My personal experience has been that the hard cast 44 mag 240 semi wadcutter bevel base shooting around 1500fps in a ruger redhawk is more than enough for deer. I have seen it leave a very large blood trail (it was in the snow though). I have also seen it knock a good size buck off his feet. Which I have not done with any other cal..

It will lead a barrel that's for sure but I don't mind cleaning the thing. One more reason to mess with my guns.

I should add that the buck knocked off his feet was paced at 97yds. Also one of the biggest pros is that cast bullets are cheap and so I get lots of practice at the range.