RE: Deer Hunting with a handgun
Rusty,
The Smith 629 is a great pistol as others have mentioned. They seem (to me) to have a little better trigger out of the box....but a good gunsmith can slick one of those Rugers up pretty good too.
I had...and sold...a Ruger Super Blackhawk Hunter in .44 mag. I still regret it to this day. That's one fantastic hunting handgun. I had a Leupold 2X hangun scope on it. It grouped VERY well at 50 yards with factory ammo and handloads.
I also got an itch and bought (and sold) a Ruger double action .454. It's a great gun, but if you're new to handgun shooting, the recoil will definitly get your attention. Mine had a 7 1/2" barrel, and there was A LOT of muzzle blast. If I were buying it again, I would really look at the 9 1/2" barrel model.
I've never owned or shot the .480 Ruger, but I hear it's not as bad on recoil as the .454 and it throws one big bullet out there.
If you're not handloading, you'll be able to find TONS of good factory loads for the .44 mag at a reasonable price. The .480 and .454 factory loads are a good bit more pricey.
Good luck!