What is YOUR Small Caliber on Big Game Experience?

[medvedyt]

big game here is including wolf that i took with 5.56/223 but i cant anymore as the rig i used has been prohibited now.
on bigger big game it is now the 243 the mini caliber but i never used one for hunting here.

i took chamois and roe deer with 222 and 22/250 in france but i do not think i will do it again ...

 

[justin davis]

Can’t use .224 for big game in Colorado. So don’t shoot small calibers for big game

 

[5811]

Can’t use .224 for big game in Colorado. So don’t shoot small calibers for big game

What about 6mm/243? 6mm and smaller was my intention for the poll.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

I have used .243 on whitetails and would happily do so in the future. I would use a .243 with a proper bullet on any big game animal in North America (I don’t and won’t hunt bears - I don’t like eating them).

It is illegal to use .224 bullets on big game in Virginia. But many of my neighbors, including many folks who basically lived on venison, have been [illegally] using .22-250s with varmint bullets since as long as I can remember. I wouldn’t hesitate to use 5.56 on deer, with a proper bullet.


____________________
“Keep on keepin’ on…”

 

[justin davis]

What about 6mm/243? 6mm and smaller was my intention for the poll.

Oh I see. Yea I shoot things with 6 mm. Have killed quite a few deer sized critters with .243 and 6 creed Even killed some elk

 

[SC HUNTER]

Since I last posted in this thread you can add roughly 80 wild hogs to the list of things dying to a 223. 55 grain pointed soft points work just fine. Some may run a little way but never far. I'll look for pictures, I don't take pictures of them personally as it's just another rodent to me. Yall continue on killing stuff!

 

[Leinad]

.223 and .243 on deer and pronghorn. Both calibers on both species. Old school soft points at 150 yards and in with the .223 on white tails. 77 grain OTM on a pronghorn as well at 330 yards, later on. 243 Barnes tsx on pronghorn. All good results. All dead animals when bullets hit the vitals.
Additionally, I grew up off grid and harvested deer for food on our private property. This was an era where the legality of such endeavors was not considered to be a priority. I killed my first 5 deer with a .22 rimfire. 75 yards and in, in the lungs, one shot kills.