitations and your equipment limitations and make sure you hunt inside them. As we all know the whole world is having a problem with ethics and its my feeling that Hunters and shooters need to be a hold out and above all else know what it takes to ethically take an animal, give your game the respect they deserve and do not waste our hunting rights by leaving wounded animals in the woods, doesn't matter if its a trophy buck or a Grey squirrel

OOps I'm done, I fell off my soap box

 

[Willie]

A few on my website has put together some Indiana legal wildcats.

Posted there..

Just put together a new Indiana Legal Deer Rifle. The frame is an Encore, Scope is Burris and barrel is an MGM custom 358wssm. Should shoot 2700 fps which is basically the same as a 270.

Here is the business end of this new rifle.

He says it is - 2630fps. 2"high at 100yds=dead on @200yds, 10"low@300yds, 21"low@400yds. Basically hold on the deer from 0 to 400 and its dead.

 

[Willie]

Yes it was a range misjudgment on my part 100%. Shot was very true but low. Drop was just more than i figured and I though deer was closer than what i ended up walking. Just can not see aiming above target to hit target.

I will not be going back to shotguns unless mandated.

A friend in Montana sold me on the .44 Ruger. He said he kills elk DRT at 150 yards.

I do have to use my slug gun when I hunt Illinois..

 

[woodsie57]

Note to Willie-Last I looked,DNR reg.s only allowed rifles that use straight walled pistol ammo.

 

[Willie]

Note to Willie-Last I looked,DNR reg.s only allowed rifles that use straight walled pistol ammo.

No sir.. That "straight wall" was in the original PCR proposol, but was changed before it even got to the preliminary adoption. This gun is quite legal, I assure you.

Indiana PCR Regulation at - http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/files/fw-deerhuntguide.pdf

Firearms:

Rifles with cartridges that fire a bullet
of .357-inch diameter or larger; have a
minimum case length of 1.16 inches; and
have a maximum case length of 1.625 inches
are legal to use only during the deer firearm
season. Some cartridges legal for deer
hunting include the .357 Magnum, .38-.40
Winchester, .41 Magnum, .41 Special, .44
Magnum, .44 Special, .44-.40 Winchester,
.45 Colt, .454 Casull, .458 SOCOM, .475
Linebaugh, .480 Ruger, .50 Action Express,​

and .500 S&W.



Nothing about "straight walled" in there.

 

[woodsie57]

Willie- thanks for the correction! gonna have to give this some thought.... Better start saving up soon!

 

[JBrockman]

In the market for a 44 mag either H&R single or a lever-action. Picked up a H&R single shot recently with scope in .500 S&W at garage sale the wife and I stopped at, this is a awesome firearm and accurate has a bit of a punch but not bad!

 

[indybrad]

Here's my 44 mag. Still haven't taken anything with it though.

 

[Don]

My furthest shot with my ruger redhawk (7.5" bbl) has been about 80 yards with a hornady factory loaded 300 grn XTP. Broke both both of her front legs (bone and all) and still exited she ran about 30 yards with both legs broke and stopped when she could not jump a fence where she expired.

 

[selinoid44]

I was thinkin the same as Indy Brad except I use a Smith and Wesson 629 classic. 8 5/8" barrel with open sights. Good at 100 yds easy. Hornady xtp hand loads. I dont like scopes.