I use a taurus 357 mag.

44mag and 300 blackout
some might not consider the 300 blackout very "handgunny" but it makes nice 80-100 yard shots

that is if we consider deer big game , they might just be medium game at 150-250 pounds

Deer are the big game in states where there isn't anything bigger.

I had killed so many deer with a rifle that it was no longer like hunting, it was just killing. I didn’t want to take the time to get good with a bow, plus I’m old and can’t pull a bow. I bought a Smith & Wesson 500. Killed two deer with it then sold it. Nothing wrong with the gun, I just full filled my wish to kill a deer with a handgun. I don’t hunt deer anymore. I’m too old and feeble.

Great job on the deer! Can you use a crossbow to keep deer hunting?

My son hunts with a 454 Casull and a 460 smith, scope mounted. Under 100 yards, he shoots them in the head. His goal is to kill one at 200 yards with a handgun.

About the best I can do anymore is go out and set my butt down by a tree and wait for a squirrel to come by. Occasionally I get a road kill deer and it is a chore just butchering it.

I used to run my beagles on rabbits, and that was good exercise. The beagles all died and I didn’t replace them.

It’s amazing how old age slows you down.

I killed five deer with a Contender after two rotator surgeries. Shot a few left handed from a stand.

629 S&W mountain gun. 44 mag. It knocks black bears for a loop every time.

Osky

I have 460 and 500 s&w I like 500 better use it bear hunting rifle for everything else
Sure is fun to shoot

I’ve killed a pile with various .44’s, been using. .460 smith the last 8 years or so. Need to sell that now to help cover the costs of the snake I just purchased. ….. also killed a doe once with my ruger old army in .45. Prob won’t use that one for hunting any more

Osky, that Smith mountain gun is a sweet revolver!

I don't normally hunt with a pistol, but have a few times. 58" moose, 37" Dall sheep, 350 pt. barren ground caribou, couple Sitka blacktails, couple black bears.
All under 75 yards (I'm not a very good shot with pistol)
657 Smith in .41 magnum.

Jack

Killed over 100 big game animals with a handgun.
Deer, bear , and turkey.
Longest kill was a pronghorn @ 224 yds. with an M.O.A. Corporation Maximum.
Bottom gun in attached pic.
Top gun in pic is a 330 Dakota

Antelope killed @ about 125 yds with the same M.O.A. In 454 Casull

I have shot a lot of deer in the head. Works great. I mainly quit after a friend blew the jaw off a deer when it moved its head and was not recovered. Though I have never had a single issue it got me thinking how easy it could happen so now I refrain from almost all head shots.

I had a tc encore pistol in 308 with 15" barrel. 200 was an easy shot for it. Sold it off 2 decades ago.

My next revolver will be a 454 for elk. The 357 kills just fine but I don't stretch the distance and had to let a few walk that were past 40 yards. I used my cousins 460 a day and that was a handful

Is TC still around?

357 droped deer out to 125 yards just fine for me so far. No different than the ones i have shot with a .44 mag or that 308. Put holes in important parts and they go down fast

As far as I know tc is still in business but have not had a reason to check.

My problem with the 460 isn’t the recoil, it’s the noise. I hate having to double ear protection when trying to hunt. The concussion is amongst the most impressive I’ve experienced