22 cal. centerfire

[nitro640]

did anyone use a 22 cal centerfire for deer? if so what were the results? good? bad?

[Neighbor_guy]

Hmmm... I hear crickets......

[tbeste]

I shot a mid size 8 point on Monday morning with a .223 handloaded with Swift Scirrocco II 75 grain bullets. I had a complete pass through lung shot at ~30 yards. He turned and started trotting in confusion towards my stand. He was still on his feet as he passed by my stand at 10 yards so I hit him again, just because I didn't want to track him. He went another 15 yards and did the stagger and dropped dead without another movement. I was happy with the performance.

Travis

[fishinmajishin]

So what is the actual smallest legal caliber?

[lcornice]

did anyone use a 22 cal centerfire for deer? if so what were the results? good? bad?

I confess to know of 5 taken so far this year with 2 different 22-250's handloaded with 53 grain Barnes TSX's over 37 grains of Varget.

[sparkydm]

So what is the actual smallest legal caliber?

.22 as long as it is center fire.

[bigg edd]

Shot a adult doe at 10 yards quartering to me. Got one lung and the liver. Bullet passed through. She went 20 yards and tipped over.

Hand loaded 53 grain barnes triple shock all copper. 25 grains varget. After seeing first hand what that bullet did to her insides i have no problem shooting deer with a .223 within 100 yards (i have never shot a deer past 65 yards)

The gun was a T/C pro hunter. I also have some 62 grain barnes loaded for my dpms 24" bull but it gets a little heavy to lug around the woods. I will say there was very little blood trail but 20 yards didn't give her much time to bleed.

[fishinmajishin]

So I could shoot my 22 Hornet? It's an extremely accurate gun but I would only feel comfortable with a good headshot, which would rule out most opportunities at deer I see during firearms season. I figured there must be some kind of restriction on energy/and or loads.

[CAJ]

I have used a 22-250 for several years. I havn't had one get away from me yet.I know the limits on the gun and I don't take a lot of long shots. I shoot it a lot so am able to put my shot where I want it to be. If I drag out the cannons, I don't do as well anymore. I remember and older freind telling me many years ago, that a couple hits with a smaller gun is better than a miss with the cannon. Just my thought. caj

[nitro640]

thanks for the replies.

[ec30_06]

I know of one deer that was lost and had been hit twice with a .223. I wouldn't feel comfortable using anything much smaller than a .243, but I have seen deer shot out west with .22-250's.

[Cedarcreek]

I hunt coyotes with a 223 and a 22-250 I dont see why I would use a small cal. gun for deer. Even if most of the shots are close less than 100 yards. The 223 was originally designed for deer but later found a bit small. I am sure a few people can shoot well enough to do the job but for the avg. guy it would not be fair for the deer. I shoot an 30-06 and it is accurate and does the job. I don't see any benifit to a small bullet. Match the bullet calibre to size of game. It is like shooting a cape bufflo with a 243 may work but if not you will pay the price.

[HunterLee]

Most of our party are big coyote hunters. 4 used the 22-250's. 3 243's and some others. We didn't lose any deer. After shooting at coyotes deer are easy. I shoot the 243 with 80gr coreloks. Shot 3. None went more than 20yds and last night shot a doe at 250-300. Use the right bullets and you shouldn't have any problems.