Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting anyone thinking of using a 22centerfire in MN for deer this year?

Not really....

Not hearing the Whelen thunder just wouldn't seem right....

Sounds like I need to shoot a tsx out of my 30.06!

If you think you'll have a long tracking job with a misplaced shot to the chest, wait until you botch one of those head shots. You will find it dead a week later in a field because you shot in the nose or blew off a lower jaw.

Uncle shot one many moons ago with a missing lower jaw. It was January in MN, but she wan't well before the shot thats for sure.Much better off after it.

Why don't you think a 30-30 is good after 50 yards? Silly talk IMO.

Tom

benp,

What kind of gun do you run that Whelen through? I would like to find one in a Remington 7600. Wouldn't mind a custom job in a model 70 either. They sure are fun to shoot aren't they? Makes big holes and short blood trails too.

Tom

My 30.30 is good to 230 yards and most likely more with the new Hornady ammo. Would not be hisitant to surpass that either. Deer go down fast with that stuff.I hunt by myself most of the time and I do not enjoy a long drag out or a tough tracking job. The new Hornady ammo helps with both of these issues! A friend of mine shoots the stuff out of a .444 Marlin and it is devistating.

Hmmm, .22 centerfire not enough gun for whitetails...seemed to work well on goats and camels.

What happens after 230yds?

It would work as far out as you could hit a critter.

Brett

My 30-30 is a Marlin 336 carbine. No scope. Fifty yards is as good as I can manage with the bullet going exactly where I want it.

The gun is certainly capable of killing out to 150 with the Hornady ammo if the bullet goes in the right place. Beyond that it can kill but not nearly so certainly. You are still shooting a bullet that starts at ~2400 and isn't all that efficient even with it's little tippy (its still short and fat with a flat base).

For me, If I cannot absolutely put the bullet where I want it (within an inch) I won't shoot. I don't have to, I am over near Hinckley where we can shoot five apiece and probably should shoot at least that many for a few years to get them back in control. If I wait an hour another one will come by trying to commit suicide.

I loaded some of the tipped TSXs (130 grain) in my 30-06. Nine shots, 51, 52, 53 grains Varget. Single point of aim. Eight of the nine were inside an inch. The flyer was when a deer fly was chewing on my ear. 53 grains Varget gave me right on 3200. With that kind of accuracy at that speed Bambi is in big trouble out as far as I need to worry about. Bambi won't be shrugging one of those off. For my money that's as close to perfection as I am likely to see in my life. Dead accurate, non-toxic, TSX level terminal performance and a little better ballistics. The only way to make them better would be to give them away free.

230 yards is my farthest shot on a deer. Deer ran about 40 yards. I am sure it would work a ways further. Maybe even to 300 yards! Gun was made in 1953 and shoots great. It is a Model 336 and I love the thing. It was made for me. The only time it does not go hunting is when it is raining and then I take my Ruger stainless UL in 30.06. That is a nice gun too but I much prefer my Marlin

Miles58
PUT A SCOPE ON THAT GUN!! It should shoot like you want. Mine does. And I tell you it will kill nicely way past 150 yards.

Tom,

A 1988 700 Classic I bought new in '89 topped with a 2-7 Redfield golden 5 star. First rifle I bought on my own. I love it.

I never realized the following that the 'ol Colonel had until I came to the Campfire. It's awesome.

If I want to kill one further out than fifty The -06 will do and I don't have to worry about trajectory or anything else. Bambi can do the worrying part.

Brook trout up to about 14-16 inches in the beaver dams. The DNR worked on the upper sections and improved the trout habitat there. Still some gill lice, but there always has been. Wade the flooded areas behind the church/graveyard. The first time I fished that stream was about 1958. Have not been there in several years but friends and family still fish it often. Flies: bleeding Pass Lake, little brook trout, dry royal wolf or other attractors. They like red, white, and black. Lots of northern red-belly dace in the creek. Go get 'em.

Oh yeah, .22 centerfire. I have too many other guns and bullets to test before I try .22s. Yet, maybe the Hornet and 45 grain Barnes for a stunt on a doe. I'm not sure why.

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A 1988 700 Classic I bought new in '89 topped with a 2-7 Redfield golden 5 star. [/quote]

A nice piece indeed. I could live with one of those too. I have the same scope mounted on my new to me .243 I just picked up last week.

A 7600 with a 20" barell, a Leupold 1.75x6 vari x III in matte finish, set in QD Leupold rings and bases would suit me just beautifully.

Tom

Oh yea the 06 will do a geat job. I can see keeping with the iron sights on the 30.30. My Grandpa may not have approved that I put a scope on his old gun. Although I hope he would be proud of the awesome shots that it has made due to the scope and the new Hornadys!

Amen brother,
Last year my buck came through the thick stuff at 7:15 am.
He was quartering away by the time I got the rifle on my shoulder.
I was using a 250 gr Speer. DRT, and I was not wishing that I had a 22 when the 11 pt buck of my dreams was in my sights.

I don't like head shots on moving deer in thick brush at dawn or dusk, which is when 99% of the shooting is.

Years ago I watched a friend shoot an antelope in the jaw with his 22-250.
Watching the bloody jaw flopping around and my friend scrambling to get another round into it left a bad impression on me.
No thanks!

My 16 yr old wil be using 150 gr FN bullets in his 30-06 loaded to 30/30 velocites (2400). This is a real pussycat in a 30-06 rifle and he covered three shots with a quarter last time we tried it.

I have been over killing deer for about 30 years and have no reason to use a smallbore rifle unless I get crippled or sick.
This year I am going to use a 375 H&H Magnum with 200 gr Sierra FN at 2200 fps. It is like shooting a 410 shotgun!

Others can try whatever floats their boat, it's still a free country, right?
whelennut

I've been using a 222Rem & 223rem here in Minnesota legally for a while now.

Tribal law allowed us band members more lee-way than the the Minnesota DNR.

788 222Rem with 70grain Semi-spitzer
788 223Rem with 64grain PP
AR-15A4 with 64grain PP/65grain GameKing

Never lost a deer but from the talk at the Two-Inlet store you need a 300winmag or they just run away with nary a blood trail.

Mike

whelenut; I've seen the same thing happen to an elk...it was shot in the jaw with a 30-'06, and luckily it ran towards me and I finished it off. Head shots are for those who can hit the part of the head that kills the animal, whether it's with a 22-250 or an '06.

benp,
I bought the same rifle as you! I wish it was the first rifle I bought, it would be the only one. The factory ammo situation is not the best but who cares I handload all mine. I have enough 200 gr roundnose Hornady bullets loaded to last me forever.
If I do run out I have some 250 spire points.
I don't understand using the 22 caliber on deer?
whelennut