I've done it with some luck. I used a ruger gp100 6" to kill a few does acouple years before I got my S&W 629 44mag light hunter. I only had so-so results with it, definately dead deer if you do your part. My problem was that I wasn't always getting a good exit wound, which made tracking very difficult. Out of the four does I killed with the 357 2 exited, and 2 didn't. One of the deer wasn't found untill it was too late, the coyotes beat me to it. That is the reason I bought a 44, hole goes clean through, and two holes bleed alot more than one. As far as ammo for the 357 buffalo bore makes the meanest I've found, I used the 158g hp's to get the only exit through a shoulder that I had.Here is the link http://www.buffalobore.com/ammunition/default.htm#357. So it canbe done if you are picky about your shots(try to avoid both shoulders), and are good at tracking(even the exits were not bleeding buckets)