RE: 22-250 for deer?
 

I agree with the .243 as a great beginner deer gun. Mild kick and will do the job better than a .22 cal rifle.

RE: 22-250 for deer?
 

I think the 22-250 would be a little light weight for a beginner, depending on his skill level. With excellent shot placement, no problem. But with a beginner, I would think you would want to beef up a bit, just to be safe.

My buddy just picked up a 7mm-08 for his son who is just starting out. Nice rifle... very little recoil (very comparable to a .243), with a more killing power than the 22-250.

Good luck,

RE: 22-250 for deer?
 

In Michigan, any caliber CF can be used except .17. I think that 22-250 would make a good gun for everything - squirrel, deer, pheasant, rabbit and moose - just make sure you hit 'em in the eye - that'll get their respect!:D

IM jaybe :)

RE: 22-250 for deer?
 

I agree that the .243 is a great deer rifle, especially where I hunt in the Texas Hill Country, where the deer aren't exactly huge.Bucks in the area run around 150 lbs, and does average around 100 lbs. I've taken two bucks with my .243, and both were complete broadside penetrations using (non-premium) 100 gr. Remington Core-Lokts.

RE: 22-250 for deer?
 

Ok...heres my take on it...If a .243 is mainly for expert marksmen and hunters then the 22-250 (and .223) are even more so....It can be very effective if a hunter is willing to only take (or set up to have) "perfect" shots and angles...I have killed about 25 deer with a 22-250...most in the early '70s when I was a teenager as a pest (crop control) weapon...I only took broadside lung shots and neck shots (where the neck joins the body)...back then we only had 55gr hollow point or pointed soft point bullets....When that bullet hits the lungs at 25-125 yards it turns into shrapnel...it can make a nasty wound....I never had a problem with deer getting away, but I had no exit wounds and lung shot deer usually ran 80-125 yards or so...but you had no blood trail, if you let the deer get out into the field 75 yards or so, you didn't have a big problem finding them just inside the woods...When I was hunting in the summer for crop control, the deer were more apt to move into the field earlier in the afternoon and come out farther from the woods line than during the fall season...I could literally wait until I had the perfect shot...I killed a nice 10 point buck in '75 with a 22-250....he was 50 yards into the cut corn field and didn't make it back into the woods....

So...if you are sure of your marksmanship and have the patience and ability to find your deer without a blood trail, you are in good shape...Fortunately I grew up on a farm and started squirrel hunting with a .22 at about age 9...My dad only believed in head shots for squirrels...If you are that good then a 22-250 will put meat in the freezer...Now that they have "deer" bullets in 22 caliber, it does somewhat better....My brother acquired a 22-250 a couple of years ago in a trade, he remembered me using it to kill deer with when he was younger....I bought a couple of boxes of Federal Premium 60gr Nosler Partitions and his 14 year old daughter killed 2 does one afternoon with that gun this past season....both were within 100 yards and both dropped at the shot...perfect shoulder shots...Both had exit holes about the size of a quarter....

In NC there is nothing in the rule book about a minimum caliber for deer rifles...In fact back in the early 70s some counties would not let you use a caliber larger than .22...for anything....So many hunters went out and bought a 22-250... I know several hunters that still use .223, 22-250s and .220 Swifts....Most of these guys are target shooters and groundhog hunters, most hunt on their own land, usually over a field and we have a 2-3 month season, depending upon which end of the state you live on....Most of these guys can hunt every afternoon and kill a couple of deer at their leisure....2-3 deer are all they kill a year and they don't (or won't) go out and spend more money for a "deer" rifle....The ones I know best are handloaders and shoot alot....I would bet that they lose less deer because they know they can hit what they aim at then some of the other guys I know that use much larger calibers...and flinch...I'm not going to get into a big "ethics" discussion with guys that have used these guns for years with no problems....The average doe in NC probably will weigh 80-90 pounds....I have seen a few Boone and Crockett does....but these guys are looking for meat to put in the freezer...They aren't going to Canada or Iowa to kill a 250 pound B&C buck...they are quite happy putting a few does in the freezer each year.

All this being said....The .243 is much more of a deer rifle than a .22 centerfire...
There is a large selection of factory bullets to choose from that will give a hunter whatever he wants...I have used one since 1980....no problems...It is a much better selection for a young hunter than a .22 centerfire....If the child in question can't handle the recoil of a .243 then they should stick to the .22s and squirrels for a few more years.

RE: 22-250 for deer?
 

Can you kill deer with a 22-250? Yep. Can you wipe your @$$ with a corn cob? Yep. But in both cases I'd rather use something better suited to the task at hand.

Ihear a lot of people making comments like, "wait for a perfect shot and you will be okay" or "with perfect shot placement you won't have a problem". Well gee folks the person in question who is going to be using this caliber is a kid, right?. Kids are far more likely to make a bad shot or not wait for that perfect opportunity. I've seen deer shot with everything from a 223 to a 375 H&H magnum and I'm telling you that these little high velocity 22 caliber bullets can be rapidly lethal when all goes well but if you hit them too far back or pull the shot and hit their scapula bone (as perhaps a kid might) then good luck finding that one. A 243 will at least allow you to use a 100 grain bullet that is designed for deer sized game. And nooffense butthe recoil of a 243 is so mildthat if a child can't handle it......wellperhaps they aren't old enough for hunting deer with a rifle yet.

RE: 22-250 for deer?
 

LOL...well said

RE: 22-250 for deer?
 

Could'nt have said it better.

RE: 22-250 for deer?
 

Well said, Todd!

i know...
 

I know that I can take a dear with my savage .22-250 but it is still against the law in most places to hunt dear with anything under a .24 round