I knew some guys back in the 1980's that started deer hunting here in GA with 22-250's. I never asked about loads, bullets etc., but these guys were claiming quicker kills with the fast 22's than larger more conventional rounds. I never really bought into the idea at least at the time. But recently I've just seen too much to discount the idea so last year I hunted with one of my AR's a couple of days. It was getting toward the end of the season, I knew where a buck was located, but he wasn't coming out of some thick brush except at night. I decided to go in after him and the 16" barrel on the AR along with fast repeat shots seemed like a better idea than my bolt guns.
I arrived at the spot several minutes before legal shooting time and decided to wait on good light before heading into the brush. I caught him coming back just 2-3 minutes into legal shooting time and put a 60 gr Hornady V-Max into him and broke the shoulder before he could get into the thick stuff. He went down and I put a 2nd shot into the lungs. He didn't die as quickly as I'd have liked, but I've also hit deer with 165 gr 30-06 loads that ran farther.
At least for me it isn't something I'd do on a regular basis. I'm convinced the 22's with good bullets will kill deer within certain range limitations and with careful shot placement. But I'm not always wanting to stay within those limitations. Plus most of the places where I hunt here in GA is open for black bear during virtually all of our deer season. And some places have more bear than deer. I don't think the 22's are an acceptable choice on black bear.
