A poster just responded to a post I made about liking my 270 for hunting whitetails here in PA. He mentioned usually and regularly taking deer with his Ruger 10/22.
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Is Deer Hunting With 22 LR Legal Anywhere?
- Thread starter erikpolcrack
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It was and I believe is still legal in Vermont. Very seldom did I ever encounter a hunter with a rimfire. I did, on many occasions encounter violators and illegal acts involving deer and the use of a 22 rimfire, mostly at night. The current trend of suppressors and night vision/thermal devices has created a new niche of poachers, often plying their trade in more suburban environments and from the window of their home instead of their vehicle.
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DWalt
Member
Deer poachers generally prefer using a .22. Legality of a .22 is not their concern. Some years ago I knew someone who used a .22 Hornet as his only deer rifle. At the time it was legal in MD.
Glenn R. McMannly
Member
The only .22 I’d use on deer is a .22-250 loaded hot with a properly constructed bullet.
All 22 calibers were illegal in VA but it's been decades since I last read that.
Not legal in Pa.
22 center fire cartridges are however. I shot my first 9 deer with a 222 Remington using reloads of heavier jacketed 55 gr Sierra spitzers going 3000 fps at the muzzle. It did the job but was strictly an under 100 yard number. Most shots were less than 75 yards and forget it if there was a hint of brush.
22 rimfire for deer was a poachers number in the past but they seem to have now graduated to scoped crossbows. I've talked with a number of hunters who have witnessed road hunters hunting from vehicles with crossbows. Have even seen a few vans going up a forestry road with the side door open and shooter sitting on a chair with an x bow in their lap.
John
22 center fire cartridges are however. I shot my first 9 deer with a 222 Remington using reloads of heavier jacketed 55 gr Sierra spitzers going 3000 fps at the muzzle. It did the job but was strictly an under 100 yard number. Most shots were less than 75 yards and forget it if there was a hint of brush.
22 rimfire for deer was a poachers number in the past but they seem to have now graduated to scoped crossbows. I've talked with a number of hunters who have witnessed road hunters hunting from vehicles with crossbows. Have even seen a few vans going up a forestry road with the side door open and shooter sitting on a chair with an x bow in their lap.
John
I have carried a prewar Colt Woodsman for 50 years wandering the west. Plenty capable within the ability of the shooter. While guiding deer and elk hunters, that little Colt did some outstanding work. The late great African PH Harry Selby carried a 4" barreled Colt Woodsman and only had one incident with a monster croc, that he felt under gunned. When Selby retired, he gifted it to another PH.
tro55
Member
All your doin is feed'in the buzzards!
SGT ROCK 11B
Member
Poachers preferred caliber.
I never heard of 22 rimfire being legal in any state for Deer Hunting.
I never heard of 22 rimfire being legal in any state for Deer Hunting.
THE PILGRIM
Member
NM Rules say this-
Legal sporting arms for deer, elk, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, ibex, oryx, Barbary sheep and bear (big-game sporting arms): Any centerfire firearm at least
.22 caliber or larger, any muzzle-loading firearm at least .45 caliber or larger, any shotgun .410 caliber or larger firing a single slug (including muzzle-loading shotgun
Looks like 22 Hornet and up is a Go!
I’ll pass on a Bear Hunt with my 22 Jet, but that’s just me!
I told the Tale of the South Miss Wrecker Driver downing the run away Buffalo Bull with a 22 Hornet.
Then took it home with his wrecker!
Legal sporting arms for deer, elk, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, ibex, oryx, Barbary sheep and bear (big-game sporting arms): Any centerfire firearm at least
.22 caliber or larger, any muzzle-loading firearm at least .45 caliber or larger, any shotgun .410 caliber or larger firing a single slug (including muzzle-loading shotgun
Looks like 22 Hornet and up is a Go!
I’ll pass on a Bear Hunt with my 22 Jet, but that’s just me!
I told the Tale of the South Miss Wrecker Driver downing the run away Buffalo Bull with a 22 Hornet.
Then took it home with his wrecker!
Check with the Pennsylvania Game Commission ....but I'm pretty sure that hunting deer with a .22 rimfire is not legal in the state of Pennsylvania. If a person hunts they have a responsibility to do their best to make as clean and quick of a kill as possible and I can't see that happening reliably on a deer sized animal with a .22 rimfire .
And yes I am well aware that many poachers use a .22 on deer and at night and I've seen cattle dropped with a .22 bullet to the head at close range but that still doesn't make it a good idea .
And yes I am well aware that many poachers use a .22 on deer and at night and I've seen cattle dropped with a .22 bullet to the head at close range but that still doesn't make it a good idea .
I see your .22-250 and raise you a .22 Bleedmoor.
I consider the use of .22lr on deer-sized game to be cruel to the animal and unethical. The round does not have sufficient power to deliver a clean, one-shot kill.
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GypsmJim
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Glenn R. McMannly
Member
What about .30 carbine?
AJ
US Veteran
A friend use to hunt deer in Pa. with a single shot .22 LR. Yes, it is illegal there. So was hunting in the National Forest that backed up to his parents place. All that said when there are six kids in the house that are hungry, plus the parents, I guess poaching takes on a different meaning.
I am not advocating for the use of a 22 LR on big game but I have done some experimenting over the decades. The first thing I have noticed about it as an inhumane hunting round doesn't necessarily stand up to close scrutiny. I know 7 people who have been accidentally shot with a 22 and all but one basically just said ouch. Three never even told their parents being afraid they would get in trouble. One carried the bullet in his leg for the rest of his life. During my career as a guide and my decades of hunting big game I have seen some horrendous wounds caused by about every big game caliber. I often had to find them and finish them off. This for some reason doesn't seem inhumane but a small 1/4" hole does. My last elk client shot a 5-point bull elk broadside in the lungs taking out the opposite front shoulder using a 7mm magnum. It took off and I had to trail it for about a 1/2 mile. When I found it, it was barely standing. One shot from my Colt and it dropped dead at the shot. Which was the least humane caliber?
What about it? It has approx. the same muzzle velocity and ft/lbs of force as a .357 Mag, when fired from an 18" barrel.
It's put enough men in the grave, I'm sure it would do OK on white tail.
Can't hunt with a M1 Carbine on PA, but nothing prohibiting using the cartridge. Ruger did offer the Blackhawk in .30 Carbine. I'm not aware of anyone making a rifle in that caliber that wasn't a M1 Carbine.
