This is my nephew Michael Ardhuerumly with his nice 8 point
taken with his T/C Encore .357 Maximum/MGM barrel.
My family and friends took a fair amount of deer with the .357 Maximum rifle this year. A couple very nice bucks were taken along with some smaller bucks and a handful of antlerless deer. Shots ranged from 10 yards to 159 yards and all deer were recovered, most traveling less than 50 yards after the shot. I was using my Ruger No. 1, loaded with the Hornady 200 gr. FTX bullet at 2040 fps and others were using Thompson Centers with the Hornady 180 gr. SSP bullet at 2000-2200 fps. I have not seen a failure with either of these bullets to date.
My nephew Michael Ardhuerumly, who now owns the T/C Encore/MGM barrel rifle that I had when I started this website, took a very nice 8 point buck. Michael has passed up many smaller bucks during the archery season and gun season and his patience paid off. He put a double lung shot on the buck at 35 yards and the deer ran about 50 yards before dropping. My friend, Tom Parker also took a nice 9 point buck with his .357 Max. at 127 yards.
My good friend Tom Parker with his 9 point buck taken with this T/C Carbine .357 Maximum. Tom’s shot was 127 yards with a 180 gr. Hornady SSP bullet at around 2000 fps.
As for myself, the firearms season presented few opportunities. Until the last weekend of the season, the only deer that offered a shot were smaller immature deer, fawns. On Saturday evening of the last weekend a small 6 pt. buck, presented a broadside shot as it paused before entering a thicket. I would have preferred a bigger buck or even been satisfied with a fat doe, but time was running out and my freezer was empty. It was a longer shot but well within the limits of the Max. A spine shot dropped the buck instantly but a close range follow up shot was required as he continued kicking after the initial shot. Afterward, I checked the range on my Bushnell range finder and the shot was 159 yards. It was a pass thru shot, so I was not able to recover the bullet.
