.22 does the do

[osan]

So the dog barks at 2 AM as she has every night for the past month or so. The deer is in the orchard. I got the .22 because anything bigger would wake up half the county. Aimed center of mass. Crack. Off she goes. I follow. She ran about 75 feet and dropped the hell dead like a stone. Dressed her then and butchered her later in the morning. Found the slug. Went in, exited and somehow got caught in the skin. About 9-10mm after expansion. Took out the heart. Death was nearly instantaneous.

The .22lr keeps my respect.

 

[Czolgosz]

Nice shootin', Tex.

 

[Pericles]

Nice shootin', Tex.

Shot placement is everything.

 

[luctor-et-emergo]

Hope it will taste good ! Let us know.

 

[AFPVet]

Nice shot! Like they say, a good shot with a .22 beats a bad one with a .45!

 

[Dr.3D]

Shot placement is everything.

This is one time a Maglite is good. You get the target illuminated and then go for one of the two bright spots.

 

[osan]

Shot placement is everything.

No kidding. The damage that little 35 grain slug did was something to behold. It appears to have severed a major artery - perhaps the aorta. None of the internals were damaged and I lost zero meat. She was young - not more than two - and a little thin, but everything looks good. Will season the venison and get it all in the freezer over the next 10 days or so.

 

[Sullivan*]

If it's all you've got, you make do; but for me, I want a little bit more room for error because I'm not a crack shot. I probably wouldn't hunt or cull with anything smaller than .223, and depending on the creature, I might want to go for a 12 guage... Good shooting, keep it up.

 

[presence]

What where you shooting? CCI?

 

[Tod]

What where you shooting? CCI?

Doesn't look like CCI makes a .22LR with a 35 grain bullet (I was thinking Stinger, but the Stinger is 32 grain)....

I wonder if the bullet was round nose or hollow point?

 

[fr33]

Good shot. Had you hit just a bit high or low though, you might not be singing the praise of the .22 But you are obviously a badass.

 

[presence]

dressed weight?

 

[osan]

dressed weight?

60 pounds +/-. By the time I finished the butchering I had about 45# of meat packaged up.


Just got another one around 9pm. Wifey says deer is in orchard, so I get the .22, get a bead, poof, and mama-san runs to the road and promptly keels over in the drainage. Bigger than the first one - a big doe, maybe 80# after gutting and getting her clothing off. Will quarter her tomorrow.

I'm liking this deer thing with the .22 - no devastation of the meat at all, whereas the 308 or 270 would just do all kinds of damage. I shot another doe last night but she jumped the fence onto Pissywink's yard (shrewish wife of my nice neighbor) and I wasn't about to go tramping about in her yard at midnight, so mama-san must have runnoft and died in the hollow. I so very dislike and disdain such a waste. Besides, we just got a brand new 22 ft freezer and I'd really like to get it filled with venison.

Oliver (dog #1) was raising a stink by the brood pens. Sure enough, a huge rat was in there so I shot it for good measure as well. Ollie finished the job. He's my boy.

 

[Tod]

Gonna clue us in as to what the brand/type you used?

 

[osan]

What where you shooting? CCI?

That's the funny part - it was that really lousy Remington bulk ammo that comes in the 525-round boxes. I had it because it was cheap, but the QC is terrible and I would say about 1 in 10 has no primer. Pull trigger - click. The reliability may not be very good, but those little devils hit very hard. The doe I shot tonight - bullet went right through with an exist hole a little less than dime-sized.

Oh, and I will add that I am sure CCI Stingers would also do an admirable job.

I am thinking that for the next one I will break out the 17 HMR just to see how it compares with a larger critter like a deer. It smokes smaller varmints really well. Never tried it on a deer yet, though.

BTW, the rifle is an ancient Stevens Model 34 I picked up for next to nothing. I reworked the stock - the originals are very large and clunky - this one is now vaguely reminiscent of a Winslow. Shoots really well, too. I worked the trigger but it is still not very good - I may one day just make one for it. It is far too nice a rifle not to have a match-grade trigger.

 

[oyarde]

I bought some cheap Remington's spring before last , came to about a nickel ea , they were 50 grain( I think) in boxes of 50 ea , shoot well.

 

[presence]

Very nice osan. What kind of range are you shooting from? From above in stand? Tree cover? Blind? Scope/open? Frontal chest shots or from the side?

17 HMR is really getting tight on "humane kill" level. Maybe an eyeball shot and let it rattle around in the skull? I wouldn't recommend; suspect you'll be tracking. Good luck though and report back. I wouldn't have the nerve myself... though let me tell ya I'm inspired w/ your 22lr success; nobody likes meat devastation... but then again... nobody likes tracking into the neighbor's yard.

 

[osan]

Hope it will taste good ! Let us know.

Have had a few of the B-steaks and they have been very good. Wife left one on the counter for me when she left for work - Brownie (dog #2) got to it and I missed out. I couldn't even scold her for it - after all, she's just being a dog.

 

[osan]

Very nice osan. What kind of range are you shooting from? From above in stand? Tree cover? Blind? Scope/open? Frontal chest shots or from the side?

From the front porch, freehand. First doe was about 30 yards, the second about 20. The one last night was about 75-80 as she was atop the orchard by the fence lining the roadway.

17 HMR is really getting tight on "humane kill" level. Maybe an eyeball shot and let it rattle around in the skull? I wouldn't recommend; suspect you'll be tracking. Good luck though and report back. I wouldn't have the nerve myself... though let me tell ya I'm inspired w/ your 22lr success; nobody likes meat devastation... but then again... nobody likes tracking into the neighbor's yard.

Especially Pissywink's yard - she is just a pill. Their dog entered our property for the first time ever about 5 days ago. Ollie and Brownie start raising a fuss, so I go out to see the other dog and was very surprised because he's never been here before, to my knowledge. It wasn't until I went to take him home that he attacked Oliver and Ford is a very large and strong boxer. I literally had to pick him up by his back legs to get him off Ollie - who by they was looking to kill Ford so I had to yell at him to back off. Somewhere in all of it Ford sank a tooth into my left forearm. I know he didn't mean it and so took no stern reactive measure. Besides, my neighbor is a good guy and I know he loves his dog - not his fault he married Pissywink and reproduced with it. She is so bitter toward us that when I brought their dog back she didn't even say word one to me. Sometimes having neighbors sucks.

As for the .22, as Pericles posted, shot placement it the key. Plenty of kill in a .22 lr if you put the lead where it is needed. Don't think I'd try cape buffalo with one, but that's the extreme. Anyhow, I just go for center of mass just behind the shoulder and it seem to work very well. Despite what I see, I am still managing to be surprised by how effectively and cleanly the .22 lr takes a deer. I am used to far larger rounds for such work and have discovered that they are completely unnecessary unless you are looking to take game at range and that is one of those macho-man deals for which I have less than zero interest. I want death to come as close to instantaneously as possible. The risk of maiming another of God's children puts long shots off the menu for me, barring extraordinary conditions. It is tough enough that I must kill to live; I will not make it tougher yet by killing uncleanly when doing otherwise is readily available to me. That's just my personal position on such matters - I'm not a very tough guy.

 

[enhanced_deficit]

How could anyone shoot a beautiful harmless creature like a deer.