doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com OT- Shooting deer with peashooters, humane?

Time to time I read opinions of often arrogant characters who boast of shooting deer with the smallest rifle legal, 22 cf's and even 22rf and 17rf. Sure they will do the trick under ideal conditiosn but what about all manner of shots typical of hunting situations? Do you have enough restraint to hold off shooting trophy buck running staright away? Here in my localle any 22 centerfire is permitted and often kids outfitted with same for low recoil. Cheapest ammo available, groundhog cartridges. Result, deer gets away wounded to die lingering and painful death. Please before you go out this year think of FAIR CHASE and ETHICAL hunting-to paraphrase one of my favorite writers, be sure to use enough gun. CB

Humane ?

Insane is more like it.

One good thing about deer hunting in the shotgun states where a 20ga is the smallest possible choice is the deer usually die quickly when hit in the vitals. The farthest I've ever had a deer go when shot with a 12ga was about 20' with no followup shot required. I've spent a lot of time tracking wounded deer in rifle states even when normally adequate calibers such as the 30-30 and 35Rem were used.
Anyone using a 22cal is deluding themselves and no credit to the hunting community.
Jim

A few years ago, I had some tree blinds on the Republican. Went over one morning and shot a couple of bucks with my grandsons paint ball gun.......dint hurt em much..

There are times when a .410 is enough gun, so that is when I use it. Is a 28 gauge enough for geese, and a 10 gauge too much for ducks? There is plenty of snobbery on both sides of this issue. Not only do most people have enough restraint in choosing the shots they take but they have enough restraint in not pointing fingers at people that don't think their way is the best or only way. How much bow is enough gun?

Skip

I know a guy who lives on th outskirts of a middle Georgia city and has a problem with deer eating his flowers or something. He began shooting them with .22 long-rifle hollow points, but they kept dying in his yard so he had to load them up and get rid of the carcass. Since he was not interested in the meat, he switched the .22 short solids so the deer would run into the woods to die...Geo

For years my buddy and I had a sideline mounting telescope sights and sighting-in rifles, often with their owners present, at my range. From my experience, the average hunter is not a good shot. No one can shoot well without practise. Very few hunters shoot well enough to kill a deer humanely with a .22. Worse, perhaps one in 10 understand ballistics, angles, drift, etc. Pretty discouraging.

Fortunately, states solve the "snobbery" issue for most people cruel enough to take a 22rf deer hunting by making it absolutely illegal to do so. 22 centerfires are legal in some states, and with heavy bullets will work in the hands of someone who really knows what he is doing. To my mind, that is someone who has taken many dozens of big game animals. Fortunately, I don't know anyone with that level of experience who would make a practice of doing so. I certainly wouldn't. The few extra extra grains of throw weight of even a .243 offers some margin over a .223 and light years over a .22 rf of any persuasion.

When we decide to shoot a deer I think we owe it to the animal to dispatch it as humanely and quickly as possible. My ethical (not snobbish) belief is that decision starts with something in the 6mm rather than 5.6 range.

I would note the same argument continues to swirl about the 5.6 as dispatcher of bipeds during combat. There, the issue is about penetration of body armor and taking the fight out of an opponent. We are less concerned about actually killing him. Indeed, in the calculus of combat, a wounded enemy is actually better than a dead one because of the burden one places on the enemy's support systems to care for him.

Shooting big game is, on the other hand, about taking a game animal's life quickly and efficiently. A .50 BMG would do it quickly but not very efficiently; a 6mm to 8mm (encompassing a small universe of "deer" calibers) will do it both quickly and efficiently. A .22 runs enormous risk of doing neither.

I use my handy Mod. 99EG .300Sav with them great 180gr SP spitzers from Federal. The recoil is quite reasonable about on par with 7mm08. It is much less than stiff kick of 9.3x62 with 283gr 'Oryx' loads.
I came to this great land as a child nearly 30 years ago and the ethics of populace aren't what they used to be. That this shows up in the field is hardly surprising.

By the way, .22's are strictly illegal for deer in GA. The guy in middle Georgia?...Now he has a Coyote problem from all the deer carcasses in the woods behind his home. They ate his cat. Serves him right!...Geo