I spent half my law enforcement career carrying a .38 Special, and half of that time resenting the fact that we were required to carry 158 gr. RNL as duty loads. Finally they allowed +P JHP's and eventually we went to .40 S&W Sigs.
Now that I am old, I just love the .38 Special and think that the old 158 gr. RNL is just the perfect thing to shoot out of one. Must be a nostalgia thing. I have also thought of shooting a deer with it, just for old time's sake. I would shoot a nice doe behind the shoulder from 25 or 30 yards away, and I'll bet I would be cutting up a deer that evening.
It wouldn't be an ideal gun and cartridge combo for deer, but it would kill one as humanely as an arrow, if you put it in the right place. I would treat that .38 as if it were a bow, and go kill a deer.
As humanely as an arrow? A 158 gr. .38 Special lead round nose. You don't bowhunt, do you?
Yup, and I was a game warden and probably killed 100 deer with a .38 during my career. The bullets do not bounce off. The last deer I shot with my crossbow ran about 70 yards after a double lung hit with a Rage broadhead. I would expect a deer well hit with a .38 to be dead within 100 yards.
Saw quite a few deer taken with .22 LR as well. Neither the .22 nor the .38 are ideal, but they do kill deer if you hit them right.
When you get to animals bigger than deer, the equation tilts much more towards the bow.
