I had a friend (yeah, even I had at least one friend(:>)) who's passion was hunting ground hogs with a handgun. He has taken as many as 65 in a single year. He started out with a Model 28 S&W (Highway Patrolman) .357 magnum with 6" barrel. He used handloads and opened the hollow point on the Speer half jacketed bullet getting serious expansion and good results on 'hogs.

He also tried his Smith Model 29 (.44 Magnum) 6" with good results. By opening the Speer half jackets he got fist sized damage on ground hogs.

Then he got a 6" Smith .22 magnum. He stated that expansion results were quite similar to his .357. He was VERY happy with those results and his .22 magnum became his favorite "hog pistol". I know that is counter to others reported experience but it IS what he reported. I have seen a couple of 'hogs shot with the .44 magnum (you definitely do NOT have to shoot them twice(:>)) but never personally witnessed the damage done by .22 magnum. However, my friend did NOT exaggerate and I believe that the .22 magnum can be effective. Keep in mind that there are different .22 magnum rounds and I submit that some are more effective than others.

FWIW
Dale53