Biggest game you would hunt with a .44 Magnum Rifle?

When my father was younger (ie a hundred years ago when I was a little boy), he and his uncles had a hunting camp. One of the more successful hunters was not a blood relative, but a good man who'd married into the clan. His Eastern woods deer rifle was a Ruger .44 Mag semi-auto. I think he dropped 2-3 bucks and a medium sized black bear with it.
 
Anything on this continent
Not sure I would hunt the big 5 overseas but I have killed everything except bison, goat, and caribou with mine
Everything died quickly.
Shot probably 15 cows over the years as well
 
leeelmer said:
Anything on this continent
Not sure I would hunt the big 5 overseas but I have killed everything except bison, goat, and caribou with mine
Everything died quickly.
Shot probably 15 cows over the years as well
Click to expand...

Oh wow awesome! From what distances? What distance have you successfully hunted Moose/Elk?
 
I'd have no problem taking a moose with one within a hundred yards or so. Pick a bullet that penetrates well because that's going to be what does your killing for you with this cartridge.
 
At the proper range, and bullet placement, I don't think the 44 will be a detriment.

While I haven't shot anything with the 44 yet, I have carried it a few times after bear. Plus seeing how close I was to and elk, and a moose this year I think the 44 would have been fine. While I was carrying my 444 at the time, the 44 could have taken the game. Both were not legal to shoot, but you get a great perspective of how close you can get. My first year elk hunting, and I had a 5x5 at 35 yards. I stopped the moose advancing at 65 yrds because I had no larger trees to hide behind if he decided to come in hot. He was a 9x7. Both encounters made for some great video's after I determined they were not legal to shoot.

You should be fine for any deer to 150-200m and most anything else out to 100m.
 
Let's just say I wouldn't take a 44 Magnum on a trip where I might see a once in a lifetime animal. But for a meat hunt in a place where I'd get lots of opportunities at 100 yards and closer, I'd use a 44 Magnum rifle on deer sized animals or bears.

For me, a moose or elk hunt means I'm going to stack the odds in my favour and use a rifle that can shoot long range. But the 44 Magnum can definitely kill those, too.
 
One of my old bosses and his kids shot a lot of deer with a Marlin 44 mag but then just about all of em were shot inside 100 yards and it worked great.

Past that it seems like it has the ballistics/power of a kid throwing a D cell battery.
 
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I've shot quite a few big black bears over the years with my rifle in .44Mag. 50-70 yards shots without issue. Full broadside shots often end with a resounding slap on impact and quite a few bang-flops.
 
I’d have no problem shooting anything in Canada inside 100yrds.

Trajectory becomes an issue long before killing power.

Despite what you hear about Ft/lbs of energy requirements.

Big lead kills differently
 
Do they still punch through a lot of animal and generate any expansion when they're moving very slow, like 1100 fps?
 
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Everything was within 125 yards
Everything died, and seemed to work as well as shooting them with any other caliber
Moose went threw both sides at 90 or so yards.
Everything was shot with 240 grain xtp with a stiff load of win296
 
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