I just got back from deer camp. My buddy died over last winter, and I managed to obtain his Ruger Model 44 Carbine in 44 Mag.

I tried to hunt with it as much as possible this year, and I was finally successful on Friday night.

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More pics and the full story are here:
Bob's 44 Magnum and the buck

This is the first deer I've taken with a 44 Mag rifle. Let me give you my impressions.

First off, my idea of a good whitetail chambering is 30-06. This is not a 30-06. It has very little recoil.
Second, it was more than adequate to take the buck at 80 yards. I had the sights adjusted to be just a hair high at 100 yards, and I did nothing to adjust for elevation. The bullet hit dead-on and took out both lungs and the top of the heart. It did not liquefy everything in the chest cavity like a 30-06 might, but it did do enough damage to drop the deer within 100 yards and provide an adequate blood trail. The exit wound was thumb-sized.

There was nothing more I could have asked of the round. At 80 yards, it was effective without being devastating. I had heard previously that the chambering would work about as well as a 30-30-- close-in a bit better. I would agree. If I'd shot the buck with a 30-30 instead of a 44 Mag, I would have expected about the same results.


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