22 mag deer
 

I just completed a hunters saftey course and the guy who was teaching the course said something that i thought was kinda strange. he said a 22 mag is very capable of taking white tailed deer. i have never heard of a 22 mag for deer. what do you guys think about teh caliber selection for deer?

RE: 22 mag deer
 

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RE: 22 mag deer
 

I think you need to question you instructor in what he said.in most states it is illegal to shoot deer with the 22 mag.i that is a rim fire shell.f he is promoting this you would need to call the DNR or wildlife dept. in your state and have a talk with them.
as gorse said,it depends on the shot and who is shooting.you can take a bull (cow) with a 22 short;thats what they used in slaughter houses for years to kill cows and hogs.that is not what hunters use.

he may have ment 22 cal. not nessery 22mag. there is a big difference. there are 222,223,243 and so on in the 22 cal rifles.

RE: 22 mag deer
 

i'm sure he was talking about teh 22 mag.

RE: 22 mag deer
 

the .22 mag is legal in Maine. My uncle used to use one but the shots are limited ( I asked him about this a long time ago) I think he had 3 shots he could take .... behind the ear, base of neck, base of skull. He was a good shot and capable of doing it. It's definately not the beginers gun.

RE: 22 mag deer
 

22mag. is NOT a deer cartridge. I suspect, I hope, that you simply misunderstood your instructor. First off, I'd bet the 22mag. does not meet the legal requirements of any
Game & Fish Dept. for minimum calibur/cartridge for deer hunting. Yes, it will kill a deer,
but is way underpowered/too small to do the job properly.
Might be used for head shots by poachers, though [:@]

RE: 22 mag deer
 

no i heard him right and in maine the only illegal cartridges and the 17hmr 22shot 22long and 22 long rifle.

RE: 22 mag deer
 

243 is not a 22 cal.

I was thinking about hunting in Maine in the future and was actually quite shocked that a 22 mag is legal there. I certainly wouldn't use one, but it is technically capable of killing a deer.....very bad choice though, IMO.

RE: 22 mag deer
 

Jason where are you from? if you want to hunt deer in maine i would make sure i'm north of augusta. below that it is was overhunted. unless your almost on teh NH border.

RE: 22 mag deer
 

Doesn't matter if its legal or not. Ethical or not. What the guy said is correct. For example. If I said, a broom handle is very much capable of taking a bald eagle down. Ok. it is in right circumstances. Not a question of legality guys.

RE: 22 mag deer
 

i like that bigcountry

RE: 22 mag deer
 

Yes ,a 22mag is very capable of taking a whitetail.Ive seen it been done before.Im not encouraging it,as it is illegal in every state I know of to use a rimfire cartridge to hunt deer.But it is definately capable.The indians of the far north kill the BIG bears with it regularly.Thats right ,the big bears with a 22mag and 22lr.Dont ask we why ,but they do.They sneak up and pop them in the head at 3 feet and it goes through the brain.If you want to think about it in a technical point of view,you can kill any north american animal if your cartridge can penetrate 1 inch of bone.The one inch is the skull thickness,and most deer only have around a 1/4 inch thick skull.If you can get to the brain,Its dead.The only problem is getting really close to the animal.I know someone that was forced to shoot a medium sized black bear with a 17hmr.One shot through the eye and into the brain and he was dead.Ive heard some people say the 17hmr is only good for animals less than 5 lb.That bear didnt seem to know that.What really maters is shot placement.

RE: 22 mag deer
 

The .22 mag is illegal here in Texas, this I know. I also have taken 3 deer with it. 2 were body(heart lung) shots, one fell the other went about 20yds, the third was a neck shot and it fell. All were 120 lb deer and shots were around 70yds.
Its very capable, but I dont recomend it even if it were legal, there just better choices. I Just got me a .22 hornet for next year. This is legal in texas.

RE: 22 mag deer
 

There are very few states where the 22 mag is legal. Most require centerfire only.

RE: 22 mag deer
 

Legal or not I don't recommend using a 22mag on deer size game.We as hunter need to make the most clean and humane kills possible.It's hard for me to swallow that a hunting safety instructor would mention using a 22 mag for deer.It;s just not ethical or good practice in my opinion.

Ruger Redhawk

RE: 22 mag deer
 

Well said RR. Rimfires are not legal here in Ky, but if they were, I'd NEVER take a chance like that. We, as true sportmen, owe it the game we chase to make as quick and humane kill as possible. A wounded deer running around is just another bullet in the anti-hunters gun. I don't know who gave this guy his certification to be an instructor, but they need to re-think it. He's obviously not teaching ethical ways of hunting to young/new hunters and needs to be "culled" before he "instructs" any more bad habits.

RE: 22 mag deer
 

I doubt that your instructor was actually condoning you going out and hunting deer with a .22 mag.

I am sure he was simply trying to convey how even some of the smallest cartridges can be capeable of killing even large animals when in the hands of very skilled hunters.

The .22mag is more than capeable of killing any deer that walks this planet. Even elk and moose. Put a bullet of any size where it needs to go and the result is a dead animal.

Did he add anything to this statement before or after? Any other context that goes along with it?

RE: 22 mag deer
 

When I was in Idaho on an Elk hunt in 98 I went into a small rural Sporting goods store.
I was looking at the used guns and ask the owner if he had any .22 mags, he said no I wish I had a hundred but I can't keep them in stock.
After asking why they were so popular, he heitated then began explaining that they were the gun of choice for bow hunters.
He said the locals would stash one inthe area they were bow hunting,then go to that area during the rut and call up the big bulls and pop one in the neck with the .22 mag. stash the mag, then quarter it and pack it out and no one was the wiser.
He said that in that area at least 90% of the big bull archery klls were taken that way.
When I ask how effective a neck shot on an elk was, he said that if you knew where to stoot one,slightly behind the ear, that they would drop in their tracks paralized from the neck bone hit,then,if necessary, they were finished off with an arrow.
The reasons he gave for using the .22 mag was, they are cheap and can be left out in the weather for weeks and if they get rusted it was no big deal plus the report when fired could not be heard very far.

So I guess if anyone has a .22 mag that they no longer want, there is a little gun shop near Avery Idaho that would love to buy it!

RE: 22 mag deer
 

Personally I think that bigcountry and bigbull have the correct interpretation of what the instructor was trying to say. It was just a statement about the 22 mag. nothing more , nothing less.

RE: 22 mag deer
 

When we butcher our beef and hogs thats what we use,one shot to the head,BAM flop.It will work on deer also,seen it with my own eyes.Shoot them in the head about 2 inches down from the top,or as they feed by they put their head down and behind the ear right at the base of the neck(I'm talking 40 yds or less).

Now is it the right gun for the job,heck no.A person would be better off with a 243 or larger for deer.

RE: 22 mag deer
 

If I could only have one gun it would be a 22 mag. It does a number on Coyotes and Foxes. I have never shot a deer with one.

RE: 22 mag deer
 

maybe he was just trying to tell you that even though its small it still has alot of power and you must be carefull even if it is "just a 22" when your out shooting or hunting small game with it.....trying to get the point across that you have to be careful with any weapon....just because its small it still has the power to go far and kill.......i highly doubt any insturctor was telling you to hunt deer with a 22.....

RE: 22 mag deer
 

Capable, yes. Suitable, no.

If your hunter safety instructor was endorsing the use of any rimfire for deer hunting, then he's an idiot, or a poacher, or both. I would call the your local Conservation Officer/Game Warden and ask him what he thinks about what your instructor said.

Mike

RE: 22 mag deer
 

I will agree with Ridge Runner....and I can also say in the areas that Bigcountry and myself lived...the 22 mag is definitely the poachers #1 choice!!!

RE: 22 mag deer
 

When I took the concealed to carry handgun class the instructor also talked broadly about the .22 mag.
He said it was the most feared round by law enforcement officers.
He gave several occasions that the .22mag had pierced armored vest.
He stated that the vest would stop a .357 mag or a .44 mag but due to smaller bullet diameter that the .22mag went thru and told of many officers killed or wounded by them,as well as several civilans on cases he had investigated.
He also gave examples of the local DNR using them to kill deer for research studies.
He only gave those as examples and certainly did not recommend them for deer hunting.
He did however recommend them highly as a self protection handgun.

He is a conservation officer here in WV and certifies local state and federal law officers in handgun training,he has many awards and shooting records and is a no nonsence kink of guy.
I highly recommend him to anyone that wants to take the concealed to carry class to get their permit.
His name is Richard Robinson and can be contacted thru the wv Dept. of natural resources.

RE: 22 mag deer
 

All I would say to that is that I have seen nearly into the hundreads, if not more deer killed with a 22 mag and never one lost to it. I will not say when where or how but I am a believer in it. I hunted most my life with a .222 without any problem, I live in Kansas at the present time and had to go out and buy a .243 just so I can hunt due to caliber restrictions. I worked in a processing plant in Texas for a while and constantly saw deer killed by big city hunters with 7mm mags and bigger because they thought they needed a big caliber to kill deer. The results were always a large amount of meat lost to the wound and a mangled deer. Just my $0.02

RE: 22 mag deer
 

I have killed many deer myself with the .22 mag
I will tell you where and how,they were legal.
West Virginia,the how is that the DNR issues garden and crop damage permits to landowners for enough deer to stop the damage and compensate for the damages.
This is usually in the summer and you can use anything you want to shoot the permit deer.
I helped a friend shoot 15 a few years back,we shot 2-3 per evening as we saved the meat and that was all we could take care of before they could spoil.
All were one shot kills in the head or neck at 30-50 yds.
when used properly they will certainly do the job,that is why they are the gun of choice for poachers.

The point I was getting across was that the instructers did not advise anyone to deer hunt with .22 mags.

RE: 22 mag deer
 

Will the 22 mag. harvest a deer yes indeed i have taken 8 of them with a 22 & shorts. I just shot them between the eye and the ear, dead deer. In the south half dz. states allow them for deer hunting. Its an experts rifle cal. So please keep an open mind, it maynot be your cup of tea but anothers sweet peach. I don't suggest folks run out and buy one just because they can harvest game with it and very light recoil. Hey were in the real world and folks do many things they shouldn't. [&:]

.22 (of any sort) for deer is the experts gun at best, not for a new shooter. And the expert is going to wait for the proper shot placement to be possible.

The .22 rim-fires are used by poachers due to the very low report. The poacher is shooting illegal and so this is a big point in favor of the .22 mag. But poachers also waste a good deal of game this way when a bad hit is made they just drive on.

I know a man who, when younger & quite poor, killed a lot of deer with a 222 by shooting them in the head. Local land owners thought nothing of the crack of his rifle as he was always glad to eliminate any chucks the wished to be rid of. He was never caught for this reason. Per this man the 222 when used for a head shot will take off about 1/3 of the top of the deers head..........dead is dead.

I know he also took a deer legally with a 1/9 twist savage 22-250 handloaded with Swift 75 gr. Sirocco bullets. He shot a doe right behind the shoulder taking out the top of the heart & punching through both lungs as well. Deer still ran for 80yds however, which shows that even a expert shooter & perfect placed shot has limits on deer sized game. The thing I found of interest with this doe is that the bullet passed through & exited.....with over 2" exit. I was surprise the bullet did not blow up, but it clearly did not.

.22 center-fire rifles are legal in Mi.

Rim-fires are not.

My $.02. I ahve no doubts that the 22 mag. can kill deer sized game. I read a very good book written about a plane crash survivor that made it out of far north western Canada in the dead of winter back in the 1950's ... he had a "survival" rifle in 22 LR., with which he dropped a mature cow moose. No body I know would based upon that incident of taking a moose out of necessity that the 22 LR is a moose cartridge !

Likewise, legal or not, the 22 Mag. in my opinion is not a "wise" choice for deer sized game. My personal minimal would be the almost forgotten 6 mm Rem. or the popular 243 Win.

Curious.....what made you drag up an 8 year old thread?

:popcorn::popcorn:

LOL!

Was just reading some topics based on search & forgot to check the age of the thread.

Ooops.:confused0024:

I would think this is the point that your instructor was trying to make...that a .22 rimfire is not a toy, and that it can kill animals larger than rabbits and squirrels. I don't think he was advocating the .22 Mag as a deer cartridge.

Many .22 rimfire boxes used to have a caution printed on them of "Dangerous within 1 mile."

Montana does not have any caliber restrictions for big game hunting. You can legally hunt deer or elk or whatever with a .22 rimfire. I also do not advocate hunting deer with .22 rimfires, but I have killed more than a few mule deer with .22 LR cartridges. All were one shot kills, and shot at under 50 yds, and none were wounded and lost.

"Montana does not have any caliber restrictions for big game hunting. You can legally hunt deer or elk or whatever with a .22 rimfire. I also do not advocate hunting deer with .22 rimfires, but I have killed more than a few mule deer with .22 LR cartridges. All were one shot kills, and shot at under 50 yds, and none were wounded and lost."


***Why do people have to come on a hunting forum discussing less than adequate cartridges for big game hunting with comments like that?!!! With all the calibers that can be used for humane kills on game it sure doesn't make any sense to me to use a 22LR on a big animal like a deer.