Guys, all most of us do when we shoot deer are bust the lungs...Typically we might break a rib going in but after that there is very little resistance...

Back in the early 70s, when still in my teens and before I had ever heard of a designated deer rifle I used a 22-250 to kill deer coming into our peanut fields in eastern NC...I killed dozens of deer through the summer months doing so with no problems and this was with bullets designed for varmints...

Now that we have bullets like Nosler Partitions designed for deer, pass throughs with a good exit wound are very common...My niece has killed a couple of dozen with a 22-250 and the Federal Premium Nosler Partitions...Most have fallen to high shoulder shots...I've cleaned more than half of these deer for her...They make a mess of a deer's lungs and her lung shot deer fall just as quickly as those shot with a .270...

Plenty of fellows down here have a .223 or 22-250 for target shooting, varmit hunting and also reload...They can group inside of 3/8 inch at 100 yards and do a job on groundhogs in the summer months...

During deer season they take a couple of does with their groundhog rifles...They are not really deer hunters and many just have a couple of box stands build in the back pasture, maybe put out a little corn and kill a couple of deer for the freezer...They have no need for a larger gun as the one they own does what is needed...

.22 centerfires have been used for decades to kill deer...With the newer, harder bullets in the 60-65 grain weight they now give more reliable pass throughs...The popularity of using .22 centerfires is actually the reason companines developed these bullets...If their was no demand, there would be no market...

They are also very effective and reliable as deer killers, as Fritz has demonstrated.....