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Who Has Killed A Deer

buddyb
With a 22 rimfire,excluding 22 Mag?
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Comments

42 comments

Date Votes
  • dcon12
    Ruger MK2, single shot to the head. Don
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  • mrmike08075
    A John Deere lawn mower...

    Mike
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  • dunbarboyz
    Broad side both lungs. But that would not be legal in Michigan.
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  • jimdeere
    Bagged one with my 2oo2 Ford Explorer.
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  • Smitty500mag
    I would bet that back in the old days there were more deer killed with a .22 than you might imagine. I would also bet there were a lot of wounded deer that suffered a long time before they died from being shot with a .22.
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  • Grasshopper
    It would have to be a wounded animal like on the roadside and that's all I had. Sure, I have read the stories here of head shots at 200 yards with a "Silver Box Jennings" and "dropped" them but not by me. Those darn southern Il deer are tough, very tough.
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  • Hessian
    I shot one broadside with a .308 165grn CoreLokt, sucker did a 180 and headed up the ridge. I knew chances were it was going to stop and blow at around 50 yards and quickly check it's back trail. I was ready for it and took a second shot, it ran another twenty yards and dropped in a pile. When I was dressing it and took the heart out it looked like Strawberry jam. I put two bullet holes in it an inch and half apart, just above and slightly behind the heart.

    I wouldn't count on taking one down with a .22. IMO it has to be real iffy, even with a headshot.

    I've dropped them in a pile DRT, but better than half the time they take off and run 40 yards or more with a .308 or a 30-06 and that's a whole lot more bullet than a .22.
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  • mrmike08075
    I will point out that there are exceptions and out liars.

    There are those who hunt cape buffalo and elephants and bison with a longbow...

    I would not do that - I would not feel safe and would worry that both the animal and myself would suffer and be crippled or die.

    Animal control and affiliated LEO's often use a .22 rimfire to put down wounded animals.

    Alligator hunting is typically performed with a .22 long rifle cartridge.

    Just because we technically could do a thing does not mean we should or would given a choice.

    I remember reading as a kid tales of Inuit and native American tribes in Canada taking everything that walked this earth with a .22 hornet

    And environmental and geographical conditions greatly influence cartridge selection sometimes more than the size or type of animal being hunted.

    All joking aside many of us have the skill to hunt deer with a .22 long rifle chambered long arm - if our lives depended on it - but we have been taught to honor the spirit of the game and we embrace the responsibility to see it does not suffer needlessly and is not left wounded or crippled.

    The scout survival rifle that folds in half and chambers .410 gauge and .22 long rifle - many of us could hunt deer and other game with it in order to survive - but it's not our normal practice.

    Is this what you were looking for - please let us know what you have to say on the matter.

    Mike
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  • jwb267
    5 times that I can remember of
    from my door, I have a 12' deck then my garden. it is not hard to take a head shot at that distance
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  • He Dog
    Who these days would shoot a deer with a .22? This is not the depression, and even those in the Appalachians have a .30-30. Even if it has been done a lot, does not make it a good or ethical idea.


    I got mine with a High Standard derringer. :lol:


    First liar ain't got a chance.
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  • KenK/84Bravo
    He Dog wrote:
    Who these days would shoot a deer with a .22? This is not the depression, and even those in the Appalachians have a .30-30. Even if it has been done a lot, does not make it a good or ethical idea.


    I got mine with a High Standard derringer. :lol:


    First liar ain't got a chance.





    You might be surprised at what we have here in the "Appalachians." ;):D
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  • Sam06
    I have shot several with a 22 mag rifle. All were head shots inside 50 meters on very small "Garden" deer.

    I have used a 22K Hornet too.
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  • He Dog
    You might be surprised at what we have here in the "Appalachians."

    You even got an 06? :o:lol:
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  • KenK/84Bravo
    He Dog wrote:
    You might be surprised at what we have here in the "Appalachians."

    You even got an 06? :o:lol:



    You might be surprised at what we have here in the "Appalachians." :o
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  • Sam06
    I've shot a bunch of nice sized wild hogs with a 22 mag also.

    You can hunt them all year long in LA but you have to use a weapon that is suitable for the game animal that is in season, so during squirrel season a 22 rimfire or shotgun with #6 or smaller is all that is allowed.

    So a 22 Mag is about the best weapon to use. I always used Solid Bullets no HP. HP's tear up too much meat on a squirrel and don't penetrate enough on a hog.
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  • 338magnut
    Here in Idaho it is against the law to hunt any big game with any rimfire and for good reason.
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  • mrmike08075
    ;) I think my .43 Swiss rimfire and Italian verletti rimfire rifles would be suitable for all north American game - essentially being the equivalent of the Remington rolling block military rifle cartridges like the .43 Spanish...

    It's certainly got more knock down power than a .30-30 wcf does - heavier bullet and longer ranged

    And didn't Remington have a rimfire that was the equivalent of a .22 hornet???

    Now any modern .22 short or long or long rifle or extra long rifle or WRF or magnum rimfire should not be used on deer...

    But how about .32 long RF or .41 long rf or even some of the long .25 rimfire from carbines or rifles???

    Mike
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  • Sam06
    I have a Stevens in 25 RF and I don't think it is as powerful as a 22 Magnum. The 25RF's were a great small game cartridge because they didn't tear up the meat like a 22 mag does.

    I have also shot deer with a 32-20. I have a low wall Winchester in 32wcf and I shot a deer at about 30' in the head with it. But I would never use any of these under powered rounds on a deer or hog unless its a picked shot at close range.

    As far as the old military rim fires you are talking about the rounds are too rare to waste killing animals with but I am sure they would work even a Pinfire would do fine.
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  • mrmike08075
    Consider me a statistical anomaly...

    I have shot up a ton of old obsolete oddball out of production ammo and will continue to do so.

    It's some cases I like to pretend I may be one of only a handful of people alive who have fired some of these guns - and that this connection to history helps keep the memories and events alive...

    Also what's the point in passing on the chance to shoot these guns...

    It make it more fun and real to me.

    Mike
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  • Sam06
    You ever get that guy in Texas who makes odd ball ammo to make you any for obsolete guns?

    I had a miller snow Springfield model 61 in 58 Rim Fire conversion and got him to make me 40 rds of re-loadable ammo. I think his name is Bob Haley.
    The damn thing had an excellent bore and once I got the loads right it shot like a sniper rifle it was a great gun. I traded it with the ammo for a Winchester 95 in 35 wcf which I traded for a Peabody in one of the What Cheer cartridges that I never got around to shooting I just sold it unfired by me at least to a guy who collected them(I think I came out on top in the long run ;) )
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  • ruger41
    I?ve only taken 1 deer and that was with a .270 in California where big game had to be taken by Centerfire firearm, bow or Black Powder of .40 caliber and bigger. Here in Washington .240/6mm and larger caliber. Rimfire isn?t allowed for big game and unless it was a matter of survival I wouldn?t do it anyway.
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  • lkannes
    I have never shot a deer with a 22lr. As others stated a head shot is DRT. I have seen multiple cattle succumb to a 22lr. The butcher would would put the bullet between the eyes and the 1200lb steer would drop like well, a half ton of bricks.
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  • 35 Whelen
    .22LR, no, and I doubt I'd even try it unless it was a full-on, desperate survival situation.

    .22 centerfire, now that's a different story. With the possible exception of my namesake here, I've taken more deer with my .220 Swift than anything else I've used.
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  • Mobuck
    can do and should do are not the same
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  • SCOUT5
    As far as I know it's illegal to shoot deer with a .22 rimfire in every state in the union, with maybe a few exception for nuisance situations. So how many "I have" responses to you expect when they have to admit to an illegal act on a public internet forum?
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  • Rocky Raab
    The smallest round I've used on deer is the .38 Special, and that was at a range of five feet, straight down from a tree stand. Little "freezer" spike came and stood there, suspicious that something was wrong but not willing to move to discover it. I drew my Colt Trooper and put a 158 SWC through his spine and between his lungs. DRT. Legal at that time and place.
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  • buddyb
    The reason I ask is that I worked with someone that moved to this area and bought a place with a few acres.I don't think he had hunted deer much if any.He started showing pictures of deer he and his kids(boy and a girl about 12 or 15 years old) had killed from a tower stand they built on his place,and some pretty respectable bucks.He was telling me later in the season that the only rifle they owned was a Ruger 10-22 and that's what they shot the deer with.From what I understood they would only take shots at about bow range and had yet to lose a deer that they had shot.I told him that I did not think a 22 rimfire was legal and I was half right.Rimfires are illegal on public land but appears there are no restrictions on private lands.I too thought a rimfire was not enough for deer but guess I was wrong again.
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  • DPHMIN
    I have finished off two different deer (that had been hit by a car) with a .22 LR. both times to the brain. DRT.

    I have known of others who killed multiple deer with a .22 LR. My grandfather was a west Texas cowboy. He lived in Marfa the last several years of his life. He told me that a .22 LR will kill a deer as quick as if shot with a .30-06.

    It is probably not legal to use a .22 LR to hunt deer, but that doesn't mean that a .22 LR won't kill a deer.
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  • Hessian
    DPHMIN wrote:
    I have finished off two different deer (that had been hit by a car) with a .22 LR. both times to the brain. DRT.

    I have known of others who killed multiple deer with a .22 LR. My grandfather was a west Texas cowboy. He lived in Marfa the last several years of his life. He told me that a .22 LR will kill a deer as quick as if shot with a .30-06.

    It is probably not legal to use a .22 LR to hunt deer, but that doesn't mean that a .22 LR won't kill a deer.

    I'm sorry but I still remain skeptical, the few headshots I've tried didn't work out well for me. Once with a .357 and once with a 7X57. I can see how a shot to the base of the skull would do the trick. The thing about a Deers skull is much of it is dedicated to sense of smell and there just isn't that much hydrostatic shock in near subsonic bullets. I guess if you could judge the important part of the brain you could surgically insert a .22 LR. Otherwise, I'd say using a .22 is iffy.

    The successes don't tell the story, the failures do. Few people advertise the ones that got away or the hours long tracking trying to locate a wounded animal. I've tracked way too many Deer because of other peoples poor shot placement. Even good shot placement sometimes doesn't work.

    My philosophy is I spend way too much time getting a good shot to waste it. I guess if you had a backyard full of Deer and were hungry a .22 LR may be worth a shot, otherwise, I'd use a tool better suited to the job.
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  • Hessian
    buddyb wrote:
    The reason I ask is that I worked with someone that moved to this area and bought a place with a few acres.I don't think he had hunted deer much if any.He started showing pictures of deer he and his kids(boy and a girl about 12 or 15 years old) had killed from a tower stand they built on his place,and some pretty respectable bucks.He was telling me later in the season that the only rifle they owned was a Ruger 10-22 and that's what they shot the deer with.From what I understood they would only take shots at about bow range and had yet to lose a deer that they had shot.I told him that I did not think a 22 rimfire was legal and I was half right.Rimfires are illegal on public land but appears there are no restrictions on private lands.I too thought a rimfire was not enough for deer but guess I was wrong again.

    I remain skeptical they have yet to lose a Deer. I'd say the chances are if they harvested many Deer with a 22 LR there are a whole lot more walking around with wounds, some healed and some eventually fatal. I've shot half a dozen Deer with healed, fairly horrendous, wounds. I shot one with a bullet lodged in its jaw.

    I'm not buying it.
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