head shot??

[yesterdaysyouth]

when using a .22 for whitetail, would a headshot be effective???

if you're hunting a trophy, it would be a little counter-productive, but for meat, it's seems like an ideal shot.... in theroy; now i haven't been able to find any info about the anontmy of whitetail skulls, or nervous system, but if you have any links it'd sure be cool .....


i assume that penetration would be more of an issue here than on a heart, or lung shot, so bullet choice would be a little different....

maybe a JHP or JSP as oposed to a SP, hell maybe even get out the AP....


no not really, that would be illegal anyway, no fmj for whitetail here....

so what do you think??

 

[Al Thompson]

Well, your talking about poaching with the .22. No real jacketed bullets available either.

Frankly, I think head shots are "stunts" and condemn them. If you miss low, you'll bust the jaw. Won't anchor the animal, but will cause them to starve to death. I've know idiots who claim to do this, but it absolutely enrages me.

Even when I was shooting deer with a q beam for agricultural control, we rarely took head shots unless the range was very close.

 

[4v50 Gary]

22 Hornet will do the ticket. I've had a 22 stun a rabbit and it resurrected itself and jumped out of the car. Next time I break it's neck first.

 

[Art Eatman]

The .22 rimfire is illegal in most states, if not all.

For survival, sure, at close range the .22 is effective. Generally, poachers use a .22 at night. Close range, between the eyes.

Art

 

[yesterdaysyouth]

i guess i should have specfied myself a little better, im talking about a .22 caliber bullet but not a .22lr..... i know the laws and im not about to take the ole' 10/22 out to kill an animal bigger than me.....

im talking about a .223 rem.....

now lets try again...

 

[Mr Jody Hudson]

There should be no problem at all, with a high speed .22 cal, 55 grain bullet.

In my youth we did not have game laws and we hunted only for meat. We did not have many white tails, but we did hunt them and we ONLY hunted with a .22 Long or Long Rifle, solid point, 40 grain, standard velocity bullet, usually Remington at about 1,000 fps.

We did not know about sport hunting or sport hunters. We did not know about people who guessed at shots and needed a huge target, like the entire chest cavity, to hit a deer. We did not know that people thought shooting an animal in the chest was humane!!!! We never even considered such a thing. We did however, help these "humane" hunters track those poor animals, sometimes miles, before finding an animal that had been shot "for a heart or lung shot".

Personally, I didn't even know anyone, in my youth, that hunted anything except for a head shot and that included squirrels. We only hunted ducks and geese with shot, and that was with about a pound of shot, from a punt gun, to get large quantities of the birds for the commercial market. Of course we hunted at distances where we knew exactly what our gun would always do and we didn't have much of anything as far as choices of ammo.

Of course that was in the days of hunting for food and with no game laws, for those of us who hunted for food. I went hunting year round, for most anything, with the only game warden in the area, as we had most of the land around and he taught me advanced hunting skills in exchange for him being able to hunt our lands. My first head shooting was, at the age of about 7, with him and we both used Marlin .22s.

Yes, the .22 LR is a fine tool for harvesting white tail with a head shot. However, for those not close enough or skilled enough... we didn't let those people have guns!

Now, however, the .223, or any of several other .22 centerfire choices, is far more than enough gun/ammo combination. But, you want a square shot to the center of the brain, as a glancing shot will give problems. Just know where the bullet is going and know where the center of the brain is and be able to hit what you plan to hit and the bullet will MORE than do the job. Otherwise, for those who have trouble with well-placed chest shots, they will have far more trouble with placing head shots.

Oh my, how times and techniqes and laws, and customs, and opinions do change.

 

[Art Eatman]

I've mostly been a walking hunter, and hunt mule deer in open country where a shot of 200 yards or more is not unusual. One's only shot of an entire season might be on a running deer, as well. So, I have a bit of a different attitude about "What's a good gun cartridge?" than a lot of folks. "More is better."

Now, that aside, I killed my first deer with a .222 Remington. It was a nice, volunteer doe who stood and watched me from maybe 20 yards. I centered the white spot.

The really big deal for me is the hunting ethic, with the absolute demand for a quick, clean kill. We're not talking survival-type pot-hunting, here; that's a whole different deal. For those with higher skill levels in shooting, who know the general limitations as to the range and effectiveness of their gear, smaller cartridges can be quite effective.

Still, I don't like the idea of using the centerfire .22s for deer hunting. If Bambi takes a step as you touch off the shot, you can wind up with a wounded critter that gets away to die elsewhere. It's too easy for a .22 bullet to fragment on a rib or other bone, and not put the deer on the ground where you can get an easy coup de grace.

If all I had was a .223, I'd limit myself to "definite" shots to the head or neck, and go for a chest-cavity shot only on a broadside deer. I'd also limit the range; maybe so 100 yards or less.

But nobody will use a .22 centerfire, hunting out of my mule deer camp.

Art

 

[Newt]

.22 Centerfire rifle will do the trick on a whitetail. I've never seen it used on a mulie or anything bigger than a whitetail but I wouldn't want to either. If you give it a head or kneck shot, it's usually going down if placement is good, no matter what rifle you shoot. I've seen 22-250 take down deer at 400+ yds with a quartering chest shot. Excellent placement though. I'm with Art on this one... it's all about placement.

Newt

 

[Bottom Gun]

Head and neck shots leave too much room for error. If you don't hit the spine or brain, things can get real messy.

 

[Dr.Rob]

A head shot can result in a nasty 'miss" that breaks the animal's jaw and doesn't put it down for a follow-up. However, most neck shots will paralyze the animal at least temporarily so you can get another round into it.

Why do this? Well if you can't see the heart/lung area through teh trees but can see its neck and head enough to idenify if its a legal animal for your tag.. why not?

I think most hunters don't want to ruin a "trophy" by shooting it in the head, whereas a body shot leaves a clean cape.

Everyone that I ever knew to poach did soin times of great need and appalling poverty. 22's were cheap and you had better not miss.

Folks who had to learn to shoot for the table are far better woodsman than most of us, but i'd still insist they carry legal calibers for game when hunting with me.

 

[Mr Jody Hudson]

Well said sir and responsibly advised too!

I agree on both points!