.357 ammo for deer?

[Bowtechian]

I have a S&W 686 .357 Magnum that I would like to carry to the woods for 40 yards & under shots. I was trying to get 180 gr. bullets to use, but I've been having a tough time finding them in stock.

What bullet weight would you consider is heavy enough to use on deer, & what brand have you had the best results with?

[MoDeer]

Dave , IMO there is not a factory loaded 357 bullet good enough to deer hunt with . Dont get me wrong , a 357 will kill a deer . The problem is that their will be no exit wound and you will have to deal with less blood on the blood trail . So if your shot is anything less than perfect you stand a good chance of losing a deer . You might want to find out if your gun will handle a hopped up reload loaded with the 180gr hornady XTPs .
 
I have shot a few deer with a 44 and 1 deer with a 41 . The one deer I shot with a 41 taught me to never shoot deer with anything less than a 44 . He was 5 yards away perfectly broadside and I was at ground level with him . When I found him I discovered that I had hit him a couple of inches behind the shoulder but the bullet did not touch the ribs on the far side . I was using factory loads but at 5 yards I expected better penatration than that .

[CB on the run]

I agree with MoDeer.  The 357 is a defensive handgun round and not intended for hunting.  If your really set on deer hunting with it, I would handload the heaviest cast bullet available as fast as I could push it and be prepared to track.  Good luck.

CB

[Bowtechian]

Thanks for your honest input guys. Not what I was hoping to hear, but it's much better to know about this instead of finding it out on my own the hard way.

[mnslayer]

.357 was developed in the early 1930s it was designed to penetrate ballistic vests and car doors in this time period. If this wont penetrate a deer we all need to give up hunting

[Chris_the_Plumber]

I bought a ruger 357 blackhawk this year and have only target shot with it so far but the reason I bought it a friend of mine carrys one and each year for the last 4 years I have personally seem him drop dear at 50 yards but his. There nice for the close range shots without having to lug all the weight or kick of a 44. He shoots 158 grain I believe and it does the job.