It is if you kill deer with it...My last 5 deer have all been one shot kills with a single shot .22 Hornet. I quit using my 30.06. How many do I have to kill before I can consider it my DEER rifle? If you can consistently kill a deer with whatever legal caliber you have in your hands, then I would consider that a deer rifle. Now, would I take to the panhandle and fire off a 300 yd shot at one? No, I would draw on other skills, such as stalking, in order to get closer. But right now, I am hunting in the Hill Country and it is a great caliber for the terrain and length of shots.

My friends wife is about 5'5 and she runs marathons, and does 100 miles bike races, so she's kind of tough. She shoots a Kimber Montana in 7mm-08.

My wife shoots a Blaser K95 (my rifle, dad stold from me and she stole it from him) in 243 and 222, never with the 30-06 barrel installed.

She also likes shooting my 6.5 Creedmoor AR-10.

I'm not saying you can't kill deer with them....but that doesn't make them "deer rifles". 22 calibers were not designed with big game in mind.....they are VARMINT calibers.

You are simply using a varmint gun to hunt deer. Nothing wrong with that. I have a Kimber 84M Pro Varmint in .223 Rem that I use for neck shooting does.....but that is different. I will never shoot a deer in the chest with a .223.

Are you shooting these deer in the chest with your 22 Hornet?

My wife shoots a .243 with 100 gr. and is confident with it. Not to mention she can drive tacks with it at 200 yds. I think it is a good fit and still has plenty knockdown for most game including whitetail, Hogs etc...

Just my .02

I just bought and outfitted a Remington in .270. I added a muzzle brake to reduce recoil and prevent bad shooting habits. It shoots better than any rifle I own, ammo is cheap and it has enough punch to kill hogs or deer out to 300 yards (I keep a sandbag in my box blind and carry a bipod in my pack as well). May not be the popular way to go but it's a thought.

Btw we have a 3rd generation .243 that my whole family grew up using. 6 people have killed their first deer with it to date. I have and have watched it kill hogs and even a 200+lbs Oklahoma deer BUT I personally don't like the lack of penetration or knockdown. It works yes, but it scares me everytime they take off on impact and I can't find blood because there isn't an exit. I do agree a smaller caliber is better if you aren't going to shoot a larger caliber correctly but meeting somewhere in the middle is better IMO.

Don't forget the hearing protection.

Foam ear plugs are carried n my pack! On that same note the upside is whatever your shooting at has no clue where the sound came from because of the way it projects in all directions from the barrel, lol

People kill deer with cars, doesn't make em a "deer caliber", haha.

Doesn't all that noise still come from one location? If 100 yards or a mile away the direction to the shot is still easy to locate.

My ex girlfriends mom had cancer and could no longer handle much recoil at all but refused to stop hunting. They got her a 7mm-08 and it was perfect for her, she only hunted whitetail but it dropped everything.

243, 257 Roberts, 6.5x55, 260 or 7mm-08

6.8, 6.5 Grendel or Creedmoor.

I have my fiance shooting my 270 right now, in full power loads it is too much recoil for her. She shoots good enough groups to kill deer at 100 yards, but when I put the reduced loads in it she shoot alot better.

I made some reduced loads that mimick pretty much a 100 grain 243 bullet. I think a 243 is a good choice. Personaly I will be getting her a 243 or s 6.5x55 for next year.

matt

It comes from one location but the ability to locate sounds is based on the ears ability to receive it bounced off of other objects. You absolutely cannot tell where I came from and in most instances your buddies hunting in close proximity will never knew you shot. Very loud when very close but very difficult to hear or locate when heard at even 100 yards or more

A couple of the deer were taken with head shots, but the other 3 were in the chest. The last one (over Thanksgiving) had the bullet enter behind the shoulder and exited the deer on the other side. No penetration problems whatsoever. His lungs were mush and both shoulders, neither if which took a direct hit, were both bloodshot so bad I thought I was going to have to throw them away, but didn't. Lots of damage.

Good morning,
I would like to add my $ .02 to the discussion. Whatever you do, despite what people are telling you about the .22, do not get one for your wife to use for deer hunting. This is a rimfire rifle. Based on my research and experience, you may NOT hunt deer with rimfire ammunition of any kind. I have a .243 for my 11 yo daughter and another available if my wife wants to go. A .270 is good caliber but you would need the lower-grained rounds or the managed-recoil rounds. If memory serves correct 1000 to 1200 lbs. of muzzle energy is really all you need. If the deer you hunt are within 100 yds., a 243 will do the job all day long. That is my opinion based on research, rifle use and 30 years of hunting experience.

I agree with the fact that the .22 call rifles were designed as varmit rounds. However I do believe that if a person knows the limits of the cartrige, used proper bullets, and limits their shots and distance they can be efective deer rifles.

I wont body shoot with a bullet that wont exit. This is because in a perfect world when I shoot behind the shoulders I intend for the deer to run, if they run I want to follow them. 223 rem 60 grain nosler partition @ 3000 fps has never failed to exit on deer up to 160lbs. I limit it to 100 yards and have no reservations about it. We use it to hunt on our ranch, and believe me we dont take guns hunting we think we might loose a deer with!

I have seen perfect shots made with it and the deer usualy runs about 10-40 yards with very trackable blood trail. I have seen straight paunch of the gut shots made with it by inexperienced hunters, the deer ran about 3-500 yards, but we found it dead and blood trailed it through south texas brush the whole way.

Is any old 223 with any old 22 cal bullet a good choice to shoot at deer with... no, but if you pick the right componets it can be a very efective deer gun.

matt

Fully agree with you Matt, on the Nosler Partition which is available in factory loads from Federal. If you have a rifle with the twist rate to stabilize it the 75gr Swift Sirocco might be the best deer and hog bullet available for a 22 Caliber rifle.

If you don't mind please tell us in what gun Mag did you read this misinfromation? I want to make sure I do not waste any money on it. Or if it was conversation in a gun store I will go there some time I need a good laugh.

the repetitive word being limits. I wouldn't want to be limited and my wife dang sure wouldn;t want to be limited below her capabilities.

I can shoot past 100 yards easily, but the places I hunted for the past 20 years you couldnt shoot past that distance if you tired, thus not a limiting factor.

WOuld I take it to colorado, the northwest or anywhere I thought I would shoot further NO!

But for sitting in a box blind hunt a feeder at a known short distance(which contrary to popular belief is how the vast majority of hunting ocures in our great state... at least every person I know does) it isnt a limiting factor.

they won't let you take it to Colorado

I know a lot of folk who have feeders set up around 100yds on leases b/c there's only so much room for everyone on the lease to hunt. Landowners I know who hunt there own tend to have them scattered and stretched out everywhere b/c they don't have to worry about other people.

I taken several deer with a 22-250, taken several with body shots from 80-150 yards and gotten passtrus with 53gr tsx's loaded over 3800ft/s. 22-250 is shooters gun when it comes to deer. If not using premmy bullets and you decide to use varmit bullets limit your self to neck shots. Its probably the best neck cal out IMO. But its not a reach out and touch faith round.

My wife shoots 243 with 80gr tsxs and has zero issues.

Lots of good light recoil cals out 243, 7-08, 260, 257roberts ect

My other half is 5'1/2" tall & shoots a Winchester Mod 70 Youth in .308! The picture is a few years old - but she took all these in about 30min and fired 3 shots. Longest was about 185yds.