Is Deer Hunting With 22 LR Legal Anywhere?
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seabright60
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Why don't you just throw rocks at it til it dies?
Pennsylvania didn't/doesn't allow semi auto rifles for hunting. However, back in the 1950s-1970s converting M1 carbines to manual operation was popular in some circles. Kits were available that allowed the moderately mechanically skilled to convert their carbines. IIRC, a replacement item for the gas piston.
oneeyedpete
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Thats why it is not allowed. Most people can't do a "well placed shot" while shooting off hand in the woods.
ggibson511960
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Texas Parks and Wildlife conducts night depredation hunts on Gulf coast barrier islands that suffer deer overpopulation. They engage local guides to help. A headlamp to spotlight and .22 RF's load up the boats. Head shots I would presume.
cowboy94916
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The state of wisconsin allows any 22 caliber centerfire reasonably capable of taking a deer, for hunting.
An individual I know, who was hired to remove deer from cities and airports, used suppressed subsonic ammo in rifles of 22lr and up. Their goal was to maximize the number of deer taken at one stand. He told me that it was hard to get more then one or two, with anything they tried. Head shots ony, as they were required to make sure the deer were dropped instantly. They had to avoid upsetting neighboring landowners or compromising runways. A significant portion of the job was done at night over bait. He was very capable individual, a high master high power competitor, when I knew him. I learned from others he had beeen a Green Beret in Vietnam. He was not one for chit chat about himself.
An individual I know, who was hired to remove deer from cities and airports, used suppressed subsonic ammo in rifles of 22lr and up. Their goal was to maximize the number of deer taken at one stand. He told me that it was hard to get more then one or two, with anything they tried. Head shots ony, as they were required to make sure the deer were dropped instantly. They had to avoid upsetting neighboring landowners or compromising runways. A significant portion of the job was done at night over bait. He was very capable individual, a high master high power competitor, when I knew him. I learned from others he had beeen a Green Beret in Vietnam. He was not one for chit chat about himself.
When I was a teenager in the late '50s, the big argument in the gun and hunting magazines was whether the .220 Swift was a sufficient deer cartridge. I thought then and still think now that it should not be, and would extend that to any caliber under 6mm. I acknowledge that a lot depends on the hunter. Karamojo Bell supposedly killed elephants with a 6.5mm Mannlicher-Schoenauer, but I am not sure that shows adequate concern for the target animal.
I suppose a .22 LR in the hands of people who knew what they were doing and could get close enough to keep from wasting more than a minimum of a bullet's energy cargo could serve as an effective deer round. But I would never try it unless I was stuck in the wilderness, hadn't eaten in several days, had no larger rifle (or handgun!) and was desperate to get some nourishment for myself and any companions.
Way back when, I never considered a centerfire .22 round anything but a long-distance solution to a severe woodchuck problem.
I suppose a .22 LR in the hands of people who knew what they were doing and could get close enough to keep from wasting more than a minimum of a bullet's energy cargo could serve as an effective deer round. But I would never try it unless I was stuck in the wilderness, hadn't eaten in several days, had no larger rifle (or handgun!) and was desperate to get some nourishment for myself and any companions.
Way back when, I never considered a centerfire .22 round anything but a long-distance solution to a severe woodchuck problem.
cowboy94916
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After my original post I remembered a incident from 60 years ago. A elderly neighbor saw me leaving the house with my 10/22 and said stop back over when I returned home. I did as requested and he handed me a partially filled box of 22 lr. There were 40 shells remaining. As he handed me the box he said, Now remember son, there are 40 more deer in that box. I used the other 10 for 10 deer back when I was about your age. I looked at him with a question on my face, He read my mind. He continued, When I was your age, my Dad would give me one round. He'd tell me to go out and fetch the most meat I could find. He had lived in Norhtern wisconsin as a boy during the depression and was a very skilled hunter. Some of the deer racks he had in his garage were just awesome.
This reminds me of an article many years ago in either Outdoor Life, Field and Stream, or Sports Afield...one of those hunting magazines. The article was about the venerable .30-30 and how it had taken more deer than any other caliber. The next month, there was a letter to the editor correcting the article saying, "No, the .22LR has taken more deer than any other caliber." The editor agreed, but stipulated that the .22LR was illegal to use has a deer caliber.
Still, I remember as a boy hearing stories of how the old deer hunters would set up camp, planning on staying out there for at least a week, maybe more, and then bagging either a doe or spike buck for "camp meat," as they called it. The caliber used? You guessed it...the .22LR to keep from scaring the game away.
Still, I remember as a boy hearing stories of how the old deer hunters would set up camp, planning on staying out there for at least a week, maybe more, and then bagging either a doe or spike buck for "camp meat," as they called it. The caliber used? You guessed it...the .22LR to keep from scaring the game away.
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SGT ROCK 11B
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My takeaway is he didn’t catch the poachers who used 22 rimfire.
DocSkinner
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Shouldn't be legal anywhere. If it is, it is still unethical.
I thingk issue is too many don't understand what CENTERFIRE and RIMFIRE mean. SO when it says 22 Caliber and up centerfire, they don't know that 22LR isn't centerfire. I have talked to non hunter/non gun types that think all cartridge guns are centerfire and rimfire is another term for blackpowder/muzzleloaders.
I thingk issue is too many don't understand what CENTERFIRE and RIMFIRE mean. SO when it says 22 Caliber and up centerfire, they don't know that 22LR isn't centerfire. I have talked to non hunter/non gun types that think all cartridge guns are centerfire and rimfire is another term for blackpowder/muzzleloaders.
There are those that shoot deer illegally during the season from the road etc. and are called poachers. Poachers in my mind are the ones shooting critters (usually deer here) at night under a light in August or during the day in April when they are carrying fawns. They are killing for the fun of it usually, seldom making any effort to retrieve the animal. The 22 not only won't bring complaints but is easy on the poachers ears inside the truck. It is not an effect round for "hunting" but that is not what a poacher is doing.
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THE PILGRIM
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I’m up in northern Colorado leaving the Roosevelt on a dirt road.
Not a hundred percent sure if I was still on Fed Land or out in the County.
As I come around a curve, I see four guys standing on the side of the road.
Two of them are aiming and shooting across the road. Illegal in Colorado and I think everywhere else.
As I drive past them, they glare at me like you’re messing up in our deer hunt!
Not a hundred percent sure if I was still on Fed Land or out in the County.
As I come around a curve, I see four guys standing on the side of the road.
Two of them are aiming and shooting across the road. Illegal in Colorado and I think everywhere else.
As I drive past them, they glare at me like you’re messing up in our deer hunt!
Navy vet
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I thought shooting a 223 was pushing it. I now use 350 Legend for shooting White Tail. 22LR Center Fire is illegal in Maryland also.
Terry G
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It's legal and I did it once. Never again. Good hit in the heart lung area and I tracked that Deer for over a mile. Still alive when found it and I finished it with a headshot. I also felt like the World's biggest rectum. Never again. Browning BAR in .30/O6 now, I've never had to chase another one.
I know a person who was the camp cook on a week long elk hunt. He did not draw a tag but took along his pellet gun to play with. He claims he shot a mule deer in the flank with his pellet gun to get her to stop raiding his kitchen. It killed the deer.
Ethical, of course not, repeatable, probably not, dead yes.
Ethical, of course not, repeatable, probably not, dead yes.
DocSkinner
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Yeah, but the deer there are what, 40 pounds?
OP
Added info on original post. Using his location listed in his post heading, I looked up his state (Utah) hunting firearms rules. Rifle must fire a centerfire cartridge with expanding bullets. So the guy is a proud self-incriminating poacher.
It was legal in MS (to my shock) when I moved there in 1976, not sure it still is. That said .22 lr is the poachers favorite weapon but I would not want to have to live on it.
It really doesn't take much to kill a deer but unless you can guarantee perfect placement (to the brain or spine) I would pass.
Riposte
Marlin made a rifle in .30 Carbine - it was a lever gun made in that and .256 Winchester. CZ made a little 527 recently in the caliber with a threaded barrel but I am not sure they still make it - cute little thing.
Riposte
