Originally Posted by MontanaMan
Originally Posted by Mule Deer
Montana Man,

So where to do you draw the line on "bigger than whitetail" cartridges?


John,

I have no line & the comment was not about any cartridge at all; I simply stated that drawing conclusions about bullet performance on whitetails is pretty worthless.....................UNLESS all you ever intend to hunt with that bullet is very light, small boned animals of similar size.

Most any bullet works quite well on whitetails.

As you, & everyone else here knows as well, that same bullet(s) that might be absolutely devastating death beyond compare on whitetails, may very well be an equally devastating disaster on elk, or moose, or even large mule deer, just to make the point.

MM



I’ve seen a handful of small, hill country whitetails shot and not recovered after being hit with a 22-250. I’ve never fired a 22-250 personally, but I have two buddies who were smitten with them for a time. My godfather was another, but he only took head and neck shots. The deer I saw get away were shot in the shoulder/ribs.

I routinely shoot deer and pigs with a 223 and a 70 grain Speer with great results, but I’m the shooting/handloding guru in my group. My friends were using factory ammo (neither of them reload) that I’m certain was designed for varmint hunting. Those were obvious cases where just any old bullet wouldn’t do, even on small Texas does that may have weighed 100 pounds on the larger side, probably less.

So in my non-gun writer, Elmer Fudd experience, yes, there are bullets that I would not use for deer. Furthermore, I’d say the 22-250 is a prime example of a cartridge that would best be left to handloaders if deer hunting is the objective. The slow standard twist rate and high velocity lends the cartridge to varmint hunting, a point often overlooked or missed by folks buying whatever 22-250 ammo they happen to find at the local sporting goods store.