I would say you are off base. The 38 is very close to the 357 Magnum. With the proper load the ballistics could even be with in the range of 357 loads. The 357 is a very common load for whitetail hunting. With that being said most factory loaded 38 loads are not as potent as I would personally like to see for hunting whitetail deer. But are more than capable of taking down a deer. You have to remember that the weapon that has probably killed more whitetail deer in modern times than any other is the .22 LR. The shot placement is key obviously. The reason we have the standards in place is, no offense to anyone in particular, many hunters do not have as precise shot placement as necessary to efficiently dispatch many animals. So they have minimum calibers/loads in order to reduce the chance of merely maiming an animal.