Has anyone had any experiance trying to take a White tail deer with a .357 mag. ? I know a .44 or 454 or 500 will do the job. I have even considered the TC encore that shoots riffle cartriges but I just wander how effective the .357 would be or how limitted it would be?

I have killed several with a 357 Mag RBH,it may not break both shoulders but a slug thru the lungs is the same with either a 454 or 357, just take your time and pick your shots

I have seen the .357 take a Spike Bull Elk on a logging job I was on.It was the only gun in there truck.It took six rounds to finalize it ,but it got the job done at about 50 yards with jacketed bullets.Not pretty by any means,but the guy's in the truck ate Elk for a while.

Jayco.

I took a small Mulie with a 357 mag. It was one shot and he went about 40yds. As long as your not shooting 300lb monsters, then pick a good jsp or hard cast and shoot straight.

It's far from the best choice for deer, but there's no denying that many have used the .357 Magnum -- myself included -- to take whitetail deer. Except for all but the most experienced hunters/shooters, I do not advocate the hard-cast bullets in this caliber as I do in the .44s/45s simply because of the smaller frontal diameter, but anything from a 158 grain XTP to the 180 grain Nosler Partition can be counted on to do sufficient damage. The key is to pick your shots, keep the range reasonable and put the bullet where it belongs.

If you do decide on a hard-cast bullet such as the wonderful Cast Performance LBT, be sure to shoot through the onside shoulder. The secondary bone fragments will create a larger wound channel, and chances are that the deer will drop right on the spot.

I used a 110JHP. The range was 80yds. The bullet went in behind the sholder, and ended up in the off side sholder still weighing 110gns. At the shot, the deer kicked and jumped like from being hit with an arrow, then went about 40yds. I found him leaned up against a tree. I don't remember if it was both lungs and the top of the heart or just both lungs, but he sure went down quick.

I'm afflicted with magnumitis real bad, but this is the handgun I had with me at the time.

I think I remember hearing something about shot placement being more important than a huge chunck of lead in the wrong spot??

I do advocate hard cast bullets for use in the .357 Mag on deer. I use either the Lyman 358429 or the 358156 (Keith-type or Thompson designs)for shooting animals. I am by no means indiscriminate on bullet placement, but the added penetration helps considerably.

I've taken one deer - a mature whitetail doe - with a 357 magnum 10 inch Contender using a Remington 180 grain softnose hollowpoint (the scallop jacketed job they sell as a bulk bullet) handloaded over a Speer "Contender only" charge of H110. The shot was at just under 20 yards. The shot angle was more acute than I thought and the bullet took out only one lung, penetrated the paunch, and exited. She ran about 20 yards and piled up. It will do, but my 44s and 45s give me a little more confidence. FWIW I'd love to encounter the whitetail that requires a 454 or 500 to put it to sleep. Good hunting!

I'm thinking that a large hard cast bullet should work real well also.
The cast bullet board is putting through an order of Custom 180gn 357 6 cavity molds.

I made the order for 45 molds and have 43 paid for. This one is going to see lots of use in the mag, max and herrett. I have a Rossi 92 levergun also and I think with loads in the 50k range that it should make an excellet brush gun with these bullets.
If your interested in a mold email me idahobronco@aol.com I have 2 left. If they don't sell I'll just put them up on ebay. The price will be $41 shipped.

I have taken several whitetail deer with the .357 mag. The gun I use is a Colt Python with a 8 inch barrel. I used Remington factory 180 grain jacketed hollowpoints. This round has always exited the deer shot with it. Of the 6 deer I have taken only 1 has required more than 1 round and that was because of hurried 1st. shot that hit too far back, but the deer dropped to the 2nd shot that hit the spine. The other deer were hit broadside in the heart-lung area. Those deer never reacted to the hit, they just ran until they dropped. None of the deer taken went farther than about 65 to 70 yards from the hit. If you already have a .357 then practice with it and keep shots close (inside 75 yards). If you are looking to buy a new gun for whitetails then i would look at a .44 mag. It will get you more range and be more forgiving on less than desirable hits.

While many deer have been killed with the .357, I have to refer to a study done some time back. A survey was made among many handgun hunters and it was found that 50% of deer shot with the .357 were lost. Among hunters using the .44 magnum and up, there was a 100% recovery. These were with good hits, not marginal hits like gut shots.
The problem with the smaller calibers is that an expanding bullet is needed and this cuts down penetration. When heavy bone is hit, the bullet can stop. One reason for this is that the bullet is just not heavy enough to start with. With the limited velocity of handgun bullets, weight is the only answer for penetration. A heavy cast bullet with a large meplat will do more damage then a light, quick expanding one.
I started hangun hunting with the .44 and XTP bullets. I was disappointed in the results as I found the bullets in the deer. They killed because I made good hits. I wondered what would happen with quartering shots, would the bullet reach the boiler room? I switched to very heavy LBT's and will never go back to expanding bullets. I have a pile of deer with the .44, .45 and 45-70 revolvers and none has gone more the 30 yds., most drop in 30 FEET. I hit a deer with the BFR 45-70 a little too far back because of branches in the way, the deer was down in 30 yds. and the blood trail was tremendous.
I shot a deer with the 7mm-08 handgun behind the shoulder, blew lung tissue on the ground and on branches as it ran off. I trailed the blood until it quit, then tracks until they went in with other deer tracks. I never found the deer, it never stopped or layed down.
I have never lost a deer with the .44 and up so I will never go back to the small calibers unless they are fired from a rifle. I no longer like rifles because it is too easy and meat damage is severe.
If you want to use the smaller calibers, stay with shots 50 yds or less and make sure you hit a vital area. I won't bother with them because I found what works and will never change, having dropped deer in their tracks out to 100 yds. My friend dropped a deer in it's tracks at 175 yds with the 320 gr. LBT WLNGC .44 cal. What more can I say?

I killed my best buck with a 125 Hornady 125 XTP. Dropped like lightning srtuck, but took a finisher.