Powerwise the 41 and 44 magnum have all the power you need for big game up to and including Moose, Many moose have been taken with the 44 Mag. I Killed a Large elk with one shot from the Ruger Blackhawk 44 Mag. 300 Grain Hornady XTP.

Right on James!

Holy cow, all the responses thinking BIGGERS---BETTER

Midwest, what handguncaliber would you use on Moose?
What were you planning to buy for deer? Why not buy one
that will do both?

That's what I say as well

I currently hunt with a scoped Ruger Redhawk .44mag and have harvested 2 bucks, one doe and a large boar with it. Happy with it- yes, but something did happen with it two seasons ago thatpushed me towards orderinag a Savage Striker in .308 to hopefully replace it as my primary hunting pistol. (hurry up Savage[8D])

What happened? Big buck (for my lease) walking 50 yards away. I pull the hammer back and it makes the "clink" of the double action setting the hammer back and the buck jerks his head my direction to see what the noise was. In the end it didn't matter as he's still on my wall, but I'm hoping easing the safety off the Savage will be a quiter ordeal than cycling the double action.
If the ruger was a single actionI could use the finger on the trigger while easing the hammer back quietly trick, but since it's a double action that's not an option ( I've tried it).

I doubt that slight noise would matter 98% of the time, it ALMOST mattered for me.

My vote would also go to the Ruger SRH in 44 Mag. Topped with a Leupold 2x, it's a nice shooter. My next choice would be the Contender, especially if you want multiple calibers in your handgun. And tho I shoot a Contender, I still kinda view them as a short rifle more than a handgun. Someone mentioned how everyone here is voting for the large calibers. There's a reason for that IMO, we're looking at the ft lbs of energy and at the risk of opening a can of worms and all the stories of 'I killed a buck with my .22', I think respect for the game hunted dictates the larger calibers. Just my $.02 worth.

T/C Encore. Allows more variety then the Contender since you shoot higher pressures. As to caliber, look at your state reg's and what you will be hunting and go from there. For the Encore, everything from .22hornet up to .500S&W mag is avaliable Of course you can shoot good ol' 30-30, .44mag, etc.. if you want

I had the same decision to make....went with the Rugersuper blackhawk hunter w/ a 2X leupold scope, 44 mag. Haven't killed a deer with it yet, but I will be doing so this fall....