I think the 44mag is the ".30-06 of pistol chambering" in that you can find ammo anywhere and it will kill anything on the North American continent including big bears but won't punish you in the process. When I hit the woods I take either my .44mag or .45Colt. I've shot the .500 S&W as well as the .460 and own a .454, all are heavy hitting pistols and probably would make fine hunting guns butall are too big and heavy when fitted with long barrels and scopes. My Ruger .44mag Super Blackhawk Hunter is heavy enough.

If you don't have a problem lugging around a revolver that size then have at it but at that point I'd rather a Contender chambered in a rifle cartridge, at least I'd have more power and range. One thing to remember when picking a hunting pistol....accruacy. All those full magnum hand cannons won't do you a squat of good if you can't hit what you're aiming at. The only way to become proficient with your hunting pistol is to shoot it. Practicing with a "Mega Magnum" is not an easy task and can lead to lots of problems with your shooting form due to theheavy recoil, not to mention heavy on your pocket book to keep it fed as well. With the .44mag recoil is controllable even with heavy +p rounds and ammo is available and cheaper than the mega magnums by far.

One last thing to consider....optics. Yeah it's cool to put on one of them high magnification pistol scopes but unless you are only hunting from a stand where you have access to some kind of shooting rest, you will find anything over 4x to be difficult to hold steady. Forget about an offhand shot with anything higher than 4x (even that's a stretch) it ain't gonna happen!You will also notice a drastic reduction in field of view at the higher magnifications, making finding your quarry more difficult. I recommend a good quality scope in a fixed 2x or 4xwith an even better mount and rings. MyRuger SBH Hunter sports a Leupold FX-II 4x28and I find it has the right balance between magnification, field of view and steadiness, either freehand or from some sort of a rest.

Good luck with you search and welcome to the world of pistol hunting....it's a blast!