Assuming a person was accurate and using some quality ammunition, would a .357 magnum be an ethical choice for close range (read 50 yards or so) Eastern whitetail deer?    This would be with a 6"+ barrel and using something like Underwood, Buffalo Bore or Double Tap factory ammunition.

Ethical?   The round will do it's job if you do yours.

heck yes its OK

Killed a whitetail DRT once with a 8" Dan Wesson in .357.  I think it is fine within the range of the cartridge.

Absolutely!

I've killed deer with a .357 686 and a 357 handi rifle, all under 20 yards.

as much as I love the cartridge, I was not happy with the difference in expected results and real life results. all the deer died clean, but ran more than I expected and showed little reaction to the shot. ( blood trail was skimpy as well). am I confident in killing a deer with it, sure! but I would rather not.

I ended up with a 629 .44 and a Thompson Contender
a much better choice.

Just do not use a light bullet.

.45 works well too.

If a bow is ethical then a heavy pistol is. All day long.

I've been out with a model 27 with an 8 3/8" barrel

I carry my 629 44 mag with me when I hunt.  I am dying to use it but when the damn deer show up I always whack em with my rifle/slug gun/ML and they die after the 1st shot.  What I lack is the patience to wait for them to get into pistol range, which for me would be best at 20 feet  

I'm usually so frustrated at deer for being JUST out of bow range for all of bow season, when it's time to make the thundersticks roar, I shoot as soon as I can.  At least I get a workout carrying that damn gun all over the place.

Good information.  Do you remember what bullet was in the load you used?

Killed a small buck with a 357 Blackhawk many years ago.   One shot and that was it.  Know your weapon and its effective range.

686 with VR and 6 " barrel , used it many times and often preferred it to shotguns. I used a 158grn HP that was back in the late 90's and early 2000 when I had it. Never an issue and I was dropping big deer at 40 + yards with it.

i shot a big midwestern buck with a 6" 586 a few years ago

home-brew 167gr SWC gas check with a max load of H-110 magnum powder

walked right to my stand

shot him at close range, about 15 yards

i was not impressed...niether was the deer

he ran forever

maybe i should have used a JHP instead


i went back to a 240gr 44magnum

My one and only handgun deer kill is with a 6" model 66 357 magnum.  I used factory loaded 158gr JSP ammo and killed a small to medium sized Indiana Whitetail.  Single shot broadside and took out both lungs and missed the top of the heart.  Deer ran maybe 50yds before it died.  It killed it just as fast as the 12ga slugs did hitting the same area.  The shot was estimated to be 50yds at the furthest.  

If I were living in IN still I would hunt with a handgun and 357 would be in my choices.  I prefer the 45 Colt but would not be afraid to use the 357 Mag again.

158 gr XTP

I now have some Federal Hardcasts that load in a 66 for my son to carry in his backpack. I wished I would have had those back then when I shot mine.

I am a 357 shooter. I love the guns and cartridge.  I even carry a 4 inch 66 sometimes in the winter as my CCW.  but there are far better options for hunting with a handgun.

41 mag
45LC
44 mag

I will admit that I have been shocked at the lack of visible reaction to the hits from a 357 handi rifle that my son was shooting deer with and my 686. after seeing 2 hits from a handi rifle at less than 15 yards that were legit kills shots but I didn't like how the deer ran off ( both were recovered) I went and bought him a 7mm-08 Howa Youth.

night and day difference as you would expect.

I know a lot of men use a 357 for deer, but its for experienced hunters, trackers and shooters. very little room for error and you have to wait for the right shot at the right deer.

true story.
one day BP hunting I was in a stand and noticed a big bobcat trailing up the dragline I was dragging going into my stand. it was a big assed bobcat. when I got around 50 yards it perched up on a big rock. I shot it one handed with the 686 and watched it tumble backwards out of view. no sound.. out of it. I decided to pick it up on the way out  and went over behind the rock and the damn thing tried to attack me. it was far from dead with a shot to the chest. I gave it another one in order to calm it down a notch. I just knew that thing was dead and could not believe that a 357 to the chest didn't kill it outright.

looking back I think most of the bullet energy was expended after exiting the cat. had it been a mtn lion, I imagine the damage would have been greater and a dead mtn lion.

pretty much it.
I look at pistol hunting like bowhunting. you have to know a lot more about the tool, the animal and the followup than just smoking a deer with a 30-06.
handgun bullets have come along way. a 180 gr silhouette solid or hardcast would be much better than the JHP.

stay away from the Leverevolution bullets for handguns, hell even for rifles for that matter.

My only deer kill with a handgun was with my 1911 using 230gr Win 1911 HP’s.   My first shot was about a hundred yards from him with my AR10 308, shot high. I nicked the backbone just aft of shoulder.  The deer went down in a dip in the field I was hunting, I couldn’t see hem.   Left my rifle in the stand and started walking over to where the deer went down.   Got about hundred and fifty feet from deer.   Deer started to kick one of his back feet, I started to run toward deer.   Deer jumped up and started to run.   I had my 1911 on my side, drew 1911.   First shot with 1911 hit deer at base of right antler, knocked antler off.   Now deer has a good headack, took another shot this time slug made contact with back of head.   Deer went down in a ball.  End of story.  

Wolf

My experience with .357:  don't use Remington 165 grain corelokt.  Use 180 hard cast wide flat nose.  Think of a .357 handgun like a loud bow.

I hunted once with a woman that dropped a doe that went under the tree stand we were in with a 6" Taurus .357.  I don't know what load she was using but this was so long ago there WAS no Buffalo Bore or Doubletap. Doe didn't know the diff, she was just DRT.

I've shot 2 does with the .357 magnum,both at about the 50-60 yard distant.First was with 158 grain hydroshock,it ran about 50 yards,second was with
180 grain Winchester partition gold and dropped it in it's tracks,both ran less than the one I shot through the heart with a .308.

the 180 gr bullets is what I would shoot, if I ever had to shoot another with a .357, I think that could be a key change for me.

I've shot three deer and a hog with a 4" 357 magnum, using 158 gr. Xtps.

After comparing the results of these with those of my 4" 44 magnum, there is no comparison.  

The 44 mag simply delivers much cleaner kills with minimal tracking.

Too bad they dropped the 180gr Partition Gold.



 

You might find this interesting.

http://www.guns.com/2015/10/07/is-the-357-magnum-enough-for-deer-hunting/

The other thing that has made people question it is the use of the lighter 110 & 125gr bullets. Something else the Marshall & Sanow bullshit has done for us. Penetration is borderline on humans and deer just makes it worse. Use enough bullet in the cartridge.





 

Interesting read and thanks for the link.

I've been following this thread (thanks for all the responses), and my conclusion is when I decide (or, more accurately, when I have the extra cash) to try my hand at handgun hunting, I think I'll be using a .44 magnum or a .45LC.  

I don't doubt that with a hot load, a heavy bullet and proper shot placement a .357 would do the job, but for myself I believe I'll go with something bigger, if at least for the sake of confidence.

A deer and a human are about the same weight, and pistols suck at killing people.... Yes the deer will usually eventually die, but it might take a while. Unless you bit the DNS or the heart itself, pistol bullets usually kill by bleeding out.  That can take a while.  My go to weapon is a muzzleloader in restricted areas. Good range, I have a good scope, and .50 cal holes tend to put the hurt on them.

I am a huge BP shooter and tell all my friends that have moved to Non Rifle States to leave the slug guns  at home and take their inlines instead.

At "50 yards or so" YES.  Just, don't be tempted to take a 150 yard shot at the buck that is too great to let get away.

even if you live in a rifle state, there are usually a lot of shotgun or muzzleloading areas, and those areas tend to have big deer. I honestly kill more deer within 3/8 mile of my town hall than anywhere else.