what is the best pistol to hunt deer with?

Depending on how far of a shot you're anticipating, a .357 would be fine. Most of my shots are under 50 yards, some have been under 20 yards. If you can keep your shots short, a .357 will do fine. I use either 158 or 180 grain (Federal) JHP ammo.

I've used my S&W 686, 8-3/8" barrel with 1-1/2X scope and my Contender with a 10" ported .357 barrel and open sights.

>357 mag is the minnimum caliber for handgun hunting in most states. But I prefer the .44 magnum as a first choice, and the .41 magnum as a second choice.

I've used all three on deer, black bear and hog, and prefer the .44 magnum. I like a 6" barrel on the .357, and a 7 or 7 1/2" barrel on the others. I use a straight 1 1/2 power scope because it gives me plenty of magnification but is easy to find the target/animal whereas anything 2x or larger demands a solid rest to keep it still enough to pick out the target (at leas for my 52 year old eyes!!

shoot safe

I've owned a few .44 magnum handguns myself--including a Ruger Super Blackhawk. I can think of a number of reasons why Ohio will not let you use a cap and ball revolver. (1) The state of Ohio may just allow muzzle loading longarms only (2) The state of Ohio could have a minimum kinetic energy requirement concerning the use of handguns. Go to your local firearms dealer and purchase a box of Black Hills Cowboy Action Shooting .44 Special and shoot them out of your Ruger Super Blackhawk. The cartridges produce about 700 feet per second muzzle velocity with around 230 foot pounds of muzzle energy. This is about the equivalent of what a black powder .44 caliber revolver will produce--which is way too underpowered for deer hunting. The only blackpowder handguns that could be used for deer hunting is a replica of a Colt Dragoon (caliber .44) or Thompson-Center's single-shot Scout pistol, which went out of production a number of years back.

357 is marginal. You'll do much better to look at something a bit larger. My personal favorite is 41 Magnum, but I understand factory loads are somewhat limited. If you handload, I'd suggest that caliber in a Ruger Blackhawk, the single-action revolver being the best choice for hunting. If you don't handload, then you may do better to go with the Super Blackhawk in 44 Magnum.

I can't recommend a scope, I'm afraid. To me, handgun hunting is about getting in close, where iron sights are fine. If I were going to encumber myself with all that equipment, I'd just grab a rifle.

The state may require a minimum of 357mag, but realistically speaking, nothing smaller than 41 mag should be considered. An ideal cartridge would be 41mag loaded with a 210gr JHP moving around 1300fps. Might consider one of those Barnes 180 grainers moving at 1350 to 1400fps.

I feel a .357 is too light for deer, Better off with a Thompson contender of Lone eagle in a medium low pressure rifle caliber like 7X30 waters, 35 remington or the like. In conventional pistol rounds a 41 magnum and up. I'd pic a fixed 2 X handgun scope, dont skimp on the scope. Heavy caliber pistols generate alot of recoil and can quickly destroy a Walmart POS.

A guy at my deer camp uses a .357 sometimes, but a .44 mag should work too. I don't have any suggestions for the scope size/kind though.

44 magnum with at least a 6" barrel. 8" or 10" would be better, I also suggest Magna ported barrel.

www.gunbroker.com has several listed, many with scopes.

I would say a 44 mag. 357 would do it, but I like to make sure. I would rather have a little extra, than not enough.

hunting deer with a pistol is not a good idea in the first place but if you must a 45lc i would say