I was shooting CCI Lawman ammo. 158 gr HP. And it it true that perhaps a bigger gun would have shared the same result, but even with well placed shots, the 357 has little immediate effect on big game. Where as a 44 or larger seems to have much more of a visible effect on them. Not to mention a bigger hole and better blood trail. I'm not knocking the use of a 357 on deer sized game at all. I just know from experience that there are better choices. Heck I've killed deer with a 22 pistol, so who am I to judge? We have a deer tracking business, and track 30-50 deer on average per year. The majority of those deer are still alive when we find them. My gun of choice for this is a 22 mag rifle. One shot through the lungs is all it takes. But in a hunting situation, you don't have a dog to keep the deer in one place until it dies.