mcb
I carry a Dan Wesson SS 44 mag with a 6 inch barrel. I have open sights on it and will and have taken deer with it out to 50 yds. I put a (ss) scope on it about 7 years ago and lugged it around 2 seasons. The scope brought some good groups in at 100yds but made the rig a little more combersom than I wanted. The Dan is a heavy goun to begin with and I could never bring myself to going out with out a long gun. (I could just see the buck of a lifetime up in the adk's out 200 yds and the 06 back at camp).
I have been thinking about a Savage Striker for the NY Southern Zone where there is no rifle hunting. But the old Dan W is just to comfy on my hip with a shotgun in my hand.

[ This Message was edited by: ADKBEAR on 2003-11-24 05:27 ]

I have shot bucks both with a smith and wesson 629 with open sights and a T/C contender with a 2X EER leupold scope. The T/C is a real hunter...silent and very deadly. The Smith makes noise upon drawing the hammer, adding a challenge. You have to draw the hammer when the buck is moving and making noise. The T/C contender has one drawback also...it you touch the trigger, you have to break the action before you could again draw the hammer. Both were .44 magnum, which I consider minimum for deer hunting...unless you are a pro...in which case a .22 would suffice. The .44 has proven to be quite deadly on deer, and the recoil is very manageable especially with the new hogue grips. Be aware of the drawbacks of the system you intend to use...it will be a challenge.