There are often restrictions on minimum caliber and barrel lengths for deer to insure that your gun/ammo combo can deliver enough energy to take down a deer reliably.

In IL, you need at least 30 cal, 4" barrel, have 500 ftlbs at the muzzle, and must use expanding bullets. That puts hot .357's at the bottom end, and makes the 44 mag a competent favorite. You also cannot use a semi-auto in IL.

I wanted a double action so the gun could doublefor bear defense, so I considered both the S&W 629 44mag, and the Ruger Redhawk. The sweet trigger pull of the S&W won my heart. Next to it, the Ruger felt like it was grinding gravel. Rugers are solid guns with good reps, and I'm sure it could be refined quite nicely with a trigger job at your local gunsmith, but the factory trigger felt awful to me. Trigger is everything when it comes to precision shooting.