Taking a deer with a 22-250

[grampy]

Did someone say pellet rifle for elephant? Where do I sign up?

X-Calibur Lighting Systems

http://facebook.com/XCaliburLightingSystems[/quote

Pellet rifle ? If you really want a challenge, go with a slingshot!

[Slaynbux]

I say go for it but use heavy bullets. I've Been using a 223 for years leaving bigger cal guns in the safe. But I only use in my tree stands on un spooked deer using 69 or 77 gr bullets. Spinal chord or head only. let them get in bow range .no wasted meat ,no blood trailing. Bang flop. U want to still hunt or shoot at deer on a drive hunt go bigger

[Five Seasons]

Sweet, now we're getting good. The spinal cord head shot assassins are in the house.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Edited July 12, 2015 by Belo

[cdmckane]

 

1. How often has any hunter ever said "Damn, I should have used a smaller caliber."?

 

 

Those words have never crossed my mind, let along my lips. 

[eagle rider]

There is a reason why many states require a minimum of 6mm / 243 Win or bigger.  Because it can be done, it doesn't mean it is the most ethical practice.   Bigger is more sure thing,.... as a good friend once said, why hit a deer with a moped when you can hit it with a Buick!  Think 270, 30-06....  

[Slaynbux]

We love eating hearts around here so ya bela central nervous system. Not many threads ago bela you bragged" I consider myself a sniper one shot one kill. U don't need 30 rounds to kill a deer. Remember. Waste those skills on a circulatory system shot at 50 yds or less.Bahh

[wolc123]

  If you want a "challenge" and a heart to eat, put an arrow thru it.  It doesn't bloody up any of that tasty meat. 

[Slaynbux]

I personally never said anything about "challenge"we get five tags in this state. I bowhunt 3 months a year after that time to fill the freezer. Nice shot though.

[Doc]

I went through this wrestling match a couple of seasons ago when deer hunting with rifles became legal. I wanted a caliber that had sufficient range and energy, but yet could be very comfortable on a bench for an hour of steady shooting (As opposed to that stinking 12 gauge that has me flinching after 5 shots). I settled in on the .270 Darn comfortable round to be shooting and yet enough bite to put the deer down. I could have dropped down to a .243, but the recoil on the .270 was so light that I really didn't have to go any lighter.

 

 

[wolc123]

You are right on the money there Doc on the recoil. For those of us who grew up using a shotgun and slugs for deer, almost any rifle is tame. The .30/06, M77 Ruger bolt-action (identical powder load as your .270) that I use now does not feel much different hitting my shoulder as a .22 rim-fire when I compare it to my granddad's old Ithaca featherlight, 16 ga pump shotgun that I still use on occasion. Certainly I can't tell much difference in "shoulder punch" between the .30/06 and my .22/250 of the same model. The recoil reduction argument doesn't hold water with me. I guess it would make a bigger difference in light-weight, carbine models, but it is negligible in a standard weight rifle.

[Doc]

I suffered with that old shoulder-mangling, 12 gauge Ithaca Deerslayer since 1969 when I bought it new. Never could practice with it. The best I could do was the annual 5 shots off the bench just to check out the scope. If I didn't get the pattern I wanted, that meant I was in for a very ugly day of shoulder abuse, because about that time I would be developing a pretty good flinch.....lol. Today, I can go up to my range up on the hill and shoot tiny little groups until I just get tired of it, and in the last couple of years I have already put way more rounds through that .270 that I ever did with that 12 gauge in 46 years that I owned it. Whatever you get, it should be fun to shoot.

[Five Seasons]

You are right on the money there Doc on the recoil. For those of us who grew up using a shotgun and slugs for deer, almost any rifle is tame. The .30/06, M77 Ruger bolt-action (identical powder load as your .270) that I use now does not feel much different hitting my shoulder as a .22 rim-fire when I compare it to my granddad's old Ithaca featherlight, 16 ga pump shotgun that I still use on occasion. Certainly I can't tell much difference in "shoulder punch" between the .30/06 and my .22/250 of the same model. The recoil reduction argument doesn't hold water with me. I guess it would make a bigger difference in light-weight, carbine models, but it is negligible in a standard weight rifle.

 

I have a pretty nice browning 12 gauge gold edition deer hunter. The kick on that thing compared to a 30-06 is night and day. Thinking i need anything less is sort of funny. The only reason I went bigger than 270 was in case I wanted to hunt a bear or something bigger. Otherwise, I think 270 is the perfect whitetail round.

 

this picture below should be enough to make you step up to the .243 or .270

[DirtTime]

and for a bear...i would not use a 30-06 i mean that would be like using a 22-250 on a deer.  youd need something that would be a fast kill to drop the bear.. so in theory , by the slams to the 22 vs deer, you should use at least a 338 or 50 cal. that way ya know its gonna be a for sure kill...lol 

 

A 30-06 not enough for bear? Really? Tell that to anyone who has taken a bear with a recurve, compound, or crossbow.

 

That said, after looking around a bit it seems many people like the 60gr Nosler Partition for deer. Also after looking they recommend checking the twist rate in the barrel as the basic twist doesn't take well to the heavier bullet. Doesn't stabalize right.

 

 

EDIT:

After looking a bit more they also recommend not shooting at a deer over 100 yds.

Edited July 13, 2015 by ....rob

[dbHunterNY]

A 30-06 not enough for bear? Really? Tell that to anyone who has taken a bear with a recurve, compound, or crossbow.

 

That said, after looking around a bit it seems many people like the 60gr Nosler Partition for deer. Also after looking they recommend checking the twist rate in the barrel as the basic twist doesn't take well to the heavier bullet. Doesn't stabalize right.

 

I believe my savage is 1:9 and it takes to 60gr bullets pretty well.

 

federal fusions also aren't a bad bullet at all.

Edited July 13, 2015 by dbHunterNY

[DirtTime]

I have no qualms with anyone using a 22-250 for deer, I have never done it so I did some research, and just posted what I found on many different sites. They also say neck shot is the best to make a clean kill as already mentioned.

 

[Five Seasons]

I have no qualms with anyone using a 22-250 for deer, I have never done it so I did some research, and just posted what I found on many different sites. They also say neck shot is the best to make a clean kill as already mentioned.

Limiting yourself to a small caliber and small vital is just silly is what the point is. Step up a little in power with not a huge noticeable kick increase and shoot for much larger vitals

[DirtTime]

If you are dead set on using that rifle for deer, then do so. Just make sure you hit the range and dial in for yardage. Knowing where it will be at certain ranges will be imperative. You want to make sure you are hitting the heart and not just the lungs with that caliber. It will be so fast the deer might run a long way before it dies.

If you can I would suggest going up to a 7mm/08, .243, or .308. Maybe even a 30/30. All still low recoil, but more kinetic energy.  

 I already said that. OP said he was using a .308 and wanted a challenge. OP seems dead set on usin a 22-250, so I offered what I could find on ammo and that a lot of people say the twist might be off on certain rifles using the hevier bullet.

I would never do it, but who am I to tell anyone what to shoot or not shoot? I am not God! As long as it's a legal caliber, and they use the smaller calibers with common sence and hit the range to know wher they are hitting on impact, who are any of us to judge?

Edited July 13, 2015 by ....rob

[Doc]

They also say neck shot is the best to make a clean kill as already mentioned.

 

Not to take this thread to far away from its topic, but I do have to point out how much non-lethal area there is in the neck. Don't take my word for it, consult the following link:

http://huntingny.com/forums/topic/6770-deer-anatomy/

[Lawdwaz]

The neck shot isn't even worth talking about IMO.

[Pygmy]

One of the nastiest wounds I ever saw on a deer resulted from a friend of mine taking  a neck shot on a PA buck with a varmint type bullet in his 22-250.

  If he were hunting in thick cover rather than open woods he very well may have lost it.

The bullet left a shallow, pancake type wound on the surface, blowing away what looked like 2 pounds of meat, but failed to break the neck..He had to track the deer and finish it. It was still on it's feet when he finished it with a head shot.

 

I saw a similar wound once from a muzzleloader..  The guy was usuing a saboted pistol type bullet ahead of a heavy load of pyrodex..  The bullet blew up on the shoulder and left a massive surface wound but failed to penetrate the chest cavity..

He was lucky and managed to reload and finish the deer, but it may well have escaped..

Edited July 14, 2015 by Pygmy

[Uncle Nicky]

The neck is a fairly large target to shoot at, and lots of room for error. The only sure shot I know of on the neck is where the head meets the neck, and unless I have a deer standing still broadside at less then 50 yards, I'm putting it right on his shoulders.

[Doc]

I once shot a deer that I heard at about 50 to 75 yards. Yes I heard it, because of a very loud wheezing sound that it was making. She was coming through with her head down in very obvious distress. It turned out that the wind-pipe had been severed by a slug without a whole lot of other damage. Obviously a neck shot attempt.

 

Another deer had the lower jaw blown apart and swinging from the deer's head like a dangling piece of hamburg. Another attempted favorite shot, the "head shot" gone astray.

 

I don't understand why people purposely go for these low percentage, limited sized shooting areas. I'm not sure whether it is some belief in their shooting prowess, or some kind of macho thing. But I know people who will pass up broadside shots where that huge heart/lung area is completely exposed, for a risky head or neck shot. Yeah, I know about the "messes up less meat" argument, but when you mess up a deer with high risk shots, you likely will wind up with no meat and an animal condemned to a slow lingering death.

 

Again sorry for taking the thread off topic, but there is a very obscure similarity in that risky shots can also include using calibers that may not be completely satisfactory with similar results to risky shot selection.

 

Ok, rant complete.

[Five Seasons]

 I already said that. OP said he was using a .308 and wanted a challenge. OP seems dead set on usin a 22-250, so I offered what I could find on ammo and that a lot of people say the twist might be off on certain rifles using the hevier bullet.

I would never do it, but who am I to tell anyone what to shoot or not shoot? I am not God! As long as it's a legal caliber, and they use the smaller calibers with common sence and hit the range to know wher they are hitting on impact, who are any of us to judge?

 

wasn't trying to get on you. The OP's attitude was a little bothersome to me. Comes on here thinking he may get some support for his choice, and then when he doesn't get it, he calls us out for telling him it's not a good idea. We don't do any hunter a service by condoning a hunting method that can lead to wounding deer. We have enough barriers to overcome as a group. Saying it's ok to take neck shots with lower than desirable calibers is not what we should do to help our cause.

[wolc123]

Right on there Belo/Doc. The OP was pretty reasonable until he made the: ".30/06 inadequate for bear" claim. That kind of came from left field, like maybe he had been drinking a little too much prior to posting. I also agree that he is getting a some bad advise by those pushing the head and neck shots. In fact, ethically, I would call passing on broadside heart/lung shots in favor of a head or neck shot with any caliber, a poorer choice than using a 22/250 for deer when you have access to a .308. Some folks have to see stuff such as the ugly wounds you described for themselves however. It don't take many until they see the error of their ways.

Maybe 1/2 dozen times, I have finished wounded deer with neck shots, but out of a hundred or so killed, my first shot struck the neck only twice. Once was from 10 yards away with a 16 ga, scoped shotgun, because that was all I had to shoot at, with the rest of the body covered by a bush. The buck was big, my largest symmetric typical to that point, and the target would have been hard to miss. The slug severed his spine and he dropped dead in his tracks. The damage to the cape saved me some cash by doing a "European" rather than a shoulder mount. The second was a buck that "jumped the string" on a compound bow shot, catching the arrow thru the jugular vane and expiring quickly after a 40 yard dash. Fortunately I am 2/2 neck shots, one intentional the other not. As far as the "meat-saving" argument, a center lung shot ruins less useable meat than a neck shot anyhow.

Edited July 14, 2015 by wolc123

[cdmckane]

I only take boiler room shots.  Period.  I want a round that will do the job at ranges from 10-200 yds.  Therefore, I use either my Savage 220F or my Model 700 in .30-06 or my TC in the late season.  I don't care how many deer have been taken in the past with varmint calibers, I'll stick with my proven rounds.  My father-in-law only hunts with his .22 Hornet.  I don't hunt with him because I don't feel that's an ethical caliber on deer.  If you have to take a head or a neck shot because your round won't do the job on the boiler room, you have no business using that round on deer, IMO.