Largest Game Taken With a .22 LR !?

M

Mike H

New member
A member of my local G.C. was trying to convince me that he has heard tell of moose being taken with a .22 LR. I have of course heard first hand accounts of some reasonably sized deer being taken with .22's, but a moose, hmmm.

Now I don't expect names and addresses here, use the third person "a guy I knew way back.....etc etc" if necessary, but just what flesh can anyone put on the bones of these stories about this amazing little round,

Regards,

Mike H
 
I was an eye witness to a 40 or so pound beaver being taken with a 22lr. Poachers take deer with them on a regular basis.
 
Thirty some years ago there was an account of a mule deer in Wyoming being taken slightly out of season with a .22 pistol. One shot to a mule deers head ane he didn't take 5 steps before he was down.

I've heard of a another published account of someone that killed a bear with a .22, I believe it was a woman. She obviously was being attacked as I recall, but I don't remember any of the details.


[This message has been edited by Schmit (edited April 15, 2000).]
 
Almost anything can be killed with a .22, given perfect shot placement and close ranges. I remember reading about a trapper who shot a grizzly to prove the point. While not real bright, he was a good shot, and the bear dropped.

Erik
 
This isn't first hand, I don't hunt large game with .22 rimfires, but I once heard a story of a Cape Buffalo being killed with one. The story goes that a movie was being made in Africa and they needed a Cape Buffalo to move for a specific scene. The movie producer got fed up trying to move the huge beast, who just stood about 100 yards from the camera eating and paying no mind to anything but the task at hand. Finally somebody on the film crew scrounged up a 22 rifle and suggested that they shoot him with this thing, there reasoning was that it wouldn't really hurt him, just startle him and get him to move. Well they shot the beast and, as you might have guessed, he fell over stone dead. Whether this story is true or not I can't say, but I think it would be possible. On another note, some of our local boys who raise buffalo try every year to drop one of the bulls with a 22 rimfire pistol before they kill it with a 30-06. I've heard that they empty the pistol into the bull and close range, but always end up shooting it with the rifle in the end. I don't agree with this at all, but It goes to show that they haven't succeeded yet.
 
There are a bunch of stories about Indians in Canada using .22s to kill moose and caribu. The agreed upon technique (agreed upon by the story tellers anyway) is that the hunter takes a .22 and empties it into the ribcage of the animal. He then follows the animal until it dies. There is little argument that this could be effective and having a small bit of experiance with subsistance hunters, I don't really disbelieve it.

Peter Capstick Hathaway wrote of a African elephant getting killed by a .22. Seems that two of the local landowners were hunting, one with a .22 and one with a rifle suitable for elephant. They couldn't get the beast to line up for a shot and the one with the .22 popped the elephant. After a few minutes the elephant fell over dead. The difference in this story and the previous is the claim that the landowner duplicated the feat on a bet. Seems that the bullet has to be placed behind the front leg as the elephant takes a stride with the leg on that side - it moves forward and the shooter places the bullet in the armpit. Not at all sure I believe this one. :)

Giz
 
Well I'll tell you what we didn't kill with a .22 A buddy of mine lived on a farm and we used to plink woodchucks. I'll never forget the time I hit one at about 125' dead square in the chest. All I saw was a puff of dust like someone beating a dirty carpet, and the critter ran to the next hole completely unscathed. I'll never figure that one out!

Rome
 
Elmer Keith wrote a piece a number of years ago about a fellow in a timber camp who dropped an elk from about 15' with a .22 (headshot). Unfortunately, I can't place the name of the article or the magazine that it appeared in. Skeeter Skelton also wrote about a friend of his who owned a slaughterhouse who used a S&W k-22 to kill steers and large hogs. I guess if you can place that little 40 grain solid with 'surgical precision' it will drop nearly anything.
 
Yep, what Yellowdog said.
I've used a little ol' .22 for years on hogs and steers.
12 and 1300 pound steers an' bulls will drop like a rock with a CCI Mini-mag, and so will 600 pound hogs. . . .MOST of the time! ;)

There was this one big ol' hog we had that ran close to 800 pounds, shot 'im right 'tween the eyes as usual, seems that just made him REAL mad, shot him again, only this time the bullet actually ricocheted off his skull and hit the tin roof! Well by now he was REALLY POed, and we was startin' to wonder what we were goin' to do about all this little too fresh ham and pork chops that was starting to become just a little ornery and tear up stuff.
My neighbor said "I'll fix him", went to his truck and got out his .30-30, and fixed him. ;)
 
Just like more people are killed with a .22, all variety of very large animals are dispatched, with it. In Alaska and norhtern Canada, native Americans regularly use it for everything, including Polar Bear, and Walrus,
moose, caribou etc. The trick is to get within a few feet and place the round precisely in the head. These people are skilled and have a lot of practice and incentive, there not looking for a Boone and Crockett trophy, but something to eat today and the next couple of months.
 
A 1974 GMC 3/4 ton truck!!! : )



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.45 Super... Fat and FAST...

"No provision in our Constitution ought to be dearer to man than that which protects the rights of conscience against the enterprises of the civil authority" - Thomas Jefferson
 
Out here in Wyoming the .22 long rifle is the "poacher's pet". A head shot will kill a moose or elk easily. At close yardage a whack in the chest will kill a deer if you sneak it in between the ribs. It will also cost you your hunting rights and if the animal has antlers your property can be seized (like your vehicle) following due process. Add to that the fine and the stay in the county lock up.... well, you get the picture!



[This message has been edited by Schmit (edited April 15, 2000).]
 
This topic is just the kind of talk that gets hunters a bad rap from the people who are on the fence about the hunting issue. This is not the type of publicity we need. It is well known that people against guns and against hunting monitor boards like this one and the Bowers Board regularly.

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Think!

[This message has been edited by Schmit (edited April 15, 2000).]
 
Well, I base my statement about the Polar bear on a documentary film I saw many years ago where two Inuits stalked a bear, waited behind a big piece of dislodged ice floe, when the bear came along they popped him behind the ear from about twelve feet, bear went down, kicked a bit and that was it, no tracking necessary. To add insult to injury (to the bear that is) the rifle used appeared to be a Chipmonk, (childsize single shot bolt action) these guys weren't expecting to make any follow up shots!

[This message has been edited by TABING (edited April 18, 2000).]
 
OK people, lets keep this on topic. Mike was asking for accounts you've heard about where a .22 LR was used for taking large game.

I sure it is illegal in every State to use .22 LR for hunting. Now, susistance hunting/life threating situations are another matter. I'm believe all will agree that poachers work outside of the Law when working with a .22LR. If anyone has any documented cases on this please post them.

I believe what Mike is getting at is what in a worst case secnerio is the largest came someone could reasonable take with a .22LR to stay alive (either attack or susistance).




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Schmit
GySgt, USMC(Ret)
NRA Life, Lodge 1201-UOSSS
"Si vis Pacem Para Bellum"
 
Here is a story that has almost become a legend in the part of Missouri where my grandmother lived. Back in the 1920's a local dentist was squirrel hunting with a .22. He decided to cross a creek by walking across a tree that had fallen across the creek. Halfway across, a black bear showed up on the far side of the tree. The bear was acting beligerent and the dentist didn't want to turn his back on it so he shot at it. He hit it square between the eyes but the bullet just grazed the skull. The bear immediately lost interest and turned to go. For whatever reason, the dentist decided to fire one more shot at the departing bear. The bullet entered the posterior of the bear, somehow missed anything substantial enough to divert it and entered the heart. The bear dropped dead in it's tracks. I've heard this story from several different locals and they say the dentist kept the hide on his office wall until he retired.
 
Gunny,

Thanks for the clarification.

Ron,

Thanks anyway.

Keifer,

Perhaps the funniest post I've read in TFL. I love those old shooting stories.

Thanks to all,

Mike H
 
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