It'd work fine if you can do your part. With that barrel length you should be able to kill a deer at 40 to 50 yards easy. My dad kills em all the time with a 4" s&w 45 LC at 40 yards the key to it is practice. Ammo wise I've killde deer with two factory loadings 240gr Winchester JSP and 240gr Hornady XTP. The xtp is my main carry load in my 44 works great on deer.