I hunt in New England and have had more success with my (old) Ruger .44mag carbine. Of course it all depends on the areas hunted. If I expect to see and shoot deer are distances greater than 100+ yards, I will take another rifle. But if I hunt the thick, nasty stuff, with close shots, my go-to gun is the .44mag. Plus, I have never shot a deer further than 40 yards with it and no deer has ever taken a second step.

If you expect to shoot at close range, the .44mag comes highly recommended from this NH hunter.
Good Luck!

44 mag is fine on deer.. I would say 100 yds or less no problems.. The Handi rifle is a pretty heavy little gun so that should help on the recoil..

good little brush carry gun. I love going into big time htivkets w/ that little gun! But then I am not going to shoot long range, very comfy 75 yards and under w/ agood shot picture.

The recoil on a .44 mag in a rifle is hardly noticeable. The noise is what scares them the most. She will do fine with the .44. Good luck.

Agreed, I even removed the recoil pads on mine so they would fit my Grandsons better and they still had no problem with recoil.

As mentioned, the State of Indiana only allows pistol cartridges. You can't use a high powered rifle, i.e. 243, 270, 25-06. The cartridge can't be more the 1.16 inches long. I have a 44mag and shoot the Hornady ammo and it shoots great out to 100 yards. I can drill the center of a pie plate all day long. My wife uses the .44 mag as well and with all the clothes she wears hunting, the recoil is never an issue.

Good luck

Thats gonna be a lot of power for her... but for a grown man... no prob.

I bought my girlfriend a .44 mag H&R Handi single shot last week. We went to my farm and I shot it just enough to get the scope close for her then I gave it to her. Her first shot was dead on at 40 yards. She said she absolutley loves the gun! If it does a good jod on the deer she is going to shoot I would reccomed this gun for all the ladies out there.

that wuld be perfect. ive killed two deer with a 44 mag rifle. try hornady lever evolution ammo. it does a number on deer

I've hunted witha 357 mag handi rifle for the past two years and takin some good deer. This year I traded up to a marlin 1894 and so far it seems like its gonna be a great brush gun. I would definately go for it. I don't know if your in indy or not but the gander mountain on the northside has a nice scoped combo for $350.