Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Hunting Deer With Smaller Calibers

I read the entry on the .204 Ruger in ammoguide.com and it said that they (Ruger) brought this round out for varmints and target
shooting.Granted that K. Bell brain shot many elephant wearing 200 pounds of ivory with a 7x57; though I believe that the speci-
fics of his hunting in those days justified the use of that round. And he was killing elephant to put bread on the table, not for enter-
tainment. I'm getting at the idea of being merciful to the animal. I mean you and I want a clean kill with one shot. Do you all that
shoot deer with .243 Win and smaller turn down certain shots that you would have taken if you'd been carrying a .257 Roberts or
larger caliber rifle?
Years ago I read an article in which Mr. Peterson, (of the publishing empire, and a man who'd hunted EVERYTHING world wide)
reported that his favorite hunting was for duck using a .410 because he HAD TO wait for the ducks to be Very Close. He enjoyed
the challenge of getting them to come so close to him, so he intentionally diminished his shooting opportunities. Is this the reason
that you choose sub .257 caliber rifles to deer hunt, to intentionally diminish your shooting options to make the challenge greater?
I've only made my four deer kills with open sighted percussion cap muzzle loaders, and that might be the most fun way to hunt in
my opinion. All under 50 yards. My center fire rifles are unscoped. I have hunted deer with them a few times, but have not had a
shooting opportunity with them. Maybe I'll add a Q.D. scope mounting set-up on one of the C.F. rifles to allow for more chances to
shoot. But back to my main question, why do you hunt deer with these .204s .22s of various breeds, .243s and .17s and other small
rounds ?????
Thank you for helping me to understand this aspect of deer hunting.

BigFiveJack

GeeWizzzz! everyone knows a .243 or 270 bounce off deer, and the 257 Bob, is a real killer, the 204 is a varmint round but what you use it or any other round for, is on you. DUH !! Rio7

There's not a shot I'd take with a 257 Robert's that I wouldn't take with about any 6mm or 22 caliber rifle firing a similarly constructed bullet.

The difference in their killing abilities are minimal to non existent.

I'd go even farther to say that I'd greatly prefer a large 22 cal round or a 243 sized 6mm shooting heavy for caliber, high BC bullets to about anything you can shoot out of a 257 Robert's for deer.

With good bullets the small calibers work fine for deer. Most of the “guidelines” for caliber selection are rooted in the old days of guessing at velocities and poorly performing bullets. Those days are gone, thankfully. And in the end they’re just deer, most of the deer killed in the US every fall are likely 150lb or less. I’d challenge anyone to find a deer that a 77 or a mono metal of about any weight from a 223 won’t penetrate one or both shoulders.

Have always used a 270 or 308

There is a difference between shooting deer and hunting deer.

If you have the luxury of picking your shot and deer that aren't alert, you can take your time and wait for a deer to present an optimal point of aim.

Mule Deer has written about the success people he knows in South Africa have had using 55 grain 22-250 factory ammo to cull animals and who is going to argue with John?

Don't forget that Kevin Petrzilka's 204 4/8" typical whitetail was taken with an old Remington 788 in 22-250 shooting handloaded 55 grain BTs.

I've shot a few deer with the 223 WSSM and 22-250 without any trouble, but these were deer that didn't know that I was there and were blissfully going about their daily business when I killed them. Unlike Kevin Petrzilka, I don't think of the 22-250 as an optimal medium game hunting cartridge, but I don't have a B&C record whitetail hanging on my wall, so who is right?

The 0.224" bore whitetails that I've killed died via 60 grain Partition and 64 grain PP, both "game" bullets, not "varmint" bullets.

Have shot quite a few Alabama whitetails with a 243 using bullets ranging from 80 to 100 grains. Within reasonable range (usually 150ish yards), have never had a problem with broadside or quartering shots. Usually laser beams right through.

At one time a 22 rimfire was legal to hunt deer in Michigan's zone 3. Maybe not optimal but legal. Seemed to work for a number of years.
Personally I'm not a fan of heavy for caliber bullets in the 22 centerfire or 6mm's but they are not needed for the ranges I'm comfortable with.

I have about decided that these sorts of questions are all up to personal preference and comfort. If you’re not comfortable shooting smaller caliber rifles at animals, don’t. I’m not gonna judge you either way.

For me personally, it doesn’t matter what size caliber I have in my hands I’m always looking for a ethical broadside shoulder crease, shoulder blade, low front shoulder shot. I’ll make adjustments for quartering away or quartering to presentations, but I’m always looking to put a bullet in the heart lung area broadside. The only time I’m shooting a deer running is if somebody I’m hunting with made a bad shot and we’re trying to put the animal down. Even then I’m still looking for heart/lung No matter what caliber. And yes, I have turned down shots of trophy deer because they were facing dead straight at me, or they were walking directly away from me. And I had plenty of gun that would’ve put those animals down quickly and ethically.

Ultimately, it is a personal choice what caliber to use and what bullet to use.

For sure. The 95 BT and recently the 105 HPBT have worked like a champ. The 77 TMK from a 223 or larger works the same as far as me and my clan can tell.

I use different, meaning larger stuff cause I want, not cause I believe they kill deer any differently.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


THIS. EXACTLY


The .204 and the .17s are the only two that are hard to find premium bullets suited for deer and such. They are out there though ( Hammer Bullets...) All that said there are plenty of .224 caliber bullets suitable for bigger game nowadays. For deer and hog sized game now I consider my .243 to be pretty big and it no longer gets much use.


I figured we were overdue for one of these threads...

6 of my grandkids killed there 1st whitetail with a 223 shooting win power points 62gr. Rifle is an early savage axis which I use for coyotes and beavers. Grandkids graduate to using a 243 as they grow. No flys on the 243 for whitetails here on the farm.

If there was a shot I wanted to make but I didn't feel my 243 with a good bullet would cut the mustard then it would take a lot more than a 257 Roberts to get me to pull the trigger.

Exactly…

Unless changed recently North Carolina has no cartridge restriction for deer and bear. Had a guy tell me he hunted with a 22 magnum because of a bum shoulder. Always made neck shots. Yeah,right.

Used to cull blacktail with a 22lr. Inside of 50 yards and brain them DRT.
In my old age I have gone to smaller calibers for deer.
Went from a 30-06 to a 270.
Good hunting.

I know that I've read many reports of guys using 25-06 rifles for decades hunting deer, and likewise the .257 Roberts.
A guy's gotta draw a line in the sand somewhere, if he's to put out a question as I did. My main focus of my question is
to learn if you all would choose NOT to take a given shot with a smaller caliber, that you would definitely take if you'd
had a larger caliber.
Years ago a guy told me his thoughts on going on TRAVELING hunts. Because he'd paid a lot of money to go over
a thousand miles away from home for a guided elk hunt, (we were on the east coast) he bought a .338 Win Mag
with the strategy that he could take successful shots with it because of it's penetration and energy delivery, shots that he
could NOT take with confidence using a caliber that delivered less energy, deep enough into the beast. He bluntly said
that he took his excellent elk with a shot from directly behind the elk at just about 200 yards.
He continued by saying that guys who live in elk country might choose a smaller caliber, and might refuse certain shots,
because they can get into the elk forest many more days per year than the guy who has booked a distant hunt of a week
or ten days. The traveling hunter wants to be able to take just about any shot angle, at just about what ever distance,
because he doesn't have a month or three to hunt his quarry.
All this brought me to the general question of intentionally using smaller calibers on deer and heavier game. I appreciate
the many honest and constructive answers that you all have posted up. Thanks as always!

I just wish for once we could have this conversation without Karamojo Bell being brought into it. Keep dreaming right

I call it irrelephant hunting.