Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles .44 mag carbines and big deer?

IMO, there are no universal "best" rifle/cartridge combinations for hunting deer and elk in North America.

A golfer doesn't expect to play 18-holes with 1 club and a serious hunter shouldn't expect to hunt all wildlife habitats with 1 rifle.

When I still-hunt tight cover where shots come quickly and are mostly measured in dozens of yards, I prefer to carry a cut-down Winchester 100 in 308 for deer or a Remington 760 in 270 for elk.

When I over-watch over areas where shots are mostly measured in hundreds of yards, I prefer to carry a bolt action rifle that has proven to shoot MOA or better.

Why would you recommend that your buddy who was equipped with a short range rifle/cartridge combination take an over-watch stand unless you wanted to see him fail?

I've shot a bunch of deer from 15 yards - 100 yards with my Ruger Deerfield. Hornady 240 gr XTP's have been perfect so far. No tracking has been required, they hit like Thor's hammer.

A friend back in Ontario has had one of those original .44 mag semi auto carbines since 1968 or so.

He only uses factory ammo, Norma is most accurate in his rifle.

He is one of those guys that simply can't sit still on a pass, so he is always moving: thus, most of his shots are fast and under 50 yards.

He has killed about 20 deer and 3 moose with the little rifle.

John

I have killed elk with one so I figure any deer would be easy ,no matter how big they are.

My mentor taught me quite a bit
And I believe most was right on

But he poisoned my mind on deer hunting with a 44
Most experiences here fly in the face of his experiences

Sounds like many here have had much better results with 44s

One thing I wonder if he helped do a lot of tracking from family members with poor shot placement

Maybe?

Makes me want to try it and find out for my self but I sit on the edge of a field a lot so I personally need that gun that can shoot close but also reach out that was previously mentioned


If I could only harvest 50 a year I would know so much more
Hank

Understood. The feud edges I might shoot over are generally pretty short. Still, there are Swamps and rarely bottoms to be shot over. I find .308 to be more effective for that. But bumping around In the timber, still-hunting, tracking in snow; how far is the shot gonna be? 50 yards? Really even that?

What did your mentor learn you on it? I would not have asked if I was not open to listening...

Having personality seen what my son has done to some pretty decent sized pigs with his Marlin .44 Mag, there is not a deer on the planet I would hesitate to shoot with one.

John

Good to know, thanks. Because that would be another purpose-minded task I did not mention. Have a close friend inTX who has been able to buy himself a nice, smallish property in Franklin. Hog clearance is at the top of the list. Sounds appropriate and fun to me.

I think my point was he felt like he did a lot of tracking of people that shot 44 Magnum during deer season. He was not necessarily a big gun guy because when they made the 223 legal here with Barnes Bullets he was deadly. He just felt like he did a lot of unnecessary tracking with Wounded deer in 44mags. But as I read the comments on this post with great interest that is not everybody else's experience it seems some people are very happy with the 44 Magnum. So again it may be people taking potshots at distances they should not or not well-placed shots the tainted his view. Most information that he handed down to me I found to be very valuable but I also as someone who likes to try my own stuff too and at times I find my results could be a little different but I still value his Insight very much God bless him.

I think with quite a few of the long time campfire members SSB had pretty good credibility

Hank.

But as I said in a previous post killing a deer or two a year ain't never going to make me an expert. So I have to rely on what I've seen first-hand which is limited but then also learn from credible sources and when you couple that all together I think it's a good way to expand your knowledge. But nothing teaches you like first-hand experience
Hank

+1 on the Hornady 240gr. XTP's, I'd limit my shots to 100-150yds. especially on big whitetails.

I've been on more tracking parties for 30-06 shot deer at my camp than 243 victims.

If you can deal with only having one shot, the Henry Single Shot is handy at 37.5" and under 7lbs, has a 1-20" twist 22" barrel, and will "feed" anything that will fit in the chamber. Under $400. Might be hard to find a blued one, most appear to be the brassy Pimp Special model.

To scope it you need the base and a hammer spur extension, both available from Henry. A lighter trigger spring may also be in order. I know a guy (me) who'll sell you one at cost.

My .44 is a Browning Low Wall; 24" 1-20 twist barrel, tang and barrel sights. Haven't had it d&t for a scope yet, and now the Henry can be purchased for about the cost of the mounts and labor without futzing up the collector value, so likely won't. Hasn't gone afield yet, but doe season is coming up.

Pretty late to be thinking about a new rifle; not that I haven't done the same.

Lung-shot deer, in my experience, hump up at the shot and run off. Usually not far, but rarely DRT.



P

I wouldn't hesitate to shoot the biggest deer that ever walked with a 44 carbine - as long as the distance was within 100 yards. Most 44 Mag bullets are about as aerodynamic as tuna cans and trajectory and velocity suffer much past that.

Exactly the opposite at my deer camps, the 243 is responsible for far more tracking issues than all others combined including the 223. I think the problem is the guys use them as real deer rifles instead of stunt shooters.

I'm having computer problems, and can't get this link to work, so maybe someone will link it here. Google the story of legendary Kentucky whitetail Big Red. The buck was killed in neighboring Todd County in 1964, and was at one time the whitetail with the greatest antler spread, of 34 1/2 inches. I knew the man who owned the farm he was killed on, as well as some other hunters who were also hunting the buck. Also, I happened to meet the hunting companion of the man who killed the deer. The hunter was using then then new Ruger 44 Carbine, and fired 14 shots that day. He hit the deer numerous times. The original story was in Outdoor Life magazine, which I had the copy at one time, and not a word was mentioned about how many shots were fired. I was told by what I considered a very reliable source, that either Remington, which was the ammo he used, or Ruger, paid the hunter not to mention that he fired 14 shots.

Why would they pay him not to reveal he was a poor aim?

One thing to remember is that the 44 mag is a whole different animal in a carbine than it is in a revolver in which it is most familiar to most hunters. For example, average, white box Win 240-gr loads that leave my Smith 329 4” at 1200 fps exit my Marlin 94 at 1750 fps, a whole 500+ fps increase.

44 Mag Buffalo Bore Deer Grenades do even better at 1950 fps. They are loaded hotter, as they say, ~ 1500 fps from a revolver. And that’s not to mention other BB or Grizzly ammo loads, not to mention hand-loads if your carbine shoots them well. And we make a great distinction between a180 30-06 and that from a 300 Win Mag, a difference of maybe ~ 200 fps +/-.

So, yeah, for a woods’ deer cartridge, and paying attention to your bullet, the 44 mag out of any carbine, is really a very good choice and not at all a barely sufficient one assuming correct placement per usual. Compare for instance to the new Win 350 Legend load which gives a 150/180-gr bullet 2300/2100 +/- fps. And it was created primarily for deer/hogs. It’s basically just 357 Mag “Long”. Not that there is anything wrong with that.