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Thread: Using .22 cal rifles for deer

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy
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    Using .22 cal rifles for deer

    I wanted to share a few thoughts and experiences on using 22 caliber rifles for deer. I am by no means an expert. Having only recently gotten into deer hunting. With five deer all taken by a Savage 22-250 with 63gr Sierra SMP to my name. But I find such discussions interesting and wanted to add my .02 worth.

    First off I do not claim that 22-250 is the perfect deer cartridge in every situation. No cartridge is. Only that it is perfectly serviceable under certain conditions. In my opinion the major drawback with using a 22-250 is the inconsistency of the blood trail. Two of my deer ran any sort of distance the other three being cns hits. Of those two deer I had run one was a yearling doe that produced a easily trackable blood trail. Not that I needed that I saw her go down in the corn field I was hunting. The other a mature doe produced no blood trail that I could find but like the yearling went down in the middle of a wide open corn field. So not the best choice if you want reliable blood trails but it does offer some real advantages.

    It is cheaper to shoot meaning it is more economical to practice with. I believe accuracy is the most critical thing when it comes to hunting and that the power of the round does not make up for lack of shooting skill. Meaning that 338 Rum is of no use if you put the round into the deer's digestive tract.

    Recoil is less which makes it easier to shoot accurately and allows for quicker follow up shots. I experienced this first hand. I am a bird hunter and what I was taught is pick a target and continue to shoot at it until it either goes down, is out of range, or you run out of ammo. Well when I got my chance to take my first deer I shot at a mature doe broadside at about 50 yards. I noticed no indication that I had hit her so I reloaded and fired again. At that point the guy I was hunting with tells me I got her and to move on. So then I notice a yearly doe that was part of the same herd standing broadside around 35 yards away. I again fire two shots at her as well. I wind up making four lung hits on two deer in the space of only a few seconds. While shooting the deer twice was unnecessary and it was at extremely close range it does go to show what is possible.

    People tend to disregard the 22-250 with out any experience to back up their claim just saying it is unethical. Or you get people who say to only take head/neck shots or only perfect broadside shots. Maybe they say to keep your shots under a certain range. While that last point is true I have read accounts of people taking deer at 300+ yards with 22-250's. So I would say that it is fine at any reasonable range a normal hunter should be shooting at.

    Now I will admit that the 22-250 can certainly produce a greater percentage of wounded/unrecoverable animals than say a 308 win if your bullet selection is poor. I would never recommend modern varmint bullets like v-max, varmint grenade, tnt, among others. Nor would I recommend target bullets of any description. What I would recommend is bullets like the Sierra 63gr smp, Speer 70gr smp, Win. 64gr PP, Nosler 60gr partition, Swift 75gr sirocco II, Barnes 55gr+ tsx/ttsx, Sierra 65gr gameking, among others. With those bullet you should see expansion with adequate weight retention along with sufficient penetration. Through and through penetration would not be uncommon with a broadside shot and especially with the Barnes tsx/ttsx breaking both shoulders is a real possibility.

    To illustrate my point I have had four bullets that expanded and exited the other side and on one of the other deer I put the round high in-between the shoulder and spine with a downward angle. The bullet wind up breaking a rib in multiple place on the off side and I think had it been a broadside shot instead of a quartering shot it would have completely penetrated. Just goes to show you these aren't inept bullets and absolutely perfect shots aren't needed. I don't mean that poor shot placement is effective and that you won't lose the deer. Only that you do have room for error such as you would have with other cartridges.

    I hope I gave a reasonably balanced account of the 22-250 as a deer cartridge. So do any of you guys have experience with .22 cal rifles for deer and what has your results been?

  2. #2
    Boolit Master
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    I've had experience with the 223 & deer & killed all I've seen shot. Not all pass through's though. The 243 has had a lot of bad publicity for the same reasons you explained in ref. to bullet choice. I own 9-243's & as you can tell I'm rather fond of them & they do kill deer well. But then again bullet choice is crucial as is with the 22-250, But most any 95-100 grain bullet & 243 makes meat. Varmit bullets may do the same but I wouldn't depend on them. Controversy is lack of knowledge or lack of application. My 2-cents.

  3. #3
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    An interesting and previously well explored subject. I see nothing wrong with the cartridges mentioned for deer hunting. Much better than the poachers who take deer with a .22 Short-- and that seems to work if properly applied. But, I'd much rather use a .30-30.

    DG

  4. #4
    Boolit Buddy
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    So I do have one story that might go to show the limitations of the 22-250. This past season was weird we had unusually warm weather and I think it affected the deer. In previous seasons we have always seen lots of deer in the field we hunt whether corn or soybean was planted. Last season between the two of us we saw one deer in the field. Which was a three or four point buck that I stalked and shot. After a couple of hunt with seeing nothing and talking to my friend who also hunts the same land and him not seeing anything either I decided to try the river. In late Oct. and early Nov. when scouting for a duck blind and on opening day of duck season I had seen multiple deer cross from a sandbar in the middle of the river to woods that border the crop field we deer hunt.

    One evening after not seeing anything in the corn field I decide to check and see if anything is crossing the river before shooting time ends. I make it to our path and get down to the river a couple minutes before the end of shooting time. What I see is two deer just about at the end of the sandbar about to cross a little 10-15 yard stretch of back water before going up the bank. Looking back I defiantly was not thinking clearly and should have waited, left, and came back the next morning or evening. But I hadn't seen a deer yet and one of them was a decent four or five point buck so I decided to take a shot at the buck who is the trailing deer.

    By the time I had deployed by bipod both deer were in the water broadside with the range some were between 200-300 yards. My rifle is sighted to be dead on at 200yds and I have shot out to 300yds so on a static deer I would say the range would not be a problem. The thing is they were moving and I have no experience leading a target with a rifle. So I am center of mass and in front of the deer. If I remember right I wasn't out past the head and I pull the trigger. The deer doesn't immediately go down and a split second later my view is obscured by some trees. So I don't see them reach the bank.

    At this point I am debating whether to attempt to track the buck immediately, wait an hour, or come back the next morning. Knowing that there are lots coyotes in the area and a striped deer is of no use to me. Plus my previous deer have only lived a few seconds after being shot if they didn't drop right their. So I debate for a couple of minutes and decide to go after the deer.

    I get up and over the bank into the corn field and I spot a deer standing not to far from were the two deer should have exited if they chose to go to the field instead of staying in the woods. At this point it is past shooting time and figuring it is the deer I didn't shoot at so I head down the tree line to were I think he came out of. I spent a good amount of time trying to find a blood trail but found nothing. I did find were the deer got out of the water and was able to follow that trail for a while but found no sign I had hit the buck. Finally I give up and decide to try again the next day to locate the deer. The next day I spent hours going all through those woods and the adjoining field looking for that buck but I found nothing.

    I really don't know if I even hit him with only the circumstantial evidence that I did being that I only saw one deer in the field after I took the shot. So in that instance I do wish I had used a larger caliber rifle than my 22-250. Not because I believe the 22-250 lack killing power on a good shot but that on a bad shot a larger caliber would give a better indication of a hit and a blood trail. But at the end of the day the fault fully lies with me and not the cartridge.

  5. #5
    Boolit Buddy catboat's Avatar
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    My wife had a co-worker (female) who has shot 22 deer with 22 shots in something like 24 seasons up here in Maine (where you are allowed 1 deer per year, whether it is by archery, firearms or muzzle loader) with a 222 Rem Savage 340 wearing old Weaver 4x scope and shooting factory loads. She is not a GREAT shot, but she is a disciplined and patient hunter. She shoots from a tree stand on her father's farm in Albion, Maine. She is sighted in for 50 yards, and that is about the typical distance she takes her shot. She aims at the base of the skull, for "dead right there" results at non-moving deer. None of her deer were taken with body shots. All shots were "base of the skull" shots. A 222 Rem IS legal for deer hunting in Maine, just for the record.

    She MAY take a shot or two to sight-in / verify scope settings prior to the season. She is not a group shooter or reloader. The Savage 340 is her only rifle, and it may have only been fired 50 times TOTAL. She is just a no-nonsense, patient hunter. I have never heard of what brand of cartridge or bullet weight she uses (just factory-loaded 50 or 55 grain bullets, by Remington/Winchester/Federal. Nothing exotic).

    I'm pretty sure that if all I had was a 222 Rem, and was patient-like my wife's co-worker, I would not go hungry; however, it is not my first choice. I will not input on any side on "ethics" discussion, or if it CAN be successful. Clearly my wife's co-worker does everything right (sets range limits, perfect shot location, patient, competent shooter, puts in A LOT of time in the tree stand each year, knows the place she hunts, as she grew up on the farm, and she is VERY disciplined-including passing on shots on many deer).

    A 222 Rem load is just not my first choice for deer hunting (I have owned four 222 Rems for woodchuck hunting, and currently have a CZ 527 Kevlar Varmint 223 Rem with 1-9 twist barrel).

    Pick your shot, be patient, be legal, and drag it home. I'm using my 30-30 or 30-06, with jacketed bullet reloads for my deer hunting.
    Last edited by catboat; 03-27-2022 at 07:36 PM.

  6. #6
    Boolit Master
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    The only experience I has seen was with my Brother-in-law taking a buck at 50 yards with a heart lung shot with a 222 Mag.
    Deer took two steps and dropped! I have shot 2 deer with a .243 Seirra HP 85 Grain Spitzer , Liquified the lungs but never came out ....both dropped on the spot.
    " Associate with men of good quality, if you esteem your own reputation: for it is better to be alone than in bad company. " George Washington

  7. #7
    Boolit Bub

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    The deer I’ve shot have been with Nosler Partitions 60gr., and Hornady 60gr. SP. All behind the ear, most were with Partitions. Some of the people I know use 22-250’s regularly for deer, most being inside of 200yds.

  8. #8
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    I have a neighbor that raised three daughters. They all shot elk and deer most years between the ages of 12 and 18. They used a 22-250 for all the game. Another friend traded into a 22 Rem Short Mag. His son shot two elk with it before sports took a bigger hold.
    The commonality of this is that all used 60 gr bullets. In the 22's you can load a bullet as light as 33 grains. IMO, bullet make up has a lot to do with killing in the smaller calibers.
    [The Montana Gianni] Front sight and squeeze

  9. #9
    Boolit Master
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    All is OK with the .224 bullet in the hands of seasoned shooters. But youth I feel they should stay away from light bullets @ high velocity (Low recoil I know) & use low velocity wide, heavy bullets instead (still low recoil). Less report, less recoil, heavy hit, complete pass through, & blood trail. I know the youth thing has not been brought up, but it seems a lot of people want to use little fast bullets for the youth which may be prone to a bad hit for many different reasons. Gun too heavy, Green, Fear of recoil & or report, or even trigger pull with little fingers. The same may go for us big people, I think this may be one of the many reasons for loading slow soft cast boolits.

  10. #10
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    According to my records I've killed the same number of deer with the 22-250, .308, and 8x57mm. For what it's worth, the 22-250 had more DRT kills than the bigger rounds maybe coincidence maybe velocity. My first rifle was a 22-250 so it is a favorite- but I do hunt with bigger calibers too. My last two deer were with the 30-30 and 25-06.
    Those "dash" cartridges sure work!

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  11. #11
    Boolit Master
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    I truly believe in disciplined, well placed shots with a rifle that you are comfortable with. Period.
    Back when depradation tags were given to the ranchers, I would wager that I have killed more whitetails, muleys, elk and antelope than a large number of this forum put together - most with a 22 Long Rifle. I used everything from the 22 to a 22 Hornet and up - cervical spine or head on the vast majority. Sitting in a hay stack or tractor bucket or on a hay rack on undisturbed game - anything will likely be effective in that scenario.
    However, I had an employee who wounded a total of 4 elk and 2 deer in a single hunting trip....... with a 22-250. I helped her brother recover one bull, the shot was right - the bullet was plattered against the OFF SIDE shoulder blade. Not enough to bleed him out from the wound in both lungs after 24 hours (N=1 out of the possible 6 I know).
    I really enjoy field data, from real situations. Read Nathan Foster's Ballistic Studies. He has immense knowledge of what he is speaking of, and the vast numbers to support his dataw.

    (PS the depradation hunts were done by the rancher if desired, and all of the meat was given to the local food banks and churches - before anyone blows me up for that)

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  12. #12
    Boolit Master gc45's Avatar
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    When young, my brother and I killed deer routinly and sometimes antelope using an old winchester in 220 swift..All were head shots using factory 48 grain bullets that turned the brains to mush....

  13. #13
    Boolit Bub white cloud's Avatar
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    I have killed a couple of deer with .223 rifles. I placed the shots carefully and the deer didn't move very far after being shot. This is a very good thing because there was no blood trail in either case. For my hunting a wider diameter bullet is good thing.

  14. #14
    Boolit Buddy

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    Proper shot placement is always key with any caliber used. No shot is ever the same. Sometimes things just happen. Loose muscle or tissue will float around and clog up holes at times preventing blood from leaking out.
    I have taken many deer over the last 20 years from the same tree stand walking the same trail down the creek to the same spot. All with the same 7mm-08 rifle. Most deer only took a step or two some have traveled 100 plus yards.
    One thing I have learned from 40 plus years of deer hunting is no matter what you use learn how to become the best tracker you can. Even on deer I watch go down I walk to the spot where the deer was shot and look all evidence of the hit. Hair color and blood splatter then track the deer from there. Following the trail of blood or in the case of no blood follow the tracks to the downed deer.

  15. #15
    Boolit Master

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    I've been hunting deer since 1970. At that time this area was a "shotgun only" area and remained so until '76 (I think) when muzzleloadsers were allowed. Handguns soon followed. Centerfire rifles became legal in the early 2000's. I've used them all.

    In 2010 I began using a .223 Remington to hunt deer. Why? Well, my friend John had been telling me for two or three years how well his .223 was working for him, I was disbelieving. Until one day, at the LGS, there was a Ruger American at a good price, so I bought it. I was no stranger to the .223, I'd had a couple nice varmint rifles and was competing in Service Rifle matches so I knew the cartridge petty well. But, the key to success in deer hunting with it, said John, was the Federal Fusion ammunition he was using. So I bought three boxes of it when I bought the gun.

    Let me tell you, the key to success with any .22 on deer is the bullet, not the cartridge! That little 62 grain bonded-core softpoint is advertised at 3000 fps. My chronograph tells me i is actually 2918 average fps from the 22" barrel of my Ruger. And it kills deer like crazy! Ten deer in the last eleven years, all were complete pass-throughs! One shot really stands out to me - A 6 point was moving up the hill from my right moving across to my left angling slightly upward. He stopped and lowered his head at about 35 yards, I placed the crosshairs low on his left shoulder and squeezed the shot. BANG! DOWN! He kicked his hind legs, pushing up a pile of leaves in front of him for about 10 yards, then stopped. At that point he was about 5 yards from the logging road I had driven in on. Easiest drag I ever had! When I skinned him, I saw that both front legs had been broken and two ribs had been hit, one going in and one going out. His lungs had been totally wrecked, of course! Now, think about that - that little 62 gr. bonded core bullet had gone through six layers of hide, two heavy leg bones and two ribs - and kept going!!! You can't ask more from ANY bullet!

    Every single deer I've shot has been an instant DRT or, at most, has run 10-15 yards. Complete pass throughs! They all look like they'd been shot with a roll of nickles! After the third one, I sold my '06. The .223 burns half the powder, a lot less roar and recoil, who needs an '06? Not me. But, the key here is the BULLET! Use a bonded core or partition bullet and a .22 CF is a very capable deer cartridge!
    Last edited by centershot; 03-28-2022 at 12:22 PM.
    "We take a thousand moments for granted thinking there will be a thousand more to come. Each day, each breath, each beat of your heart is a gift. Live with love & joy, tomorrow is not promised to anyone......"

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  16. #16
    Boolit Grand Master
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    never work need a 30 carbine minimum
    Hit em'hard
    hit em'often

  17. #17
    Boolit Master

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    Quote Originally Posted by white eagle View Post
    never work need a 30 carbine minimum
    LOL!!! *****!!!! Ridiculous statement! What vast cache of knowledge do you base this on? Get some real world experience!
    "We take a thousand moments for granted thinking there will be a thousand more to come. Each day, each breath, each beat of your heart is a gift. Live with love & joy, tomorrow is not promised to anyone......"

    unknown

  18. #18
    Boolit Master Murphy's Avatar
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    One family I know, a father & 2 sons have used .22 Caliber centerfires since the 80's. The father actually prefers his .222 Remington over the 22-250, the 2 sons use 22-250's. If they've ever lost a deer, I never heard about it. I've hunted with them many times and been in their reloading rooms. From my observations, and their success at using the .22 caliber for deer, it seems to be a matter of three things. Bullet selection, distance, and not taking risky shots.

    Murphy
    If I should depart this life while defending those who cannot defend themselves, then I have died the most honorable of deaths. Marc R. Murphy '2006'.

  19. #19
    Boolit Master

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    "Bullet selection, distance, and not taking risky shots.

    Murphy"


    Exactly my point! Thanks Murphy!
    "We take a thousand moments for granted thinking there will be a thousand more to come. Each day, each breath, each beat of your heart is a gift. Live with love & joy, tomorrow is not promised to anyone......"

    unknown

  20. #20
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    i've been there, done that....says the LEGEND!!!!

    i have shot at a doe with a 75gr hornady bthp in 22-250ai at 50+/- yards. it was a headshot, which i won't do again. my experience tells me that .257" 100gr+ bullet will work. i'm told by a guy who farms, the 22 hornet is all you need. he has depredation permits and he shoots them at night.

    a 243/6mm (i've used 243 win many times and many different guns on deer) bullet (not premium bullets) is not what you need for close cover deer, unless you like to track them. i know, i know....you, your son/daughter, mom, dad ...will say balderdash!!!! the 243 or the 6mm rem will lay deer flat out and i(you) will prove it. yes, a 243/6mm will kill a deer, but my experience with the 243 (in the early 1990s) will kill a deer, but when and how far? i've used the 243 for shoulder shots and behind the shoulder shots and every one of them ran about 75-125+ yards with little blood/hair on the ground. my friend, however, luvs the rem m788 in 243 win for deer. he uses a 100gr factory load(rem, win, federal...) and he puts the deer either DRT/20+/- yards after the shot. go figure.

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