Well, depending on where the OP lives, I'm not positive suggesting a 9mm is all that great of an idea. To me, at least where I hunt, it's too light of a load for me to go after deer with.

The .357 has far better stopping power, and I would not go with anything less than that for a hunting handgun.

I would also suggest going with a Ruger in the .44 caliber. If you can handle the kick of one, it's the clearly better round for hunting with.