I myself have not lost one, but I was informed that some people I know, who hunts with a .44 mag lost two over the weekend with what they thought were kill shots. To me a kill shot is back of neck or top of spine. i cant stand tracking. Heck, MY boys .357 lever is three for three on bucks. All one shot and they dropped in their tracks. I personally believe, if you have the right shot placement, the deer should drop. Granted my method loses some meat, but I grind it all up and make sausage, and jerky with it.

He said he reloads, I have had great results with Rd. nose bullets, and XTP HORNADYS and the .357 I have only used Leverutions out of it.

Never lost a deer with my 44 magnum, needless to say I have only shot 3 deer my whole life. My 44 magnum has killed all three of them, even if they ran a little ways. My first doe i shot in the guts and it killed it and then my buck i shot in both lungs and it left a heck of a blood trail and killed it and then my doe this year i shot through the heart and it killed it

I mean you can easily have good shot placement and the deer won't drop. I shot my doe this year through the heart, and there was a hole through it. That's a good shot but it didn't drop until after a few yards. Now my buddy shot a doe this weekend with his 12 gauge in the neck and the deer dropped dead in it's tracks

I've lost a buck and a doe with my .44. I was a littler kid though, I think my aiming was a little off then

I have seen good bullets put a deer down with both calibers and also heard of lost game with both. Range and killing power is limited with the two magnums and trajectory is a factor if longer shots are desired. Barrel length helps get the velocity up....probably at least 300 fps faster in a rifle over a handgun.

I started out with a muzzleloader and always looked at 1000 ft lbs of energy as minimum and the 44 mag is right there. I have seen other opinions that 600 ft lbs is bare minimum which gets the hot 357 mag loads. The 44 mag rifle is adequate in power when good bullets are used and ranges are reasonable, but you're right shot placement is the key.

No.

place the shot right and you won't lose one with a .44 or .357

44mag is a good round, Just watch your shot placement, or you'll be tracking.

that can be said of any and all calibers

+1 with what trapperDave said

Three years ago I shot at a doe 135 yds , the 44 mag. hit under her and passed her , she ran to me , again a shot , at 85 yds . she dropped dead . The buck who was with her came back and I shot him dead 5 feet from her . I was happy.

I didn't deer hunt until Indiana legalized hunting them with handguns. I borrowed a S&W 629 from a friend and loaded it with 180 grain HP ammo. I shot a buck at about 10 yards and dropped it right there. After it wallered around a bit, then laid still, I started climbing out of the blown down tree I was sitting in. When I made some noise, the deer came back to life, jumped up, and ran about 50 yards across a clearing where it bedded. I sat down to give it some time, but the neighboring land owner came driving back on a logging trail to cut wood. As he drove near where the buck had bedded I saw it get up and run. When I checked where it had bedded there was lots of blood, and I thought I would be fine. I gave it an hour, then began trailing the deer, but lost it after it went about a mile and went into Sugar Creek.
I quickly learned that I did two things wrong on that deer. I used an improper bullet not designed for hunting, and I shot the buck in the shoulder, where the bullet I was using failed miserably to penetrate.
Since that time, I switched to Winchester Premium Partition Gold ammo, using a Nosler 250 grain partition bullet, when I can find them, or I hand load Hornady 240 grain XTP's that are also designed as a hunting bullet. I also shoot behind shoulders, using the same aiming point I do with my bow.
Since loosing the first deer I ever shot with a handgun in .44 Magnum many years ago, I have shot a couple dozen or more with .44 magnums and have never had one go more than 40 or 50 yards. On only a couple of occasions have I had one go down on the spot.
The 284 pound field dressed buck I heart shot this year is the largest deer I've ever shot with a .44 magnum, and was the first I've not had a complete pass through with a 240 grain XTP. Shot at 30 yards with a Marlin rifle with a 20 inch barrel, the bullet destroyed the buck's heart, and liquefied its lungs, before it came to rest under its off side hide. I was able to pop it out with my knife. The bullet had expanded perfectly and had not come apart at all. The buck went about 40 yards. A few days later I shot a doe from the same stand at 40 yards with a S&W model 29 with a four inch barrel. The bullet completely penetrated the 120 pound doe, destroying both lungs. She went about 30 yards.
I'll continue using the .44 magnum in a rifle and a handgun until I can no longer hunt.

Coyote.. very good info on your post.

The only round that I dislike and will never shoot again is a 30-30 up in Minnesota. I got rid of that Winchester model 94 and will never shoot a deer with one again. I shot a doe with that 3 times - all lungs/heart and the deer refused to die until the 3rd shot.

Bought a 30-06 and that was all she wrote. I am happy to see this post about .44 mag since I love the idea of hunting in Indiana with a Rifle instead of a shotgun.

When I initially saw this post, I thought, NO WAY can you lose a deer with a .44 and a decent placement... but as usual, I was wrong.

Anything is possible and this is why I enjoy reading these forums - a good reminder, if nothing else.

I have also recently been interested in handguns and may invest in one for hunting as well. Good post!

Seriously?

This caliber has probably put more deer on the ground than any other. For inside of 150 yds or so, this is an excellent deer caliber.

You don't need a .300 win mag to kill a deer.

This old faithful round round carries 1357 ftlbs of energy at 100 yards.

http://gundata.org/blog/post/30-30-ballistics-chart/

How far was the shot?

My kids have put the smack down on some deer with a .44mag single shot! 12 deer between my two boys all died with 1 shot. My youngest son started killing at age 7 with a .44. I have killed 8 with same gun and all were 1 shot kills. I would say its a really effective gun.

Yep.

Coyote I love the 240gr XTP. I rarely gun hunt anymore but from time to time will grab the muzzleloader or revolver and both use that exact bullet.

As for the losing of a deer, it is always one of two things: shot placement or inability or drive to track a deer.

I always encourage new or younger hunters to always try to get a veteran hunter along on a blood trail if having issues (dog after that even)...some guys though like our one neighbors are a "die in sight or have a good night" kind of guys. They simply don't track deer longer than 40 yards or so and if they don't see it they assume it lived....

Anyways...a good shot placement with a .357 or a .44 is gonna easily get the job done like trapper and coyote outlined above.

All my buddies and I jumped on the 44 band wagon. Deer needing repeated shooting and long sparce blood trails have changed our minds.
44 is a fine round for well placed broad side shots. If I want quick dispatches in real world hunting conditions, I carry my 12 gage.
44 is better for the ears and recoil.

I've had this conversation at least 5 different times on different forums... No one I know likes the 30-30 up in MN and no one I know hunts with one anymore. The deer are quite big up there.

I would rather hunt with a spear than a .30-30. I know there are a million people that disagree with me but I hunted for 2 years with one and I killed 5 deer with it. I don't like it.