.22 Magnum for deer, moose or bear?

[Newtosavage]

Well, maybe not moose or bear, but in Maine at least, it's perfectly legal to attempt to drop a 300 lb. whitetail with a .22 Mag. Who knew?

Cartridges:

• Firearms with .17 or .22 caliber rimfire cartridges may not be used for deer, moose, or bear hunting, except that .22 magnum can be used for deer hunting.

So of course this begs the question, can you load a 77 grain TMK in a .22 Mag, and if so, what's the minimum effective terminal velocity

 

[BLJ]

30 grain V-Max in the ear hole. DRT.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

Not enough gun IMO. why risk wounding animal. With that said, I have killed cattle with a .22 shot to the base of the skull from 6" away.

 

[5MilesBack]

About 40 years ago my cousin shot a cow elk with his .22LR because they were eating off the hay stack. He was 10. The elk died right there next to the hay stack. So I would expect a .22 Mag to be just as or even more effective. But personally, I wouldn't hunt big game with one.

 

[Newtosavage]

Not enough gun IMO. why risk wounding animal. With that said, I have killed cattle with a .22 shot to the base of the skull from 6" away.

I've never seen another state allow .22 Mag for deer. As big as the deer are up here, I can't believe they allow it. And yet, there it is...

 

[Sccritterkiller]

30 grain V-Max in the ear hole. DRT.

Inside 100yds no problem with a rifle...I have killed hogs from the tractor with a 22winmag pistol...I have yet to see an animal run off after a well placed ear hole shot.

 

[Rich M]

They sell some 22 mag cup & core soft points - my cousin had some when we wee hunting snowshoe rabbits. They looked pretty impressive.

We liked the 22 mags for the rabbits. They'd run more with a regular 22.

 

[Eleven]

Years ago when my daughters were learning to hunt I asked f&W what the smallest legal caliber was for deer hunting. The response was .22lr. I questioned it several times and it was restated the same each time. This was in Vermont about 12 years ago. Pretty sure I still have the e-mails.

 

[Dented]

I'd feel like a damn poacher hunting deer with a 22 mag.

 

[Scorpion]

They don’t call it the poacher’s caliber of choice for no reason.

I’ve seen a whitetail killed with a 22 LR. Can’t see why the 22 Mag wouldn’t work well for headshots.

 

[grappling_hook]

Fascinating historical fact-- world's largest grizzly in the 1950s-1960s was taken with a 22lr (I wouldn't use one on anything larger than a fox myself):

Grizzly with a .22 Caliber

Bella Twin was a calm, quiet, clear-headed Cree woman with a trap line. May 10, 1957, she killed a massive grizzly bear with her Cooey Ace #1 .22. That was near Slave Lake, Alberta, and the bear Twin killed turned out to be a world record that stood for a good long time.

www.bear-hunting.com

 

[87TT]

I knew an old guy that used to poach deer back during WWII as a kid because they were broke and couldn’t get meat. He said he used a .22 . I said headshot? He said no “lungs”. Just wait for them to drop. Head shot was too risky as a hit wasn’t as sure of a shot.

 

[ARK_Ginger]

Guess I don't see the issue. It's likely to be a larger wound than my recurve.

 

[Axlrod]

I've never seen another state allow .22 Mag for deer. As big as the deer are up here, I can't believe they allow it. And yet, there it is...

Well Montana has big deer, and elk, and Moose etc. and there are no restrictions here, so you could use a .17 Mach 2!

From the MT, Regs:

There is no rifle or handgun caliber limitation or magazine/round capacity restrictions for the taking of game animals.

 

[grappling_hook]

Alaska has a requirement of rifles being centerfire to be able to be used on large game. But there is a special circumstance. The regs are listed as follows:

Additional hunting restrictions specific to big game: Big game includes black bear, brown/grizzly bear, bison, caribou, Dall sheep, Sitka black-tailed deer, elk, mountain goat, moose, muskox, wolf, and wolverine. In addition to general hunting restrictions listed on page 18, you MAY NOT:
• Hunt big game using a firearm other than a shotgun, muzzleloader, or rifle or pistol using a center-firing cartridge,
EXCEPT: in Units 23 and 26, swimming caribou can be taken with a firearm using rim fire cartridges.

 

[woods89]

I'd feel like a damn poacher hunting deer with a 22 mag.

I'm told it's the weapon of choice for the local spotlighters around here. I believe they'd be fans of the ear hole shot placement.

 

[Borofsky]

Just gotta hit it in the right spot.

 

[Billy Goat]

.22 mag will smoke deer, no need for an earhole.



Gets used a lot with damage permits.

 

[Dented]

I'll stick to my center fire and muzzle loader just the same, thanks.

 

[robtattoo]

.22mag is my skwerl cartridge of choice. Mostly because if I can hunt squirrel, I can incidentally take hogs, but only with 'whatever weapon is legal during the season' That makes it bows, rimfire & shotguns with shot no larger than #6s.

.22 mag'll do for a hog, really nicely inside of 50 or so yds.