Anyone hunt with a 44mag, pistol or rifle?

[easysteve]

I was just curious to see if anyone here hunted with the round. Had some thoughts of getting a 44mag rifle and revolver to carry in the woods. If not, what do you guys think about it anyways???

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[sramage]

No Personal experience. Had a buddy who baited black bear and sat in a tree stand. When the bear showed up he shot it twice with his 44 mag revolver and it ran away. The man is an excelent shot.

 

[2506]

I carried a Ruger SBH for years. I made the switch about ten years ago to 45 Colt, since I can shoot a bigger bullet faster with less pressure than a 44, which translates to all the positive aspects of a large caliber handgun with less buck and roar.

 

[sramage]

a little off the topic but 25-06 best cartrige ever

 

[2506]

The single actions are all 45 Colt. The shiny, new Vaquero can't handle the stout loads, but is still plenty of medicine for anything in the woods.

 

[Taurus 617 CCW]

I'm going to try it next year. I have a Thompson Contender .44 mag with a 14" barrel. Most of the distances I encountered this last season were under 50 yards. A little overkill for a 30-06.

 

[easysteve]

Hmmmm, I'm going give the 45colt a look. Yeah, I use my 30-06 and that is the same reason I was looking into the 44mag. Thanks for the replies guys.

 

[Huntbear]

I have shot 3 deer and 1 elk with my Ruger Redhawk in .44 mag. None of them went 50 ft. The elk was shot at 60 yards, broadside. Broke both shoulders. For deer and general woods carry, I load 240 gr. XTPs. For elk, bear and such, it is 300 gr. Jacketed Soft Points from Sierra that have almost the same energy as .454 Casull.

 

[2506]

44 mag is a great round if you don't reload, I love mine. But I like to reload for the 45. A 340 gr LBT over 19 grains if H110 is serious skookum. Rugers only!!!!

 

[OPAWY]

Yes, I have hunted mule deer and whitetail with a 44mag rifle. A good round placed well, and within 150yds or so does just fine. I used the Winchester 250gr Partition Golds.

 

[munsined]

i live and hunt in the brush of the oregon coast, use a 629 classic 44 mag for deer, elk, bear, squirrel, rabbit, occasional tweety. its a fine all around.

 

[easysteve]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I was looking into the Ruger 44mag carbine, seems to be light, small and handy. Anyone here got one?

 

[tcs#1]

I have one of the original Ruger carbines always been an excellent little shooter but last year the new hornady FTX bullets made that little gun more accurate than it was ever meant to be, I use it for bear hunting the thicker parts of the coast range, another good one is the contender in a 12" handgun configuration

 

[longcolt]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I was looking into the Ruger 44mag carbine, seems to be light, small and handy. Anyone here got one?

For years is had one of the Marlin 44 mag lever rifles and was surprised and how stout it kicked, but it was very effective.

 

[Rapid1]

I have a winchester trapper 44mag I use for heavy cover blacktails. my shots have been close, longest was inside 50 yards. 1 dropped like a rock with a speer 225gr jhpswc and the other I shot with a speer 250gr fpj was still in sight when it dropped. both bullets punched clear through with the 225gr breaking both shoulders. I have also hunted with my dan wesson 6" 744 but not got a shot off. I carried it with 180gr jhp loads and they shoot very nice in the trapper also, so I will try those next time I hunt this side. I'm also hoping to hunt bear again and will probably carry one of the two with the 250gr load.

While I'm sure that the 44mag is capable of killing power at ranges longer than 100yds, using open sights coupled with the rainbow trajectory past that range make a for sure killing shot pretty difficult, for me anyway. I have no qualms about hunting with my 44s as long as the range I expect to shoot at is this side of 100yds where I can be sure to place my shot where it needs to go.

 

[eraumon]

I carry a .44mag ruger redhawk with hoge rubber grips. I load 300 gr plated rounds. I use it for wild boar hunting. I know ruger use to make a rifle that was based off of the 10/22 style action that was chambered in .44 mag. I think they called it the deerfield but I may be confused with the ruger mini 14 style action in .44 mag that was developed later and stopped production just a few years ago.
A lot of owners and hunters on the forums say that these rugers are some of the best deer hunting rifles made if you are looking to fill the meat locker and not just look rich while getting a trophy.
So it is a practical round for iron sight distances in closer. The rifles are all carbines so that is more practical for schleping around the hills and woods and packing meat out. If you are going to stay in a stand and use an ATV to pack the meat out then I would go with somthing else like an AK 47 (ha ha, JK) Rem 700 or the savage with an acutrigger in 300 win mag.
As far as a pistol for huning in the woods, as long as you are gong after somthing more than 2 pounds, the 44 mag all around can't be beat. hitting a squirrel with 1200 ft lbs would just be cruel.
I was at a gun show and picked up a used unfired redhawk for $350 in july 09 portland oregon. at that price and while reloading my own, it is very economical. I wouldn't pay more than $450 for it in perfect condition though.

 

[rodell]

I've hunted deer with as "little" as a .357, the .44 was a lot better!

One of the keys I learned about handgun hunting was to use appropriate bullets and practice at the ranges I would be comfortable shooting. If you are planning to shoot a handgun at 75 yards, be sure to practice at that distance and learn to judge that distance in the field.

Bob