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

NZ professional cullers used the .222 a lot because you could carry more ammo. These guys went into the scrub for weeks on end and cut the tails off for bounty records and payments.

The main target animal was red deer.

I killed my first deer as a wee lad with a Model 7 .222. Based on this experience, I concluded the .222 is capable of killing deer. My boys will use this .222 when they start carrying a rifle and looking for their first deer. If you believe a heavier caliber is needed, please don't report me to CPS.

Shooting someone's tied up pet isn't exactly "hunting".

I love the deer shooting with little cartridges threads. mtmuley

As our own mule deer often points out, why is it only women and children can kill deer with little cartridges?


Yep, these threads are always fun...

I hope everybody caught Aussie Gunwriters post on culling red deer with the deuce....

They are usually a tad bigger than mule deer........

Would you wear shorts and a t-shirt to a wedding in St. Patrick's Cathedral?

If the answer is NO does that mean that wearing shorts and a t-shirt to the 7-11 isn't acceptable clothing to wear outside?

I never said "hunting". I said culling. Big difference!

Yes, culling is a whole different deal. I hope you got some good chops out of the deal!

I've proven to my own satisfaction that a .224 with a Barnes is a killing mofo, but thus far my own experience has only been at 22-250 velocity and witness to .223 velocity. This weekend I plan on shooting jugs and boards and random schit with my deuce and the 45 tsx's out to moderate distances just to see how well it'll penetrate. Based on that, and my own flighty whims I will likely tote it at least a little bit this year. And I plan on shooting the biggest [bleep] mule deer I can find. Will I shoot out past 400 like I have with the 22-250? Doubt it, but I will be shocked, SHOCKED I say, if from 200 in it fails to impress.

I would think it's safe to say that a 223 at 200 is about like a 270 at 400.


As far as whomp'um hitting power goes.




Public land, limited time, mature deer and will take a 270 everyday of the week.

That said a 22-250 with light TTSX at mach 9 sound uber-wicked, I'd take running shots with something like that.

Yep, these are fun. mtmuley

I know a lady who has killed several deer with a 22 hornet here in GA but that only works for women. Real men going on a real mule deer hunt need a real gun.

I think a .222 would be all that is needed on even elk if they are limited to head and neck shots and the shooter is an outstanding marksman.

I would use a .222 for head and neck shots on deer if I had a bench and shooting bags available, but that has never happened in the field. I feel confident making heart lung shots out to one hundred yards free hand and 200 yards with sticks but not on head/neck shots. Even in a deer stand I usually cannot get the stability I need to confidently take a head/neck shot.

Someone will probably post that they are deadly with a 300 WinMag at 400 yards freehand, I salute you. There are no doubt a very few number of people that can do that. I've just never met one.

I have had an issue or two with JGRaider in the past on the optics forum but on this topic I have his back 100%. this quote was directed to steelhead and is brilliant and to the point. If Steelhead was to somehow shoot himself in the mouth he would also shoot himself in the azz since they are both in the same location.

I'm amazed. Over 50,000 members on the fire, and every single one is a perfect shot, that never misses, has never wounded a single piece of game, and doesn't need any edge, or anything that could increase their acceptable margin of error, because they are all so perfect.

I think there are a lot of folks here suffering from a confirmation bias, who are very skilled at forgetting about the times when things go less them perfect.

If it makes you happy, I did have to track one once.

Entirely my fault though.

I took a low percentage shot and sent him running.

I gave him about a half hour, tracked him down, caught him some briars and shot him in the head with my colt.

Considering an overwhelming majority of the members here haven't posted in this thread, I suspect many haven't even read it, its no wonder that dealing with broad brushes and absolutes are your biggest misgiving..

Maybe a lot of people don't take shots they don't feel near 99-44/100% in a kill?

On a lighter note - anyone taken deer-sized game with a 204?
(pun intended)

No but I killed a couple with a 5mm Remington rimfire mag. and that's .204 cal.. One neck shot and DRT, the other lung shot and down and dead after a 50 yard dash. No fuss, no muss.

I would load up with 53 gr tsx (or is it 52?) and shoot any deer at 225 yards.
Of course I would rather have a 62 out of a 22\250 with an 8 twist but doubt you will find many drillings Made that way.

That is correct. Deer are considered a pest in NZ and there is no closed season or licence required. In the 60's and 70's thousands of Red deer were shot by New Zealand Forest Service deer cullers using the .222 and Red deer can get pretty large. Some loved the little round and some soon abandoned it and went back to the more popular deer cartridges like the .243, 7x57, .270, .308 and 30/06.

The Forest Service provided all the ammo and in .222 it was Norma (from memory). The cullers were enamoured by the .222's accuracy, lack of recoil and the slim light rifles that the round was chambered in such as the Sako Vixen and the BSA Hunter. It also killed way out of proportion to it's size.

The treble two is easy to shoot accurately and many commercial venison hunters also used it because they favored neck and head shots which received a higher price than body shot deer from the venison buyers. Bear in mind that most professional hunters are calm and cool under pressure and can place their shots where they want.

Personally, I prefer something larger because the deer population is a fraction of what it once was and I may only get one shot away in a day. I want that deer on the ground with no ifs, buts or maybes so I use a .308. Most hunters here use something similar and the .222 has taken a back seat to the .223 for those (a small percentage) that like to use a light round.