Using .22 cal rifles for deer

[M-Tecs]

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

Bullet selection, distance, and not taking risky shots That sums it up nicely.

I've only killed a couple of deer with a 223 and it worked fine. I have killed around 30 deer and some antelope with the 22-250. 22-250AI and the 220 Swift. With the 243 Win that number is 60 to 80 deer total and a couple of antelope. Range was from a few feet out to about 325 yards.

I did kill one antelope of a 30/06 with a 165 boattail that went about 400 yards with a heart hit. Never had a hard recovery or a lost deer using any of the 22 Cal. or 6mm's.

I am partially color blind and I am at best a poor tracker. With the 22 Cal I use a standard 55 grain soft point and limit shots only to behind the shoulder double lung. The bullet liquifies the lungs and normally it's a DRT or 30 yard sprint max. With the 243 it's the same shot placement or into the shoulder. With broken shoulders or liquified lungs most are DRT or very short sprints.

All of my near lost or hard recoveries have come for using bullets designed for much larger game in a 270, 30/06, 338 Win Mag and a 375 H&H Mag.

From 1970 to 2010 I hunted on 3,000 acres of deer rich river bottom land. The landowner required that you purchase and use all available bonus tags and party hunt. Deer harvest was normally 60 to 75 per season. Shot placement was the number one reason deer were lost or a hard recovery. Funny how all those "perfect" shots when recovered later were far from perfect. It is truly amazing how far a deer can go with a single lung hit. Same for legs shot off and liver and gut shots. Poorly hit the will to live is strong and animals can be shot to pieces and keep going. That being said I have never seen a double lung hit with a bullet that actually expanded go very far. Having hunted with a large number of different hunters is always surprises me how little some know about deer anatomy.

[Pepe le PewPew]

I’d use a 22-250 if they made more factory options with at least 1/9 twist rate. If I can’t get diameter on a bullet I definitely want sectional density. I can’t argue against the ease of both accuracy and follow up shots that comes with centerfire .22s, but I would still prefer to use a larger caliber.

[white eagle]

LOL!!! *****!!!! Ridiculous statement! What vast cache of knowledge do you base this on? Get some real world experience!

the last time I brought up this very subject that is what the consensus was the only difference in my post was I used a 220 swift
so look it up see the vast cache of knowledge for yourself

I would and have used a 22o swift for deer(with 55 gr. Trophy Bonded Bearclaws) but lately I would use my 224 Valkyrie with either 70 gr Barnes X's or 90 gr Federal's or heavier TBB's in the Swift, say 62 gr. or so.
High velocity and pin point accuracy do a lot of damage to deer internals'

[centershot]

the last time I brought up this very subject that is what the consensus was the only difference in my post was I used a 220 swift
so look it up see the vast cache of knowledge for yourself

I would and have used a 22o swift for deer(with 55 gr. Trophy Bonded Bearclaws) but lately I would use my 224 Valkyrie with either 70 gr Barnes X's or 90 gr Federal's or heavier TBB's in the Swift, say 62 gr. or so.
High velocity and pin point accuracy do a lot of damage to deer internals'

I've read that thread. I was a contributor to that thread. I finally gave up trying to change the minds of opinionated people with NO experience with the calibers in question. Those of us who use them know how well they work. For those that don't, well, it's their loss. Next thing you know someone will say you can't kill elk with a .17 caliber.............

[versa-06]

Then there's that big word "IF"

[gunseller]

If you are going to use a 90 grain bullet in a 224 val.you need a 1/6.5 barrel. The first deer I shot with a rifle was neck shot at 300 meters using a factory 5.56 round with a 55 grain fmj bullet. Only round they would let me have for my M16A1. Drt deer. I have shot a few other deer with 223 using 55 grain sp bullets all were dead within a few steps.
Steve

[white eagle]

my 7 twist handles them just fine

[Jeff Michel]

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

[Screwbolts]

I have done a lot of "Hunting with CB's" The Leadhead Meatgetters Category! this is. LOL Is it not so?

shot placement is always important.

[dverna]

I have done a lot of "Hunting with CB's" The Leadhead Meatgetters Category! this is. LOL Is it not so?

shot placement is always important.

There are folks who do not hunt the cast bullets (like me) and we wind up posting here because there is no other sub forum for hunting with jacketed bullets. It is interesting what can be accomplished with "inferior" jacketed bullets sometimes...LOL.

[brass410]

In this era of faster magnumitus, it's shocking to see that anyone would even consider shooting an animal as dangerous as a 200lb whitetail with anything less than a 458 win mag. We all agree no risky shots and shot placement are key BUT when the trophy of a lifetime shows up at a sketchy distance presenting a less than ideal shot how many would actually say HMMMM I thinks the temptation would be to great ! It's why my own choice (everyone has theirs) is as much calibre as I can shoot accurately, I have eaten way too much track soup to chance a loss for lack of killing ability drt is my favorite. If you can wield it and its works for you who am I to pooh pooh your choice.

[gunseller]

When the 224 val came out many people got them with the thought of shooting 90 in the 1/7 barrels. At 100 yards they were getting perfect profiles of the bullets. If yours shoots them lucky you. If you use the green hill formula it will give a 1/6.5 twist. To shoot 90 grain bullets in my service rifle I have a 1/6.5 to shoot at 600 yards. I spoke with CMMG rep and he agreed that they had to change to a 1/6.5 in their 224 val chambered rifles.

[white eagle]

so glad they have it figured out

[warren5421]

In Indiana you can not use .22's.

Rifle cartridges for Public Lands (state and federal property) must meet the following requirements:

Fire a bullet of .357-inch diameter or larger,
Have a minimum case length of 1.16 inches, and
Have a maximum case length of 1.8 inches

Some cartridges legal for deer hunting on public land include the .350 Legend, .357 Magnum, .38-.40 Winchester, .41 Magnum, .41 Special, .44 Magnum, .44 Special, .44-.40 Winchester, .45 Colt, .454 Casull, .458 SOCOM, .475 Linebaugh, .480 Ruger, .50 Action Express, .500 S&W, .460 Smith & Wesson, .450 Bushmaster, and .50 Beowulf. Full metal jacketed bullets are illegal.

A summary of the rifle requirements for deer hunting on private land are as follows:

The rifle cartridges must have a cartridge case length of at least 1.16 inches and have a maximum case length of 3 inches
The cartridge must fire a bullet with a diameter that is .243 inches (same as 6mm) or larger
A hunter may not possess more than 10 such cartridges for each of these rifles while hunting deer
These new rifle cartridges may only be used on private land
Full metal jacketed bullets are illegal
These new rifle cartridges may be used during the youth deer season, deer firearms season, special antlerless firearms season (where open), and deer reduction season from Nov. 13, 2021, through Jan. 31, 2022 (in deer reduction zones where local ordinances allow the use of a firearm)

Rifle cartridges that are legal under this law for private land include, but are not limited to, the following:

6mm-06
6mm BR Remington
6mm PPC
6mm Remington
.240 Weatherby
.243 Winchester
.243 Winchester Super Short Magnum
.25 Remington
.25-06 Remington
.270 Winchester
.30 Carbine
.30 Herrett
.30 Remington AR
.30-06 Springfield
.30-30 Winchester
.30-40 Krag
.300 AAC Blackout (.300 Whisper)
.300 H &H Magnum
.300 Remington Short Action Ultra Magnum
.300 Savage
.300 Weatherby Magnum
.300 Winchester Magnum
.300 Winchester Short Magnum
.300 Remington Ultra Magnum
.303 British
.307 Winchester
.308 Marlin
.308 Winchester
.32 Winchester SL
.35 Remington
.350 Legend
.38-55 Winchester
.444 Marlin
.45-70 Government
6.5 Creedmoor
6.8 SPC
7.62x39mm
7.62x54mmR

[murf205]

This is .22 cal topic always gets a lot of ink, or pixels in our case. My favorite slug for the .22's is the 70 gr Speer semi spitzer. A 1-12" twist will stabilize it and I shot it out of a 1-14" gun before that.I've killed several deer with it in a 22-250 and never lost one, BUT, I don't take Texas heart shots either. Remember, "It what aint what you shoot, it's how you shoot it"

[Texas by God]

That is a good bullet, Murf205. I've used it and the similar Sisk 63 and 70 gr bullets successfully. Waiting for a sure shot and passing up iffy shots is probably why I've gotten DRT results on all the deer I've killed with the .223 and 22-250 since 1972. The plain old 55gr sp in Remington factory ammo has a good reputation around here as well.
Texas regulations for deer are;
No full auto.
No rimfire guns.
No dogs.
Good hunting!

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

[murf205]

It is a good bullet even though it doesn't look like an ICBM which is what the new wave of long range shooters think you have to have now and it is very accurate with BL=c2 . I got better results with .223's than 22-250's probably because of the slightly slower velocity not blowing the bullet up. The guy's at Sierra told me that their 55 gr was tougher than people think and I never had a rifle that disn't shoot it great but I like the added weight of the Speer

[KCcactus]

If you're going to use a .223, I'll add another recommendation for the Federal Fusion 62 gr. When he was younger, my son took two nice bucks and a 200lb pig with it. All three were broadside double lung pass throughs that dropped within 50 yds. The bucks both reacted to the shot, then slowly walked away until they fell. Everything in the chest cavity was liquid. Why .223? At the time, it was the only rifle I had that he could shoot small groups with at the distances we get hunting on our place. Now, we both have 6.8s and use 115gr Federal Fusion.

In Texas, any center fire cartridge is legal for deer.

[murf205]

"that he could shoot small groups with at the distances we get hunting on our place"
That's the secret. Ya' gotta' hit em' first. I can't find the 62 gr Fusions but I've heard good stuff about them. I've got 450 70 gr Speers so I've quit looking too hard. It is legal in Alabama to use CF 22's as well.The farthest I ever trailed a deer was one shot with a 300 Winchester.

[centershot]

The Federal Fusion 62 gr. load was my choice, on recommendation of a friend after he'd shot 7 bucks with it. I wasn't disappointed! It punches straight throgh while expanding and leaves an impressive wound channel! Today I handload the Speer 62 gr. Gold Dot (same bullet used in the Fusion load) to the same velocity.