Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Is the 222 Too Light For Deer?

A very good friend of mine has an eye problem. He has a wonderfully beautiful custom #1 Ruger in .338 Win. Mag. that he's been using for his deer and whatever hunting for many years, but developed an eye problem, and can't take recoil any more. He took his old Browning 1885 BPCR and rebarreled it to .222, and that's going to be his "deer rifle" from now on, due to his inability to take recoil wihtout it causing him to go blind in all liklihood. His plan is to shoot then in the head or neck, and I have no doubt at all that he'll do very well indeed, and that no deer will either be wounded, or be able to take a single step after he fires.

Another friend grew up literally on the banks of a local blackwater river, and shot his first deer at age 6, and was only 8 the first time dark caught him in the swamp. He's done a lot of cropping for the local farmers, and has shot more deer and wild hogs than most people will SEE in their lifetimes. Many of both have been with the .22 LR. He'd typically keep his gun in his truck, and after work, just cruise through the areas he's been told to police, and sometimes a .22 was all he HAD, so .... that's just what he used.

Deer are really easy to kill IF .... and THAT is the important part .... you just hit them well and use whatever weapon you have within its effective parameters.

IF you use whatever you have EFFECTIVELY and within its effective range, AND hit the deer right, you'll eat some very good venison. If you don't, and it doesn't matter which of these specifications you don't fall within, then you're gonna' have a long tracking job or go hungry.

Deer really are pretty delicate as animals go, but they CAN be tough when it wrong, or with the wrong type of bullets. Keep within a gun's range and power limitations, though, and most anything CAN kill deer cleanly. It's just up to the wielder to us it right.

I've known another guy who used a .222, and he was only a so-so shot, but he got a lot of deer with his 788, though he did have to chase a few due to poor bullet placement.

It's got a LOT more to do with the hunter than the gun when we consider what caliber is "good" for deer. They pretty much ALL are "good," IF used within their parameters and the shots are placed right.

The 222 cartridge is adequate for mule deer.

I love it when people with NO actual experience with the subject bring all these other factors in to support their personal bias.

One of the mule deer I shot was [GASP], running.

JG, Any of those deer from your pics above would be in serious trouble.

This one was in trouble too. 7mm 150 BT, quartering away, 175'ish yds, entered right hip, found underneath front left shoulder. Deer weighed 306lbs live. I don't think a .22 would've performed like that, but I'm not sure.


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I don't know from personal experience, but I've often heard that the Inuit tend to use small calibers almost exclusively, with anything over .223 being a big gun. I suppose tracking wouldn't be a huge issue for them though, if it were necessary.
I see how well the .22 CF's work on deer size game, makes me wonder if the .243 with 105's isn't all I really need for just about everything. So far I can't quite convince myself to take it for elk, even though I'm pretty sure it would do the job fine. We can't use .22's for big game here, but the .243 is equally easy to shoot and if I still have tags after bow season I'm going to use it.

Exactly.

You don't have a phugging clue. So STFU.

Do you have reamers???

I have killed deer with 22lr through 375 H&H, albeit only two with 222.

My boys and I have killed dozens with 22-250's ranging from reduced loads (sub 222 velocities) to full power. From 30 to 350 yards.

If you do not have any actual experience with 22's, how do you know what you are talking about?

[sarcasm on]
But gosh darn I just know that a 22 shouldn't, couldn't, can't, won't etc.... by golly, gee whiz. [sarcasm off]

You guys need to lighten up a little.....just having a little fun. PG, a sarcasm emoti would be nice for guys like you obviously......you're fixin' to bust a blood vessel there pal.

You are right, because a 53gr TSX out of my 22-250 would not have been found in the front shoulder, from my experience, it would have exited.

I have tried unsuccessfully to recover a 53gr TSX for many years. I did find a petal off of one once, after my son shot a deer through a vertebrae. Another running shot BTW.

JG, you simply need to admit you are wrong. You do not have the experience with 22 centerfires to make credible statements.

Ingwe, Steelhead, Scenar, myself and a whole bunch of people use them with no problems.

Have you ever thought that maybe it's the Indian that has problems and not the bow?

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.

I started deer hunting in 1966.My first rifle was a 222.I killed my first deer with a 222.In the seven years I hunted with it,I killed three deer.I shot at and hit several more,but I took home only three.Those 50gr bullets those days were designed for varmints and didn't give you very much penetration.The last deer I shot with it was about 35yds.I shot that deer right behind the shoulder and instantly a fist sized lump appeared were I hit it,but I never recovered that deer.I don't think it ever made it past the rib cage and into the internal organs.The last time I shot a 222,was in 1984.It was loaded with a 55gr Hornady Spire Point.I killed a 125lb sow at 75yd.That little 55gr bullets hit her right behind the shoulder and dropped her dead right there.I soon traded that rifle for a 6mm because I never really had the confidence in that rifle to get the job done everytime..Will a 222 kill a deer? Yes it will.Will it kill a hog? Yes it will.Is it a really great caliber for those jobs?I have to say,not really.I have to say,there are more bullets to choose from these days that are better suited for the job,but for me,bigger is better.From that 222,I went to a 30-30,then a 25-06,then a 7mag(I really like this one for deer).I never felt under gunned or over gunned with the 7mag and feel it is a great caliber for deer from close to all the way to way out yonder.I've got quite a few rifles to hunt with and several I haven't got to hunt with yet.I've killed a few with the 6mm,270 Win,308,my 300 WSM is a real hammer(I've killed quite a few with this one),7STW(another hammer).This year I've been working with a couple of good shooting 30-06's.I really like the results I've been getting from my loads on these rifles and my give them a shot this year.What can I say,I must be a rifle looney.Another reason I like the bigger calibers is,here in the South Texas brush country,it is very thick and thorny.The quicker you can put one down,the less you will bleed from all those scratches you will receive looking for a deer in the dense brush

Before the TTSXs came out I settled on the 53 TSX as well. Killed a score or more critters with them...and actually recovered one!!! I might be able to find a pic of it.

My wife shot this big mule deer and shot him well, but he decided to try and top out of a knife edged ridge that I didn't want him to get on the other side, so I tried an anchoring shot through the shoulders with the53 TSX out of my .22-250
It worked, broke both shoulders and I recovered it under the skin on the off side, weighing 53 grains...

More power to 'ya, seriously. I'll stick with this though...




I do wonder though......let's say you have just gotten an all expenses paid trip to the Jicarilla, big mule deer are the target. Assuming it were legal, how many would show up with a .222?

BTW, my son and nephew, at the ages of 7-12, killed probably 40 TX Hill Country whitetails with a .223....Win Supreme power point ammo, 60'ish gr. IIRC.....so I have seen them kill stuff.

cup & core you whippersnapper

Good one JGR!

I wouldn't show up with a .222

But ( no sarcasm or contentious emoticon needed...) I wouldn't think twice about taking the .223AI.
I feel it gives me 100 yd comfort edge over the deuce and it is such a sure killer with the 55 TTSX that I wouldn't hesitate.

Everybodys mileage varies, but I personally feel comfortable with 200 yd shots out of the deuce or the .223 and 300 yd. shots out of the 223AI or the .22-250..
For me, that has covered 99.9% of the deer shooting Ive done....and like the cartridge/bullet choice, it all boils down to your personal comfort level. It seems comfort and confidence walk hand in hand.

Admit it, you startled that deer and 'clotheslined' him...

JG,
You deflecting the question again by adding modifiers.

Original question: is the 222 too light for mule deer? The answer is no, it is not too light.

Not: would you take it on an outrageously expensive hunt? I would take one of my 270's.

Boy isn't that the truth? Well said.

"I do wonder though......let's say you have just gotten an all expenses paid trip to the Jicarilla, big mule deer are the target. Assuming it were legal, how many would show up with a .222?"

How about the flip side of that? What if I did get that trip and on day four of a five day hunt, I drop my .280 and bust the scope and crack the stock. However, I also brought my .222 because they said I could shoot coyotes if we had time. I'll guarantee, on day five, I'm hunting mule deer with my .222! I know what JGR is saying and I agree (mostly), but in some cases a .222 is more than sufficient for the job.

I've helped cull does and smaller bucks on some South TX high-fence ranches. It can be nerve-racking when the owner says "shoot that one, but don't miss, because that buck behind is a $5000 deer and that other one over there is a $7000 deer". If you shoot through, it may be an expensive mistake, so I want a precision, small caliber rifle - my .221 fits the bill nicely and so would a .222. Neither would be my first choice if I was going strictly after a big buck though.