22 LR will kill a big buck

[10X]

Yesterday, I was outside stringing Christmas lights when a Colorado Dept of Wildlife pickup parks in front of the house. The officer said she was looking for an injured buck that needed to be put down and asked to go in my back yard to see if she could spot the buck up in our scrub oak. I said sure.

Well, the buck was there standing about forty feet up in the hill in the scrub oak. She went to her pickup and pulled out a Ruger 10/22. I gave her a funny look and asked if she had anything bigger. The buck was about fifty feet away in the scrub oak. The DOW officer sat on my lawn and took aim. She waited until the buck turned away slightly and she shot the buck just below the base of the skull. The buck went down like it had been pole axed, thunk.

She said: I know you were skeptical of the .22, but I have to do this all the time. I have a renewed respect for .22s. The ammo was jacketed solids, not HP.

The buck had been in a bad fight with another buck and probably hit by a car. It had a broken antler and the fatal problem, a broken jaw. It couldn't drink, let alone eat. We estimated his age at about 10 years and in good shape until being hurt. Sad end to an old timer.

 

[springmom]

They will, if applied like the game officer did. How often is that going to happen in hunting?

Springmom

 

[foghornl]

The lowly .22LR round PROPERLY APPLIED will get the job done...

Although, many times you just don't get a clean close-up shot like that. I have passed on shots sometimes when I had a .30/30 or .30-06 in my hands.

The Game-N-Fish guys probably would toss you under the jail if you tried using a .22LR in normal hunting times, though....

 

[627PCFan]

22s work if the shot is perfect but you tempt fate and the deer deserves better-

 

[Medusa]

One hunter here took down an elk at the distance of 100 yards, shot below the ear. Said the elk just went down.

 

[havanatrader]

Well, the buck was there standing about forty feet up in the scrup oak.

Wow! That's very tall for a scrub oak. And very impressive that the deer could scale it!

 

[ArmedBear]

A .22 can take down a brown bear, if your shot placement is absolutely perfect.

A .45-70, however, allows you to be an inch or two off and still take down the bear.

 

[Saturnine]

I remember reading in "Into the Wild" the guy managed to kill a moose with a .22, I was a bit skeptical about that, but I guess it's possible.

 

[bakert]

I used to deer hunt at Ft Knox in Ky when younger. I remember one of the Conservation Officers carried a S&W model 18. He told me he had put down a number of deer with the .22 that he'd found wounded after week end hunts. Said if placed just right the .22 did a good job.

 

[fatelk]

I remember an article I read many years ago, accompanied by a photo of a very petite Indian (Native Am.) woman holding a single shot .22, standing next to a bear hide that covered the whole wall. It was some kind of record Grizzly at the time.

The story goes that she was out picking berries and came around the corner face-to-face with a monster bear. She instinctively lifted the barrel and pulled the trigger. The bullet went in through the eye socket or some such and dropped him instantly. Talk about luck! Perhaps someone here remembers the exact story. I remember the article from a couple decades ago.

 

[ArmedBear]

The story goes that she was out picking berries and came around the corner face-to-face with a monster bear. She instinctively lifted the barrel and pulled the trigger. The bullet went in through the eye socket or some such and dropped him instantly. Talk about luck! Perhaps someone here remembers the exact story. I remember the article from a couple decades ago.

I don't know any more than that, but that's what I was referring to.

Now the flipside is that they've found the big bears with bullets in them (in one case I recall, 6 .38 slugs fired at close range by a guy who was then killed by the bear), so I'd shoot a .22 at a bear's eye socket if that's the option I had, but I sure wouldn't bet on a .22 stopping the bear if I had a choice, shot placement or no.

 

[RLsnow]

wouldnt a hammer kill a bit buck too?...

 

[10X]

I know we don't need to prove that 22s can kill. I was just surprised that the buck dropped stone dead.

I have shot antelope and deer with .270, .308, 30-06 and they would move or react or even run. The big bores didn't kill them deader or sooner. I guess that is the difference between a good brain shot and a chest or neck shot.

 

[El Tejon]

Well, Uncle Mel (Mel Tappan) writes about a .22 short killing a circus elephant in Survival Guns. However, I won't bet my life or a meal on a .22.

 

[KBintheSLC]

Though the .22 is not my first choice for large game animals, anyone who underestimates the caliber would be naive IMO. I would even consider a well upgraded, tactical 10/22 as a battle rifle... especially for close quarters, urban combat. There is not much that can get rounds on a target faster than a good .22, and I can carry a couple of thousand rounds in a backpack with plenty of room left for other supplies.

 

[Hoppy590]

good story. how ever it would have been better if it was how i originaly read the title as

22 LR will kill a big Truck

 

[George Hill]

It's not about underestimates. It's about improving the odds of a clean kill. The DWR Officer does this all the time... she knows what she can do, has done it cleanly, and has the skills to put the bullet into the Buck's Medulla Oblongata.
http://biology.about.com/library/organs/brain/blmedulla.htm

 

[Ol` Joe]

The 22LR has likely killed as many deer as the 30-30, mostly in the hands of opportunests.

 

[CajunBass]

I've know deer to be killed by rabbit hunters using a 20 ga load of #6 shot, but I wouldn't go deer hunting with it.

 

[GunTech]

I usually carry a 22 revolver to deliver a coup de grace in the event that a game animal is down but not dead. If you can place the shot precisely, a 22LR will get it done. It's a favorite of poachers thanks to it's low report.

I wouldn't choose it for a hunting round.

 

[mikec]

I think, and hope, everyone here realizes that a Chevy will kill a deer, but a Chevy, like the .22 RF, is not the first choice.

I do believe that everyone should have a .22Rf rifle and handgun in their collection. (at least one.)

BTW, Dodge and Ford also are not the first choice.

 

[elmerfudd]

I think, and hope, everyone here realizes that a Chevy will kill a deer, but a Chevy, like the .22 RF, is not the first choice.

I do believe that everyone should have a .22Rf rifle and handgun in their collection. (at least one.)

BTW, Dodge and Ford also are not the first choice.

+1. Toyota's seem to combine real knockdown power with a compact design.

 

[Andrewsky]

Instead of putting a two-cent bullet in the deer's head they should have arrested him and tried him in a court of law for harassing wildlife and vehicular assault.

 

[Walkalong]

The last time I shot a deer, (A long time ago, I'm sure the statute of limitations is up.) it was with a .22 rifle, during squirrel season. Back of the skull. Dropped dead like you turned off a switch.

 

[rr2241tx]

What I wonder about is why the Game Warden was carrying a Ruger 10/22 in the first place since it is not a legal hunting gun in any jurisdiction. Every game warden I've ever known carried a lever action .30-30 or .45-70 as a truck gun because dispatching deer was just one of the jobs they might have to do with it. Most night-hunting poachers instinctively understand a half inch hole in a barrel means they need to follow directions carefully.