Nothing wrong with 7.5" barrels on revolvers. If one is serious about hunting with them using iron sights, they greatly help with aiming and one can zero the sights on them for long range.

I have Redhawks and Super Redhawks in pretty much all the calibers they've been chambered for.

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From the top, left to right:

.480 Ruger, .454 Casull
.45 Colt, .44 Magnum
.41 Magnum, .357 Magnum

For short range deer hunting in heavy timber, I prefer a large revolver to a rifle. I also don't have any physical problems toting one of these on my hip all day. Been doing it afield since I bought my first one, in .41 Magnum, in 1989. I have a well-worn Triple K thumb break holster that works great.

My best deer load in .44 Magnum is a 300 grain hard cast SWC at about 1,200 fps.

My favorite deer load overall is a 415 grain hard cast SWC gas check in the .480 at about 1,080 fps. Recoil is stout, but much more manageable than full house .454 loads.