Has any one used a .204, 222, 223 or 22-250 on deer? Mainly the .204, I was thinking of using my .204 on sika deer but wondering about the knock down power.
Light caliber rifle for deer?
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deadduck101
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I don't think I'll have any issues shooting a 90 lb sika deer. It might be a good thing, at the least I might not damage as much meat.
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Don't underestimate the tenacity of a sika. They are tough critters. I've seen and heard of them absorbing 12ga shotgun slugs and leaving minute blood trails. Their chosen habitat it wet, too, so blood trails are going to be sparse in places anyway.
The sika's that I've seen get parked on the spot had hits to the central nervous system (brain or spinal cord). I saw a spike stag take a 12ga slug head on (base of the throat, buddy shot it) at about 50 yards. He went well over 100 till he cashed it in. Not a bad track to follow, but it was all dry grass he traveled. Had he been in the myrtle and thorns with water below, that would have been a fun one.
I don't think you need an Ultra Mag for sika deer, but don't think because they're small they're wimps. They will take a hard hit and still go a fair distance.
I was planning to go to Assateague (VA side), but had to scrub the trip. The zone I would have been hunting was a rifle zone, and I was going to take either a lever 35 Remington or my scoped '06.
They are tough little buggers.
Oh, and if you shoot a 90lb sika, you got a trophy. I shot a hind last time I was down to VA that dressed out at 48lbs. Guy at the check station said he wouldn't check in any hinds that weighed much more than that. My dad shot a big stag about 10 years ago down there...check station guy at the time said it was the biggest he'd ever seen in a number of years. It dressed at 75lbs.
The sika's that I've seen get parked on the spot had hits to the central nervous system (brain or spinal cord). I saw a spike stag take a 12ga slug head on (base of the throat, buddy shot it) at about 50 yards. He went well over 100 till he cashed it in. Not a bad track to follow, but it was all dry grass he traveled. Had he been in the myrtle and thorns with water below, that would have been a fun one.
I don't think you need an Ultra Mag for sika deer, but don't think because they're small they're wimps. They will take a hard hit and still go a fair distance.
I was planning to go to Assateague (VA side), but had to scrub the trip. The zone I would have been hunting was a rifle zone, and I was going to take either a lever 35 Remington or my scoped '06.
They are tough little buggers.
Oh, and if you shoot a 90lb sika, you got a trophy. I shot a hind last time I was down to VA that dressed out at 48lbs. Guy at the check station said he wouldn't check in any hinds that weighed much more than that. My dad shot a big stag about 10 years ago down there...check station guy at the time said it was the biggest he'd ever seen in a number of years. It dressed at 75lbs.
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How does hydro-static shock produce adrenaline?
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I killed a Doe one time with a Ruger 77 223 with a handloaded Winchester 64 gr. Power Point bullet. Got her with one shot thru the ribs at about 75 yards. She ran about 40 yards. IMO it worked fine but I would certainly not pick such a small caliber for a "Serious" Deer rifle. IMHO 243 Win. is minimum.
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I have taken quite a few deer with the 22-250. Handloads, 70 grain speers. All but one dropped on the spot. Took a neck shot on one and the rest were right in the boiler room. When I field dressed the ones that were shot in the boiler room, the vitals looked like smuckers strawberry jam. Remember, it's the indian not the arrow.
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A-Shock as in suprise/scared? OR B-As in Hydrostatic-shock?BarnesX.308 said:
A can induce adrenaline production
B produces hemmoraging and death
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Biggest thing, as stated previously, is bullet type and also twist rate of barrel. A .22 rifle with a fast twist is deadly using 60-70gr bullets.
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Killed a buck with one a number of years back, no problem. But then I shot it at 20 yards, and took the heart out. Shot placement is the key, as with any caliber, but more so with a small caliber.*Moose said:
Talked to a local resident out west one year on a elk hunt. He was using a 243, said he had all season, so could pick his shot to fill the freezer, was all he ever needed.
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I've killed many deer early in my hunting career with a .222, and a 50 gr bullet!
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A number of years ago when 2G was "concurrent" I neck shot a decent 6 point at 40 feet with a 222, it did a back flip, DRT. Dragged it up to the truck and went back and set down in the same place, shot a doe that fell in the same spot the buck did. The next year the guys were putting on small push and a group of 4 doe came out near me, one shot from the 222 and DRT. I like it for doe, turkey and grouse but think I could use it for almost anything.
A 100gr 6mm bullet has a very good sectional density and is designed for game larger than varmints. Shot placement and the right bullet go hand in hand. Anything can be killed by anything from a 22lr on up but sooner or later a deer will be lost and those are the stories no one tells.RonM said:
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6mm's are nasty on deer. I shoot the wildcat 6mm x 284. My long time friend who got me on these has taken 23 Bull elk out to 700 yards with a 6x284 100 grain bullet. The last 2 elk i was with him. However for whitetail around here a good bullet for 6mm and 243 is the Siera 85 grain bthp. The 100 grain bullet does not do as well on deer as the 85.
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Also feel high velocity and bullet fragmintation is what kills. When i wss young my first rifel was a 308 760 pump using 180 grain round nose. That had to be the most crippling gun i ever used. Except for my lr elk gun i use nothing larger than a 25 caliber 100 grain bullet.
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well aparently the nay-sayers have never seen my 45gr Barnes TSX triple shock bullet hit a deer at 3800FPS from my 22-250. insides are strawberry jam. this year my 629 44 gets the nod but even in my 260 remington I only shoot 100gr ballistic tips speed kills. My brother shoots 95gr v-max's from his 260 at 35-3600FPS and does just wonderfull even when hitting heavy bone. go ahead look up the formula for kinetic energy and its all speed dependent.
M x V squared /2 = KE (mass x velocity squared divided by 2)
kinetic energy is what does the job,
M x V squared /2 = KE (mass x velocity squared divided by 2)
kinetic energy is what does the job,
HUGE difference in a .22cal 45gr Barnes TSX and any other .22cal 45gr bullet. If the TSX loses all of it's petals it will still penetrate. Using any of the TSX bullets in small calibers for deer is probably the smartest choice someone could make.700varmint said:
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Sounds nasty on deer. But we must keep it a secret what really kills so we can have more deer for ourselves.
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If High velocity isnt the answer for deadly kills than i guess Roy Weatherby didn't exist. My cousin with his 30-06 180 grain round nose made me a good tracker when i was young. Later i told him im too old for this tracking and chasing get a real gun. Oh yea, we need those big guns with heavy bullets to shoot thru the brush to.
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Give me some data on that 260, i have one i used a few years ago and sat aside for my grandson few years down the road. I was using 100 grainer nosler bt vel. was only around 3k but its a model 7 short barrel. Used W-760 powder but will have to look up thre charge.
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