22 centerfires for deer. A personal experiance

[Kachok]

OK yall listen here, you can kill a deer with a pellet rifle if you hit it in the left eye socket at a 23.5 degree angle and slightly upward this should sever the connection to the part of the brain that controls motor function. Sounds stupid right? It is.
Larger caliber heavier bullet with more energy gives you a wider and deeper wound canal. Hence shock damage to the vital organs, and rapid blood loss. Hunting with a .218 Bee is not practical or ethical, I have seen really stupid people try repeatedly with tiny calibers and wound anamals and I get red in the face mad at them. They act like "Oh well I will get the next one"
There is no healthy person that cannot handle the mild recoil of a .257 Roberts, 6.5x55, or 243. This is not a contest to see who can use the smallest caliber and still kill somthing USE A REAL BULLET it costs like 10 cents more.
There are a handful of people that are skilled enough and picky enough with their shots to kill mature deer with a 223/22-250 but I think it is dumb even for them, anyone with that level of skill should own a real rifle.
Pardon my flaming but an inexperenced friend of mine told me he was going to hunt with a mini-14 this year, everybody on the web is telling him that he could, this is a new hunter he has NO BUISNESS taking that "advice" from a bunch of wannabe know it alls. If you have to use your 22 Hornet for deer hunting, I cannot stop you, but quit telling 17 year olds going to their 1st hunt to get an 223!!

 

[Myles]

I apologize for not reading your wall of text.

But CF .22 works on deer. Not exactly a tough species to harvest. I've used a .223 Mini-14 down the in the Everglades, many times. 1 shot, handload 52gr. BTJHP on a spine shot stopped them every time.

 

[Kachok]

Exactly you are hunting the everglades for tiny FL deer we are both hunting wide open farm feilds. Huge difference. I stand by my previous statement we do not need to be encouraging young hunters to pick up a 223 and figure it out from there. Next time read my post before disagreeing with me.

 

[AKElroy]

Killed my first deer w/ a .22-250. I was 12, and all I heard my uncle say when he dropped me @ my stand & handed me the rifle was that is was a .22. I asked if a .22 was to small for deer, and he said it was different than a .22lr, and that it would be fine. Since this was my first solo hunt, imagine my surprise when I cracked off that round. The little buck ran 30 yrds & flopped.

He didn't think it was lacking.

 

[Kachok]

Keep a couple things in mind. 1st a bolt action 22-250 has quite a bit more energy then a semi-auto 223. Still not enough for my liking but certainly a step up from a mini 14.
The 22-250 will kill a deer: if you shot is very well placed, if you use a proper controled expansion bullet, if the deer is not too large and if the range is short. That is just too many ifs for me to deal with. My 6.5x55 will drop any deer that ever walked like a bad habit, hit anywhere in the boiler room, with any cheap 120gr or above cup and core bullet, at ranges beyond where I dare shoot. No ifs involved my bullets break shoulder sockets and other hard bones, and still leave an exit wound the size of a golf ball. The recoil is light enough for a 6 year old to shoot and ammo is much less expensive then the premium 22 cal bullets that are mandatory for deer. I call that a better choice in ever possable way. So why play around with a inferior big game caliber? 257 Roberts, 243 win, 6.5x55 and 250 Savage are all amazing low recoil rifles and much better choices then ANY 22 cal.

 

[Myles]

Kachok, I was responding to the OP. Not your post railing against .22 centerfire. I never said that I thought it was a round to be used by a novice. If you can't hit your point of aim, that's not my problem. (BTW, the last "tiny" Florida deer I took was 200 lbs, perfect 8 point - and you are right, it was not raised on a farm in Texas.)

I would prefer a .243 or larger, yes, but .223 can certainly do it, if you can do your part. A larger caliber, with more powder behind can help poor shot placement by causing more tissue damage. I never disputed that. If you need that insurance, please take it, for the sake of the animal.

 

[Art Eatman]

Okay, wandering off into territory that's already been stomped flat...