357 Carbine for deer?

[jonp]

I shot a 180lb whitetail with an iron sighted 357 Mag GP100, 6in barrel at 35yrds. Broke the shoulder and went through both lungs. This was using factory Remington CoreLokt 165gr hunting ammo.

Don't let anyone tell you the 357Mag is too small but be realistic with the distance. Set a reasonable one and stick to it. You should also hold out for a good shot, mine was stepping very slowly and broadside to me. If he was walking away, running etc I would not have taken the shot.

[Sigmanz]

I am of the belief that jacket bullets came about simply for speed and flatter trajectory. Not better killing power. Its been an ongoing quest to get those jacketed bullets to perform consistently. Heavy soft lead bullets work. They just have a shorter range and require more effort in hunting skills and shot placement.

[Smoke4320]

I am of the belief that jacket bullets came about simply for speed and flatter trajectory. Not better killing power. Its been an ongoing quest to get those jacketed bullets to perform consistently. Heavy soft lead bullets work. They just have a shorter range and require more effort in hunting skills and shot placement.

I would say you are correct for most situations

[vincewarde]

There are deer and then there are deer. Back in California, in the area I lived in, the blacktailed deer are typically 125lbs or so and not too much taller than a large dog. With the right bullet, I would be comfortable using a .357, a .223 or even a .30 carbine at close range. Personally, if I'm hunting 250-300lb whitetails, I am going to use something bigger.

[afish4570]

Just curious, why the jhp bullet instead of a jacketed soft point or the like? Two legged I'll go jhp every day, but a deer I want more penetration imho.

I witnessed a wounded deer being dispatched by a 4" barreled revolver loaded with 125 gr HP Remington green box. The shot was fired at a range of 2 feet into the neck. Never hit the spine and failed to penetrate completely. Deer was a nice 10 pt. probably weighed 150 lbs. I felt the slug just under the skin flattened out to the thickness and size of a nickle. I was told the 125 bullet was a great defense round not a hunting bullet.......afish4570

[Thundarstick]

If you shoot enough deer your going to have a bad outcome sooner or later no matter what your using! About the only thing i haven't killed a deer with its a rock!

[Jedman]

I have heard dozens of stories of deer that have " run " hundreds of yards to more than a mile after being double lung shot by either a bullet or a arrow with a broadheads.
I have to say they are all wrong ! Any animal that has a well placed shot through BOTH lungs has a few precious seconds to live.
I have to believe that most of these deer and other animals did not have both lungs collapsed with the shot and either there was not complete penetration, the projectile was angled through and didn't take out both lungs or for one of a possible hundred other reasons the shot did not happen as planned.

I have been involved in more than a hundred plus big game kills and the ones that you can examine when field dressing and found BOTH lungs destroyed have never traveled far.

I have had many that I thought that were " double lunged " either go quite a distance or never recovered but find that the shot didn't go as you may have sworn it did.

Jedman

[KCcactus]

2400 with a Lee 150 gr swc (with the huge meplat) in a Rossi M92 worked well for my son's first deer when he was 13. The TX doe gave him a broadside shot at 22 yds. The boolit liquefied everything between the shoulders before exiting. I was surprised by the extent of the internal damage. She ran about 30 yds before dropping. I wouldn't use it for long range, but in close, it works.

[Rainier]

I count myself some kind of lucky - all I had to kill was skinny, thinned skinned Michigan whitetail. Fortunately, an old Model 13 managed to get the job done with factory (Remington) 158gr JHP inside 25 yards. The two or three (dozen) I was lucky enough to hit with my lowly .308 barely managed 20 steps, if any at all, but again, they were just sad, raggedy, Michigan whitetails. I'm so happy I never had to go head to head with those vicious bucks that could have easily trampled me to death even after having most of their vitals blown from their bodies. Indeed, I count myself some kind of lucky.
Now that I'm out in Washington, where they have armor plated blacktails and elk that will stand up to 500 magnums not to mention cougar so large they chased away most of the armor plated blacktails - I should probably just stay indoors for fear that the local wildlife are more than any gun I have will handle.
In an attempt to answer the OP's question - the definite answer is maybe. Yes, a .357 is more then enough gun for a deer depending where you live and the distance your shooting. If your hunting non-armor plated deer, like the small, thinned skinned Michigan whitetails you are golden BUT... if your up against those vicious, armor plated, genetically engineered (the Russians hacked them) deer, then as the famous soul singer said; "There ain't no way, ain't no way..."

[CIC]

I always wanted to deer hunt with a 357 but so many Internet forums had me beleaving it was not possible to kill a deer with one. I finnaly picked up a handi rifle and found it more than adequate. Good blood trails for thoes that managed to travel any distance but all of them have fallen within less that 20-25 yards. I have used a cast and JHP. I like them both for different reasons. 158-180 grains work well powered by some Lil Gun. No need for any thing bigger for me in Indiana.

[dbarry1]

I always wanted to deer hunt with a 357 but so many Internet forums had me beleaving it was not possible to kill a deer with one. I finnaly picked up a handi rifle and found it more than adequate. Good blood trails for thoes that managed to travel any distance but all of them have fallen within less that 20-25 yards. I have used a cast and JHP. I like them both for different reasons. 158-180 grains work well powered by some Lil Gun. No need for any thing bigger for me in Indiana.

+1 on what CIC says.

[olyeller]

Once upon a time, the 357MAG was "the world's most powerful handgun."
Three have fallen to my Henry in 357MAG; first was a typical TX Hill Country whitetail doe year before last. Shot her thru and thru chest shot at about 40yds. Lung materials and pink blood at the impact site. At impact, she jumped up and kicked her hind legs then ran about 60yds and piled up. It reminded me a lot of a normal shot with a 30-30 and 150gr jacketed bullet. The 158gr Hornady XTP-HP loaded over 15.7gr of H110 broke ribs going in and out, and wounding looked like the aforementioned 30-30 load.
Fast forward to this past season; Cull buck at feeder around 60 yds out. Same load as above. Another chest shot thru and thru. Ran 50 yds and died beside the ranch road so pick up was easy.
Later this past season, doe at same feeder. My big mistake here was not checking what load was in rifle. I had been plinking with 158gr 358156 w/GC loaded in 38SPL cases to +P level. When I shot, got a heck of a sinking feeling when the little Henry said "bang" instead of "BOOM" and heard the bullet smack the doe. Luckily, she ran about 100yds straight away and fell over dead, having her aorta severed and lungs damaged. This one was a complete pass thru also, and it's true, you "can eat right up to the bullet hole" with cast lead bullets. Had more fun with these three deer than any of the other 7 I've shot in the last two years.
No blood trails in any of the three shots, but then there have been many times I've not had a trail with my 270WIN and 140gr SST's, or 243WIN and 100gr bullets. There are no guarantees blood will spurt out like a catsup bottle run over by a Mack truck each time a deer is shot. Sometimes, it all stays inside.
I wouldn't use my 270WIN to shoot deer at 800yds, or my 243WIN to shoot elk with at 200yds. Neither would I use the 357 past 100yds for deer up to about 150lbs. Not saying it can't be done, just my 2 cents.

[dverna]

I find these stories most interesting having only shot one deer. I now live in northern MI and did not realize we had such tenacious deer. None of the guys in my area use cast bullets. There is a deer camp next to me owned by a wealthy guy and I have been to his camp...they all shoot modern rifles with jacketed bullets. In the four years I have been here all the deer (about 20) fell within 30 yards or so. The locals use bows and muzzle loaders but not during rifle season. During rifle season they use .243 on up to 7mm Mag. Some of these guys have killed more deer than I have seen in my lifetime. Back in the day, they poached deer to feed their families, even killing some with a .22LR.

Sitting around the campfire, I have never heard of mortally wounded deer going far. Quite a few stories of deer found the next day but it was always due to a really poor shot. BTW, some of these folks do not "waste" ammo sighting in every year...fortunately most shots are close so it usually works for them.

Like Rainier in post 52, I will trudge along with my lowly .308 and 165 GameKings. So far one shot one kill and it dropped like a rock. I will move up to a .375 H&H if the ******** start running a 1/4 mile after a good shot. I am getting too old to track them into the swamp and carry them out.

I am a decent shot but a terrible hunter. Like most incompetent people, I hope the equipment makes up for failings as a hunter. I help the locals sight in their guns and set up their scopes for maximum point blank range...I was shocked at how many sighted in with POI as POA at 100 yards with HV rifles. The local boys are trying to teach me to hunt, and I try to teach them about ballistics so there may be hope yet!!! Maybe they just put up with me because I have a nice 100 yard range and good liquor.

[9.3X62AL]

The gods of the hunt have been very good to me over the years. They have not sent many deer my way (only 8 so far), but those they have sent went down very close to where I shot them.

I have taken one of those deer with a 357 Magnum revolver. That animal fell over within 15 yards and a few seconds' time. So I believe that a 357 Magnum carbine can harvest deer humanely. This will be the first season of my life in which I have owned a 357 Magnum carbine, and it may well get a day afield in the deer woods. If it does, I have 180 grain and 195 grain castings that can be made into Bruce B Soft Points for the deer. I have committed to using ONLY cast bullets for the two remaining deer seasons in my CA zone in which lead bullets are allowed.

[Rainier]

...I will trudge along with my lowly .308 and 165 GameKings. So far one shot one kill and it dropped like a rock. I will move up to a .375 H&H if the ******** start running a 1/4 mile after a good shot.

Mr. Verna -
A lowly .308 for Yooper deer? Really?! My heavens Sir, I’ll keep you on my prayer list - those critters are a whole nother kettle of smelt. I’m sure I heard, around one campfire or another, that the local DNR secretly genetically mutated the UP deer by crossing them with one horned pachyderm and percheron. If I may be so bold, I suggest selling both your .308 Win and .375 Ouch & Ouch and investing in the only caliber that may have a chance of keeping you alive - a 460 Weatherby Magnum.
Goodspeed,
Rainier

[M-Tecs]

I find these stories most interesting having only shot one deer. I now live in northern MI and did not realize we had such tenacious deer..

Your deer are no more tenacious than any other deer of comparable size. What is different is some of the "stories" are a just that stories. Never shot a deer with a 357 rifle but had zero issues with it in handguns. Proper bullets selection and placement works every time.

[flounderman]

I have to question why anybody would shoot a deer in the body at less than 100 yards, when they all have a neck and it doesn't make much difference what you shoot them in the neck with, you don't have to look for them, and you are not making a mess when you dress them and not ruining the meat.

[Lonegun1894]

Some of us use iron sights and a neck shot as you describe requires hitting the spinal cord, which is a small target. Also, there's some of us who aren't willing to injure an animal and have it die a slow painful death just because it jerked it's head to look at something as the shot broke. I'm sure others have different reasons, but I prefer to give an animal as quick and humane a death as I hope I will get myself when the time comes.

[smkummer]

I found some 32-40 ammo for a friend of mine and noticed the factory rating of 1440 FPS for an original loading and 1750 for a high velocity loading of its 165 grain bullet. Those specs. are similar to .357 handgun and .357 rifle velocity specs. In its day, the 32-40 while developed as a target cartridge was also a deer cartridge and I am guessing far more deer fell to the black powder loading or the 1440 FPS loading than the later 1750 FPS loading. Practice, shot placement and weapon familiarity = harvested game.

[Hamish]

I found some 32-40 ammo for a friend of mine and noticed the factory rating of 1440 FPS for an original loading and 1750 for a high velocity loading of its 165 grain bullet. Those specs. are similar to .357 handgun and .357 rifle velocity specs. In its day, the 32-40 while developed as a target cartridge was also a deer cartridge and I am guessing far more deer fell to the black powder loading or the 1440 FPS loading than the later 1750 FPS loading. Practice, shot placement and weapon familiarity = harvested game.

This subject has been argued on this board many, many times. SM has summed it up as nicely as I have ever seen. Well said sir!