.22-250 for ~100 lb. Whitetail

Where a .22 bore is legal for deer the .22-250 is the best of the lot.

The bullet made to blow up on a woodchuck is not the best choice.

TEST whatever bullet you decide to use in YOUR rifle. Stabilized and good groups are not the same thing.

In my Model 70 Varmint .22-250, the 63gr Sierra "deer bullet" gives me about 2" groups, no matter what I do for a load. Quite adequate for deer hunting.

Same rifle gives my 3/4" groups (or some days a bit better) with a 52/53gr varmint or match bullet.

Your rifle may do something like that, or it may do something else entirely. Shooting is the only way to know.

Avoid the shoulder blade (or any heavy bone) and the .22-250 can work fine for deer. Texas heart shots are out, too. Consider it a precision instrument, that only works well when used precisely.
 
It is enough, though.

I am thoroughly convinced it is having consulted other hunters.
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I'm the first guy to criticize marginal calibers for hunting, especially .223 for average whitetails, but I go back coyote sized deer, and a 22-250 that is a good step up from a .223.

You have plenty of gun. I look forward to seeing the pictures!
 
"The .22-250 does wicked damage to deer if the proper bullet is used. A 52 grain bullet is pure he.. at 4000 fps."

Let me be the first to say: A 52 grain bullet @ 4000fps IS NOT THE PROPER BULLET.
 
There are several bullets which are far better than the 52-grain type. Hitting a rib or shoulder on the way in can make a relatively superficial surface wound and result in a lost but later-dead deer.

Manufacturers' R&D has developed bullets of around 68 grains which are quite suitable for deer-sized critters. We've had numerous posts speaking to penetration, expansion and "good-bleed" exit wounds.
 
People illegally hunt deer with .22LR here, every story I've heard just about was a head or neck shot and killed the deer.
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True, as far as what you've heard .... they don't brag on the ones that they hit and failed to recover, so you never heard about those.
 
I made a typo in my post. 53 grain, not 52. The 53 gr ttsx at 4k is a much harder hitting and much more devesdating bullet than the 60 to 65 gr bullets at the lesser velocities. The .22-250 is at its best when screaming. It is neutered at the high bullet weights.
 
But you just have to see the beauty of the triple shok at over 4k. It makes an awful mess.;) In my experience it is the most devesdating pill the .22-250 can spit. In bullet size, it is right up there with the 65 grain conventional bullets.

I am actually a relatively new comer to the .22-250. I have always shot the swift. The SWIFT, with proper twist rate, is even more beautiful than the .22-250. A project on my bucket list is to neck down the ..25-06 Ackley Improved down to .22, but I have not done it yet. It is on my bucket list.
 
But you just have to see the beauty of the triple shok at over 4k. It makes an awful mess.
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Is the goal to make a mess of the animal, or harvest it for meat?

I don't like making an "awful mess" of something I intend to feed my family .....YMMV.
 
My goal is to find every animal I shoot, so I don't like using anything under a 24 caliber, and prefer a 28 caliber.

I have killed a deer with a 223, but it was just luck that I found it since there was no blood trail.
 
My cousin shot a doe with his 50 BMG caliber bolt gun. He said that it didn't run and that he found all the big pieces. So...my point being that there is a direct correlation between effectiveness and bullet diameter, SD, weight, and velocity. The 22 calibers will kill deer, as I have seen, but they just don't do it as well as larger calibers.
 
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