I've always thought anything in .224 was too small for deer. I've never shot a deer with one. There are so many people I know personally here in Texas that hunt deer with that caliber(especially 22-250) and are very successful, that I shouldn't doubt the caliber though. And if you think about it, with so little recoil I bet that a higher percentage of shots hit vitals than with larger calibers because people are more accurate with less recoil.

But then again everything is bigger in Texas - except our deer.

Don't roll those bloodshot eyes at me.