.22 Magnum for deer, moose or bear?

[Duh]

I killed my first deer with a 22 mag and another with a 17hmr when I was a kid. 22 mag was about 50 yards and behind the shoulder. 17 hmr was a head shot. Was legal where I was hunting. We’re pretty easy shots considering I grew up smoking ground squirrels almost everyday of my summer vacations.

Caliber selection was just a lack of options at the time. Saved up some cash and got a .243 after that.

 

[S.Clancy]

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.

I was gonna say, my dad used to shoot does in the garden during the fall with a 22 mag. The neighbors all knew and were appreciative it wasn't a larger caliber.

 

[Gen273]

If the .22 mag is a Tikka, deer, moose, bear, and bigfoot himself will fall dead at the mere sight of such an amazing rifle. At least that is what I have read on here for years...

 

[jayhawk]

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.

That’s a very strange and specific exception…..

 

[SC HUNTER]

A 22 mag will kill any deer you shoot at if you hit your spot. Winchester used to make a bullet that had x's cut across the tip of the bullet that have killed alot of deer on crop permits. I shot 1 in my grandparents garden a few years ago with a 17 hmr that was eating Granddaddys peas up and he told me to kill her. I hit her in the neck and she folded up like a lawn chair. I wouldn't shoot them at over 100 with it but it will definitely kill deer and pigs.

 

[Te Hopo]

That’s a very strange and specific exception…..

I've read it's one way tribes harvest them, follow the migration and when the bou cross a river, they get in amoung them in a boat and pop away.
Pretty effective way to harvest a bunch fast.

 

[Te Hopo]

I've dropped plenty of deer with a .22lr and .22WMR, here in New Zealand there's no restrictions on private land harvesting so we'll go out and spotlight our farm.

The deer just push over and through fences to get at our cattles grass so we harvest about 15-20 a year, normally I use a suppressed .223 but if I know I can get close sometimes I'll take a suppressed .22lr

 

[Newtosavage]

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.

I killed an awful lot of feral hogs with a .22 LR. Even dropped a running sow in her tracks with a headshot from about 80 yards once. Lucky shot. I'm still curious where that bullet hit her because she just went full snowplow and didn't move.

 

[Newtosavage]

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

Broadheads and bullets kill in two very different ways.

 

[ARK_Ginger]

Broadheads and bullets kill in two very different ways.

Last time I checked they both destroy tissue.

 

[CRJR45]

Right in the Fuggin head !

 

[littlerhorner]

Last time I checked they both destroy tissue.

The same way a knife and a hammer will both destroy tissue.

 

[ARK_Ginger]

The same way a knife and a hammer will both destroy tissue.

Sorry, there's more difference between a knife and a hammer than a bullet and a broadhead.

 

[Newtosavage]

Sorry, there's more difference between a knife and a hammer than a bullet and a broadhead.

It's been well documented. No need to dispute it on this thread.

 

[Burnsie]

Contracted sharp shooters are contracted by our DNR to thin deer herds and many use a 22 mag

 

[49ereric]

Decades ago my 92 year old father in law shot lots of deer day and night with a .22LR
it was commonly done here long ago to feed the locals families.

 

[Yarak]

I know of plenty of deer that were killed with one shot from a 22lr

 

[bpa556]

Folks who kill (it’s not hunting, it’s usually killing for convenience or depredation) large animals with a .22 know how to do it humanely.

Folks that don’t know how should continue on with their howitzers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[fishermanpunk]

The .22 mag is a sweet little round that I’ve always loved. Seems to me it would kill anything with a head or heart shot, just keep in mind .22 is a tiny hole.

 

[SC HUNTER]

Folks who kill (it’s not hunting, it’s usually killing for convenience or depredation) large animals with a .22 know how to do it humanely.

Folks that don’t know how should continue on with their howitzers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I've killed hundreds possibly over 1000 hogs with a 22 or 17 HMR. I've also killed and watched hundreds of deer be killed on depredation permits with small calibers. If you know where to shoot them they'll fall over dead.