Hunting with a .22

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kvaughn

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Having read a number of these "Best rifle for survival" threads and seen a number of people state positively that a deer can be killed with a .22 as long as you have "proper shot placement". The premise being, if you can kill a human with it you can kill a deer with it. Having taken probably over a hundred deer in my 40+ years of hunting, I can safely say I've done it with any # of rifles but never a .22. Besides the fact that it is illegal. Asking hunting friends,I've come away with head shot,neck shot, lung shot,ear shot,eye ball shot and everything in between. I realize this is a hypothetical survival situation. Is there any real scientific or anecdotal evidence to this "proper shot placement"?--KV
 
kvaughn said:
Having read a number of these "Best rifle for survival" threads and seen a number of people state positively that a deer can be killed with a .22 as long as you have "proper shot placement". The premise being, if you can kill a human with it you can kill a deer with it. Having taken probably over a hundred deer in my 40+ years of hunting, I can safely say I've done it with any # of rifles but never a .22. Besides the fact that it is illegal. Asking hunting friends,I've come away with head shot,neck shot, lung shot,ear shot,eye ball shot and everything in between. I realize this is a hypothetical survival situation. Is there any real scientific or anecdotal evidence to this "proper shot placement"?--KV
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.22 is legal to deer hunt with in TX, so it just depends where you live as far as legality.

Will a .22 kill as reliably as a .243, a .30/30, or a .308 if shot placement is the same? No. Nowhere near as much tissue damage and rapid shock/blood loss. But will a .22 kill? Certainly!

Head shots, neck shots, and on small deer chest shots should certainly work. Now, will tracking and finding the carcass be as simple? Again, no, because blood loss will be less and the animal may be able to travel much further before dying.

So, not my first choice, but having killed an awful lot of critters with a .22, including hogs much larger than most deer, I know it can be done.

Andy
 
I have a few relatives that I have witnessed kill a deer with a 22, but in a survival situation, I'd go with smaller game for the reasons of not wasting meat.. I'd go with smaller game first, and if feeding a bunch(3 or more) then I'd give it some serious thought if a deer and the shot presented itself for a clean kill with no tracking..

HTH
 
Hi,

What can make the .22 an effective killer on larger game is it's lack of power to over-penetrate. As an example, a .22 lung shot will often hit a rib on the far side and lacking enough power to exit will ricochet around the body cavity causing secondary damage. Hitting major blood vessels, maybe the liver, or heart. This leads to a bleed out, sometimes quick, sometimes not so quick. Depends on the luck of the shot. Kind of works like a Waring blender. Of course a head shot will work the same. Except faster because no bleed out is needed.

I read a book as a kid about the Alaskan Gold Rush days. One chapter dealt with a young Doctor who opened a practice near the gold fields. He was noted for killing his winter moose with a .22 rifle. According to the Doctor himself, he would simply stalk close enough to the moose to try and slip bullets into the chest cavity between the ribs. He would shoot, trail, shoot, trail, shoot until the animal dropped. Generally after about 5 or 6 shots. He also stated that he could often get 2 shots in to a moose because they didn't realize they'd been shot. I've no idea if the story is actually true or not, but the guy is a better tracker than I've ever been.

dalee
 
The several (at LEAST 5) deer that I saw hanging in my uncles barn when I was growing up. The .22 single shot rifle leaned behind the door.

It would not be my CHOICE for deer, but for survival, I would have no problem using it for deer.
 
A friend of mine used to hunt nuisance deer on farms in New York. With a nuisance certificate you could use any caliber. He always used a .22 WMR (rimfire magnum) bolt action rifle. He never had any problems and it causes a lot less noise and fuss around the livestock. Of course he was a really good shot. One well placed shot is all it took. You don't raise a fuss and scare the deer after your shot. Even if your placement didn't drop the deer on the spot it won't go far if you don't chase it or frighten it.
 
For a survival situation I would look to take a well placed head shot, Think ear canal or eye.

I had an uncle who has now passed that used to poach deer with a rimfire 22. He told me he would only take head shots because you don't want to track deer when you are poaching. More of the one shot and drop them philosophy. I have never seen it done, but have no reason to doubt his words.

I also have friends that to this day cull nuisance deer with a permit using a 22. It really is about shot placement. Head shots mainly.

Paul
 
Growing up in a very rural area, I saw many deer taken at night with spotlight and a .22Lr or .22 mag. Most the time with an upper neck shot, every once in a while a head shot, never a body shot. With a head shot, there is a lot of room for error; a deer's brain is very small. The upper neck has major blood vessels, the spinal cord, and the throat, all in a small area. An inch or two this way or that can still be very lethal shot. When shooting at the head, a little variance can result in face shot (ugly and not at all a quick death, usually results in a lost animal) or a complete miss. I personally wouldn't attempt a body shot with a rimfire, unless it was a do or die situation. If you are in a position to get a shot at rear base of the skull, that will usually drop them instantly. In a hypothetical survival scenario, of course.
 
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that kid in into the wild took a moose with a Nylon 66, though he emptied the mag into it... back in the day before hunting regulations and ethical hunting blah blah blah, .22 probably killed more deer than any other caliber, because every farmboy out in the fields was carrying one.
 
Out to fifty yards the 22 is pretty good for deer size game. I have shot dozens of deer with the 22. As a kid there was no deer seasons in our area, when we wanted meat, they were fair game. Like has been stated, every farm had a 22 and it was often the only gun they had so it got used for everything. We canned the deer meat to preserve it, there was never any waste. My grandpa could shoot grouse and pheasant out of the air with ease with his 22.
 
I've witnessed a deer shot with a .22 in the lung area and the deer fell within 25 yards of running. And it was a decent sized deer. Not to say it is my first choice, as I would never, if given the choice, use a .22. However, if in the survival situation, I would if I had to.

EDIT - I fixed that years to yards for you :o
 
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if the deer is looking at you, shoot for the nose, it's basically a trough straight to the brain. Very quick. Trust me.
 
I'm not a hunter, but was around it quite a bit as a kid. Saw deer taken down quite easily with a .22 on at least eight or ten occasions. Of course it isn't hard to get a good shot off when you have deer walking across the back deck of the house or standing next to the front porch eating moms flowers. Had one fall into the hot tub once...didn't know that the cover wasn't solid ground I suppose. Our little .22 scored us plenty of excellent venison jerky.
 
Christopher McCandless (Into the Wild guy) supposidly poached a moose with a 10/22

I suspect he just snuck up on it and opened up on it's head. No reason you couldn't. but no reason you'd want too if you had other options.
 
I have seen the result of a head shot on a deer with a 22LR. It is certainly possible, and if you're a good enough shot, a 22 can be every bit as effective as something larger.
 
jawilder said:
Andy, I would like to disagree with you about hunting with .22 in TX... Unless you meant .22 Cal such as .223.

No deer may be killed in TX or may other states with ANY rimfire ammo, including .22 lr and .22 mag
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/annual/hunt/means/
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Maine allows the 22mag to be used for deer :thumbup:

"Deer hunting: No firearm may be used which uses .17 or .22 caliber rimfire cartridges, except .22 magnum. No firearms of any kind may be carried while hunting deer with a bow and arrow during the special archery season on deer and the expanded archery season on deer, except that a person who also holds a license that allows hunting with firearms may carry a handgun, but it cannot be used to shoot a deer or dispatch a wounded deer."
http://www.maine.gov/ifw/laws_rules/hunting_trapping/hunt_traplaws.htm#firearmlaws
 
Tuxdad said:
I have a few relatives that I have witnessed kill a deer with a 22, but in a survival situation, I'd go with smaller game for the reasons of not wasting meat.. I'd go with smaller game first, and if feeding a bunch(3 or more) then I'd give it some serious thought if a deer and the shot presented itself for a clean kill with no tracking..

HTH
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In a survival situation take what you can get when you can, the more the better. Better to have too much than to have none.
If is more than you can use at the time find a way to smoke or dry/jerk it for future use.
Im sure someone here could give us an idea how to do that.

Anyone ??

if you are in sub zero conditions cut it in usable pieces and let it freeze.

your ideas please
 
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If you look around there is a lot on the net about deer with a .22lr - some professional cullers indicate using heavy slugs up to 60g (aquilla?) and to surprising distances. And seeming quite credibly

Over here I am sure a number of deer were taken with .22lr in the old days - I am told the ear hole is a good way to the brain.

Also any number of kangaroos were taken with .22lr in the old days (and probably a number still are) some through weight of lead (when semi's were around); but most through aimed shots. A roo is a bit like a deer with smaller front legs and a tail! I think if asked around some of the old cattle stations and aboriginal missions in the Northern territory you could probably come away convinced that even waterbuffalo have succumbed to 22. Just because it was what was around

We also lost a police comissioner to a ruger 10/22, he was stalked to very close range in his driveway, in tragic irony his surname was Winchester
 
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