Its legal where I hunt. I hunted for several years as a kid with a 222 for deer. It always did the job. I would however prefer at least a 25 caliber. The 250 Savage is the smallest thing I now use for deer. I would consider the 25-06, 270 and 280 along with the 308 and 30-06 to be about perfect. The 260 and 257 Roberts are also favorites of mine. The 6.5X55 is another good choice and I have killed more deer with the latter than anything else.