All I used for years hunting deer was a .44 magnum (Redhawk and Super Blackhawk)and occasionally a .454 Casull. Sometimes I used a 2x Leupold and sometimes irons. I would set up like I was bowhunting and have lost count of the number of deer taken but it was quite a few. I favored a heavy cast bullet in either LBT or Keith style and placed it on the shoulder. I did use XTPs a few times and placed them behind the shoulder. Both worked but Keith was correct when he said lead bullets could do it all in big handguns. There is really just not much need for jacketed bullets and for game larger or tougher than deer a heavy cast bullet is definitely the way to go. Incidently, it was my experience handgun hunting that convinced me the idea of a bullet killing by "dumping all it's energy" in an animal was pure bunk. The energy is low compared to most rifles but .45 cal. hard cast bullets tend to punch a .45 cal. hole all the way through whatever you shoot at leaving two holes to let blood out and air in and they kill right now. I tend to use a rifle more often now simply because I am less inclined to spend much time sitting in a tree. Western hunting did that. Spotting and stalking is much more fun and even when Whitetail hunting in the east I now tend to move much more than I once did and a 30-30 rifle usually seems better for that.
