Use something bigger. If the .222 doesn't make a clean kill and the thing turns into a mess you are probably going to lose a hunting partner. That's my two cents.
.222 for deer hunting?
- Thread starter zorak
- Start date
bozo699
Gold $$ Contributor
LHSMITH,
Where I live they do have a .243 cal restriction for deer and elk,it use to be just on elk but a few years back they included deer also. (Washington st.) I personaly think it is stupid, I fed my family for years with a .222 and not one time ever did it not get the job done.
Wayne.
Where I live they do have a .243 cal restriction for deer and elk,it use to be just on elk but a few years back they included deer also. (Washington st.) I personaly think it is stupid, I fed my family for years with a .222 and not one time ever did it not get the job done.
Wayne.
bozo- I was correcting miss-information about Pennsylvania game law. I think my states rules allowing a .17 CF, Hornet or BEE are stupid. As far as the original question on this thread, since the OP's girlfriend is a new shooter, I would get her as much time behind a rifle as possible before letting her attempt to take a whitetail with a .222.
My brother and I both killed several pickup loads of mule deer with a 222 Remington. As several posters have said, bigger may be better and shot placement is critical. Know her limitations, get her close and make her a hunter and not just a shooter. Know your limitations as a "guide" as well. My wife still amazes me with her skillls. Don't make her do anything she is not comfortable doing and you should be fine. Take all the time it takes so she can shoot, then go hunt. Good luck.
Hands Down My Favorite off the shelf caliber for Kids Less than 75lbs is a .223rem with a heavy Barrel. It just does not hurt or scare them. I have taught many children to hunt with one.
I have made the mistake of using heavier calibers 243, 257, etc.. Even with lite loads and with the stocks cut to fit, they just kick like a 375 to a kid. Load a good bullet like a Barnes or a Nosler partition if you handload or if you don't, buy Federal Premiums with the 60 Gr. Nosler partition, or Black Hills with a 62 grain barnes solid. Behind the shoulder shots 150 yds or less will Kill the Hell out of Deer.
If you insist on a bigger Caliber, have your kids dry fire a rifle many, many, many times at a target. I have found this Much more effective as practise than repeatedly kicking the heck out of them and teaching them to Flinch.
I Have personally witnessed dozens and dozens(If not hundreds, We live in TX and legally cull our ranches) of deer killed with a .223 and not just head or neck shots. Behind the shoulder works Great.
Just my 2 cents and lots of experience.
Capt. Ben
I have made the mistake of using heavier calibers 243, 257, etc.. Even with lite loads and with the stocks cut to fit, they just kick like a 375 to a kid. Load a good bullet like a Barnes or a Nosler partition if you handload or if you don't, buy Federal Premiums with the 60 Gr. Nosler partition, or Black Hills with a 62 grain barnes solid. Behind the shoulder shots 150 yds or less will Kill the Hell out of Deer.
If you insist on a bigger Caliber, have your kids dry fire a rifle many, many, many times at a target. I have found this Much more effective as practise than repeatedly kicking the heck out of them and teaching them to Flinch.
I Have personally witnessed dozens and dozens(If not hundreds, We live in TX and legally cull our ranches) of deer killed with a .223 and not just head or neck shots. Behind the shoulder works Great.
Just my 2 cents and lots of experience.
Capt. Ben
like many others said it's not what you hit'em with it's where when i was little i dropped a doe no problem from 80 yards with a 17 remington.
RELOADER300 said:
Oh, I don't doubt it will kill a small deer......eventually. and only if you can make the shot placement perfectly will it be quick. I have too much respect for the animal, and would not use a .17 anything, a misplaced shot will more than likely end up with a suffering animal which probably does not get recovered.
I would say most the active members on this website could kill a deer with a well placed shot from a .222, and most of them probably wouldn't take the shot unless they had a perfectly steady rest and knew they could make the shot. My problem with everyone advocating to go ahead and hunt with such a small caliber is that most hunters are not that great of a shot, and many will take questionable shots. Lots of people just read this website and I hate the idea of anyone walking away thinking a .222 is a good caliber to hunt deer with.
I think if you pumped up a .177 caliber pellet gun enough times you could probably kill a deer with one of those too.
I think if you pumped up a .177 caliber pellet gun enough times you could probably kill a deer with one of those too.
I took my daughter hunting first time 2 years ago...
Friend wanted does culled from his lease...With permit....
Shot a 5# Sako rifle chambered in 17 cal on 222 Mag case...She shot 2 at 80 90 yds broadside..I shot 1 60 yds headon..Total movement of all 3 was less than 3 inches...All dead on the spot....25 gr hollow point..24.5 gr powder....
Speed KILLS...
LT
Friend wanted does culled from his lease...With permit....
Shot a 5# Sako rifle chambered in 17 cal on 222 Mag case...She shot 2 at 80 90 yds broadside..I shot 1 60 yds headon..Total movement of all 3 was less than 3 inches...All dead on the spot....25 gr hollow point..24.5 gr powder....
Speed KILLS...
LT
I don't know how big deer in the US are, but hundreds of thousands of Red deer, Thar and Chamois were culled in New Zealand with the little .222. These people were getting paid by every tail they took back so having a deer run off to die was not a good outcome for them, yet the .222 was the calibre of choice. This was in the early '50's to the early '70's, long before premium bullets ever made it down under or to New Zealand, and it worked then and it will work now if the bullet is placed well.
Steve
Steve
I really have mixed feelings about this topic! Like I said in a much earlier post. I have taken whitetails with a cal as small as a 22mag. Yes that isn't legal in the state of NC! You can't hunt deer with anything other than centifire. I was young and dumb, and broke the law! However it was accomplished! With that much said, and now that I'm much older! I respect the laws and understand them much better now! Still yet I have taken many Whitetails with a 220 swift! 50gr blitz king! I think where my conflict and mixed feelings are coming from is how someone else does somthing compared to how I do things. I look at this topic like this. 200yrds in I would take a shot at any whitetail any day of the week and twice on sunday, simply because I know my rifle, I know my load, I know my own capiablities with that rifle! There was a post on this thread earlier that stated, some say they have never lost a deer and most are full of it! Well I'm not!! I have never!!!!!! Shot a deer and lost it!!! Why? Because I have never took a shot that I didn't think I could make, and that I didn't think the shot would kill the deer!!!! This is the only reason for MY 100% kill Ratio, and there is a lot of pride there because of it!
Now to encourage a new shooter to attempt a kill with a caliber as .222, I would never suggest! Yes I have allowed my 7yr old daughter at that time to take a whitetail doe with a 220 swift, but again I new she was capable of hiting her in the head at 80yrds. As well I knew my daughter had the confideints to do so herself. Also I had set up our box blind where my daughter could shoot from a front rest witch is what she was use to shooting from. The rifle is too heavy for her to shoot any other way. What Turely comes into play from one shooter to the next is one being honest with themself and thier abilty as well thier ability with a piticular rifle and cailiber! Understand the vitail area's of the animal they are hunting, or shooting, understanding the angles they are shooting at and how well the bullet of choice will react to hiting the animal at that angle, to get into the vitals!
Back to the OP! I still would say she can handle the recoil of a .243 and shooting a 100gr gameking or nosler partition would do the job. Keep her within 100yrds for her first shot on a live animail. Shooting at paper is more relaxing than the pressure of taken your first kill! Also Make sure she is shooting at least 2in groups at 100yrds. Those groups will probably become 3 or 4" groups when she gets under the pressure of shooting her first deer! 4" isn't that great at 100yrds on paper but is plenty to do the job behind the shoulder at 100yrds. With a good bullet, she'll take out the lungs, liver, or heart. Any of those orgins hit from a 243 at 100yrds and a 100gr bullet and the animal will never make it pass 100yrds, and thats being nice. As well a bullet that will pass tho. like the accubond or partition will leave a big enough exit wound that tracking the animal want be very hard!
Now to encourage a new shooter to attempt a kill with a caliber as .222, I would never suggest! Yes I have allowed my 7yr old daughter at that time to take a whitetail doe with a 220 swift, but again I new she was capable of hiting her in the head at 80yrds. As well I knew my daughter had the confideints to do so herself. Also I had set up our box blind where my daughter could shoot from a front rest witch is what she was use to shooting from. The rifle is too heavy for her to shoot any other way. What Turely comes into play from one shooter to the next is one being honest with themself and thier abilty as well thier ability with a piticular rifle and cailiber! Understand the vitail area's of the animal they are hunting, or shooting, understanding the angles they are shooting at and how well the bullet of choice will react to hiting the animal at that angle, to get into the vitals!
Back to the OP! I still would say she can handle the recoil of a .243 and shooting a 100gr gameking or nosler partition would do the job. Keep her within 100yrds for her first shot on a live animail. Shooting at paper is more relaxing than the pressure of taken your first kill! Also Make sure she is shooting at least 2in groups at 100yrds. Those groups will probably become 3 or 4" groups when she gets under the pressure of shooting her first deer! 4" isn't that great at 100yrds on paper but is plenty to do the job behind the shoulder at 100yrds. With a good bullet, she'll take out the lungs, liver, or heart. Any of those orgins hit from a 243 at 100yrds and a 100gr bullet and the animal will never make it pass 100yrds, and thats being nice. As well a bullet that will pass tho. like the accubond or partition will leave a big enough exit wound that tracking the animal want be very hard!
bozo699
Gold $$ Contributor
Mark,
Your post was very well put,and I agree with you a .243 would be probably a little better, but as TnHunter said there is only .019 difference from the .224-.243 and with a good bullet properly placed, the .222 will kill just as easly as the .243 If the shot isn't properly placed then the .243 will outshine the .222 in the fact it has much more energy. Now where your daughter was concerned precise shot placement was everything as the head of a deer is quite large but the kill zone
(The brain) is only about the size of a small coffee cup. By the way your not the only one on this forum to kill a deer with a rimfire rifle, some of us had no choice if we wanted to feed our family's when times were tough.
Wayne.
Your post was very well put,and I agree with you a .243 would be probably a little better, but as TnHunter said there is only .019 difference from the .224-.243 and with a good bullet properly placed, the .222 will kill just as easly as the .243 If the shot isn't properly placed then the .243 will outshine the .222 in the fact it has much more energy. Now where your daughter was concerned precise shot placement was everything as the head of a deer is quite large but the kill zone
(The brain) is only about the size of a small coffee cup. By the way your not the only one on this forum to kill a deer with a rimfire rifle, some of us had no choice if we wanted to feed our family's when times were tough.
Wayne.
bigedp51
Hunting in central PA during doe season, the neighbouring farmer ran out of .243 ammo during one of our "busy" drives. The farmer went back and got his .222 and killed a small doe with a shoulder shot.
The .222 blew a three inch diameter crater in the deers shoulder less than two inches deep. It was the strangest wound I have ever seen, it looked like a razor sharp ice cream scoop had cut out this impact crater with only a 1/2 inch area of damaged meat at the very bottom of this wound crater.
You would need to pick your .222 bullets very carefully and and aim for the head or neck for 100% kill shots. Quartering shots and rear end shots would be out of the question.
I was using my .243 with 100 grain Hornady interlock bullets and wished for more bullet weight for shots at running deer. Shots from a tree stand and standing deer with a .222 are possible, a running deer and quartering shots are for fools only.
I would use a bigger caliber with reduced youth loads or a .308 down loaded with 30-30 bullets. There is no substitute for bullet weight.
The .222 blew a three inch diameter crater in the deers shoulder less than two inches deep. It was the strangest wound I have ever seen, it looked like a razor sharp ice cream scoop had cut out this impact crater with only a 1/2 inch area of damaged meat at the very bottom of this wound crater.
You would need to pick your .222 bullets very carefully and and aim for the head or neck for 100% kill shots. Quartering shots and rear end shots would be out of the question.
I was using my .243 with 100 grain Hornady interlock bullets and wished for more bullet weight for shots at running deer. Shots from a tree stand and standing deer with a .222 are possible, a running deer and quartering shots are for fools only.
I would use a bigger caliber with reduced youth loads or a .308 down loaded with 30-30 bullets. There is no substitute for bullet weight.
i have seen rockchucks shot with my 300 wsm and 270 win. that have lived longer than a cow(beef) shot with 22 lr (just behind ear walking away dead on contact)and spike elk shot with 220 swift (hit in front shoulde dead within 50 yds) being a marksman and knowing the trajectory of your bullet come first magnums help make up for being inefficeint
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