Fred Bear killed an elephant with a bow and arrow, probably not the smartest thing to try and certainly not what I would choose to use, if I wanted to kill an elephant.

There is no answer to your question, it all depends on what you are willing to put up with. Quick sure kills or the possibility of wounding an animal and it crawling off to die.

The possibility of making a bad shot is always there, but the probability can be eliminated, to a certain degree.

I've killed deer as well as coyotes with a 22 magnum, but both require a shot to the brain for sure kills. A rimfire is the only thing legal in my state for night hunting coyotes. The deer were killed under a crop damage permit. I wouldn't rate the 22 WMR as ideal for either though.

If hunting coyotes size animals i would keep my shots 50 yards and under and you should have no problem putting down with the 22 WMR

I've posted this question over on a couple of the survival boards and had a lot of private answers from people who either have shot deer legally or come from poaching families.

The .22 Magnum is probably the favorite poaching round. It is reliable, relatively quiet and both the guns and rounds are inexpensive compared to a centerfire.

Almost all recommended shots be kept under 75 yards where precise placement could be made. One guy who regularly uses the .22 Magnum for deer said if heart or lung shot are made the deer basically acts just like bow shot deer he has killed. If they don't drop on the spot they don't run far.

Some only took head or neck shots.

The round of choice almost to a shooter was the Winchester 40 grain HP. It is an actual jacketed HP not a plated one. They don't blow up but expand and penetrate very well. No one used the new generation hyper velocity stuff.

When I lived out west I met several ranch hands who used nothing but .22 Magnum for daily use both in handgun and rifle. I saw one ranch hand drop a average size Texas doe...heart shot, ran 25 yards and dropped. Have seen deer hit with 06s and .270s run a lot further. But again it is shot placement and not taking chancy shots that will make this work.

I have several .22 Magnums but probably won't ever use one for deer hunting. If I did I'd limit the range to the same as a open sighted handgun which is about 75 yards...

Bob

Was talking to an eskimo friend of mine that has killed a polar bear with one, but it took 13 rounds. Since November he has killed nine caribou, all one shot kills, neck shots right where it meets the skull. They routinely use a 223 to take polar bear and grizzlies, they consider a 243 a "big gun".

I know a guy that killed a leopard with one......so I think the question is asked wrong.....instead of "can" take the question should read "should"

And to that I'd say turkey (where legal) and animals up to 50 pounds.

It's a very fine round but it's not a superstar.

Glad to see this. I have been experimenting with a few different .22mag rounds. I do like the CCI game point, but ordered 500 rounds of the Winchester because I heard how accurate and effective they are. Good response BTW.

I know an old guy who has taken a pile of gobblers with his old Savage bolt action .22 Mag, he told me in all the years of using this rifle he has only lost one turkey...................Hb

I haved owned a couple of the marlin bolt 22mags. Although a very capable rifle/cartridge for small game, I found it too much for squirrel and not enough for varmints at ranges exceeding 100 yards. I traded my Marlin even for a Rem 788 in 222 and with reloading, found I could shoot for about the same dollars.

In NH it is lileagle to shoot deer with any thing but centerfier and when I used to hunt NY nothing under .24 caliber