JVic

I have a 7 mag and a 22-250. I hunt with my 7 mag but it makes a mess of the deer. Im afraid the 22-250 is to small though. What do you think?

skeeter 7MM

I have never found it too big! Pretty hard to give you advice when you don't give much details like how far the shots are, what bullet your using, where you like to aim, what game you hunt (just deer or others), etc. Maybe try picking a different bullet or different shots. The other optionwould betrade it for something a little smaller like the 2506, 7mm 08, 270, 308, etc.

DOUBLE-LUNG

I agrree w/skeeter
A good shot placement will not ruin meat. Personally hitting the boiler room is a enter/exit wound. The bigger the gun, the easier is will penetrate the rib cage.

James B

Almost any rifle will go through the rib cage and hit the vitals. Given the choice between the 7 Mag and the 22-250 for deer, I would take the 22-250 in a heartbeat. SLOW THAT 7 MAG DOWN TO 2700 FPS AND USE A BULLET WITH A HEAVIER JACKET LIKE THE 154 GRAIN hORNADY AND YOU WILL CUT DOWN A TON ON YOUR MEAT DAMAGE. hOWEVER AS THE OTHERS HAVE SAID, SHOT PLACEMENT IS THE KEY.MY 25-06 WILL DISTROY MEAT TOO IF YOU SHOOT A HIGH VELOCITY BULLET WITH A LIGHT JACKET AND HIT A BIGGER BONE. Opps hit the cap lock. Sorry about that.

kinny

If your goal is to kill and recoverthe deer then you cannot have too much gun, but you sure as heck can have too little. I cannot speak for other deer hunters but my only concern when I pull the trigger is to kill the deer, the thoughts of saving meat might occur to me if I was shootinga beef cow, but if I have a Boone and Crockett buck in front of me I want something that will put the deer downwhen I don't have a perfect broadside shot.

trailer

Yes, I would also say that shot placement is very important but is 7 mm Rem. Mag to big, I don’t think so. I would rather use the 7 mm Rem Mag compared to the 22-250. Personal preference.

timbercruiser

I've trailed several heavy blood trails on deer that were shot with a 7mm as well as a 300 short that the deer were not recovered. Don't matter what you choose to hunt with, a good shot placement is imperative.

Rebel Hog

You said it right!

stubblejumper

I use the 7mmstw launching 140gr ballistic tips at 3500fps for my own deer hunting.I uselungshots,and other than a few ribs,I losevery little edible meat.If you hit shoulders with any cartridge you will certainly lose more meat.

YooperMike

I've hunted with a 7mm my whole hunting carreer and have had excellent results with it. I take no stock in the "too much gun" BS. I've never had a deer take more than 3 steps with my gun amd I guess if I mess up a little meat its not the end of the world for me.