and Id also point out that PROPER shot placement and knowing the games anatomy is CRITICAL, I had quite a few deer run when I used a 357 mag revolver for deer hunting when I first started hunting with a revolver and at the time I felt I just needed a bigger caliber, I swapped to a 44 mag, and things improved, but after a few years I had this feeling that it was my increased skill placing shots as much as the upgrade in power, so as a test, I went back to using a 8" 357 revolver, the results proved at least to me, that the 44 mag was more effective but the proper shot placement with the 357 mag made that revolver FAR more effective than I remember it being in fact, I quickly realized that if I was a better shot , when I started hunting with a revolver, I most likely would never have swapped
now that being stated I will say that although I have 100% confidence in the 357 mags ability to kill, the 44 mag is by far the most used hand gun caliber in both pistol and carbines I own and it performs noticeably better on both hogs and deer with 260-310 grain hot handloads, with which you can produce significantly higher hitting power, Ive rarely dropped deer on the spot with a single shot from a 357 mag when I first used it,although they generally didn,t run far with good shot placement, but Ive frequently done that with the 44 mag, and yes I still have some run with good hits even with the 44 mag so its NOT a cure, its just a slightly better tool in my opinion, does it really matter if a single hit allows the animal to live 2-3 seconds longer before it drops if either caliber gets the job done?, now if the animals trying to climb into your tent to eat your butt , or get to you once wounded to seek revenge for injuries,I can see a HUGE difference but on hogs or deer, that run once hit, not so much, as the 357 mag properly loaded kills deer and hogs consistently IF you place the shot well.
