what is the smallest deer caliber

thurmongene

Senior Member
I need your knowledge. What is the smallest "22 centerfire", that you would feel comfortable with for taking a whitetail. Without having to follow a bloodtrail a long distance?
 

albridges

Senior Member
I have seen a .22 Hornet drop two deer in their tracks. Not advising that is a good deer gun. I would stick with .243 and up. Just my .02
 

Paladin

Member
A well placed .22 LR will do the job at 50 yards. It is against the law however. :biggrin3: If you want to be sure of no tracking you need a larger caliber and will still have to place the shot well. No cartridge will do the job with a poorly placed shot. No offense intended.
 

Dr. Strangelove

Senior Member
If I only had a .223 or a .22-250 to hunt deer with, I would be hunting deer with them. If I had another choice in a larger caliber, I'd take it instead.

The problem with the .22 cal isn't so much the caliber itself, as much as it is inexperienced hunters who don't make good shots and use the wrong bullet to boot.

If you're going to use a .22 cal rifle for deer, be sure you are using bullets designed for deer and not varmints. Practice, practice, practice, learn where the vital region is and be sure you can hit it.
 
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david w.

Senior Member
(IMO)I would not hunt with a 22 if i was you.Its to small of a caliber.Theres a big chance of just wounding the deer.I would hunt with something bigger.
 

chunt115

Member
I had a .22 hornet and unless it's a head shot, you can forget it. I wouldn't use anything smaller than a .220 Swift or a .222 magnum and those are pushing it. The 22-250 is a mean little gun.
 

Ohoopee Tusker

Senior Member
My first deer rifle was a .222 killed a few deer with it, never had a problem. As said above its about shot placement and ammo. Here's a good example the .460 Magnum is or was the most powerful rifle in the world. Shooting an elephant with it is almost the exact same as shooting a whitetail deer with a .22 rimfire.
 

tomski007

Senior Member
I have a 22-250 at 3950fps, with proper shot placement will knock down any Georgia deer. It is a mean little cartridge. On the other hand I'll stick with my .308 or 7.62x39, both give you room for a little error on placement. :flag:
 

pnome

Senior Member
.22 hornet is smallest legal that I know of. .223 would be the smallest I'd hunt with.
 

Lawdog1

Senior Member
Shot placement is the key... My dad has hunted his entire life (he's 73 now) with a Remington Model 660 .222 and has killed alot of deer and will not even think of hunting with anything else. I along with my son and daughter hunt with the .243 caliber and have also been very successful.
 

Lake_and_stream

Senior Member
The .222 is an awesome round, very fast and very desructive upon impact. My dad hunts with one and has for years. Never seen a animal go very far after being hit by one. There is a balance between hevy bullet moving at an average speed and smaller bullet going VERY fast. The end result is the same if the shot is placed well.
 

Killdee

Senior Member
my dad uses nothing but a 22 hornet and he's never had a problem killing anything. deer, hogs etc.

I have a 1930s.22 hornet rolling block rifle but never deer hunted with it, I was curious where your Dad shoots em. I read a story 1 time about an Eskimo that killed walrus's with a hornet. I believe he always took head shots.
 

lungbuster123

Senior Member
The key to using smaller rounds like that is bullet choice and shot placement. I wouldnt hesitate to hunt deer with a .223 and a 60 grain Nosler Partition.
 

Jester896

Senior Clown
any good softpoint bullet out of those smaller bores with good shot placement..head/neck...would be fine...i sit with kids with one of those single shot .22 Hornets...generally wait til they get closer..haven't trailed many
 

Hit-n-Miss

Senior Member
My .222 has dropped over a dozen deer in their tracks. Including my son and wifes 1st, with a 55gr TSX barnes.:shoot: All but one (my son's) were neck shots. My son shot his behind the shoulder and it went only 25 yards.
 
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