Wow, that's increadible, I have shot many deer with a .243, (no elk, just whitetail) and even if I hit them right through the heart at less then 100 yards the deer still run for about 150 yards before they die. No longer use that caliber.

In MN, you can use any gun for deer as long as it is a .22 centerfire or larger, and that is what the.22-250 is. The only people I know who use them are 12 year old kids out with their dads. That way, the gun doesn't kick so bad, and the dad is there to finish the deer. In my opinion, I don't care how good of a shot you are that caliber is not fair to the animal. You will injur a lot more then you bring down, and even those won't be instant kills. Just my experience.

 

Catterman, I just double checked my info on the MN DNR website and I am correct. The .22-250 is NOT legal for big game in Minnesota. A legal cartridge is at leat .23 cal with a case length of at least 1.285 inches and some other info about the type of bullet. There is also a list of what calibers are legal and what are not and the .22-250 is on the not legal list. I agree that I wouldn't use it even if it were legal. The way I see it is if a child or small adult can shoot a 20 gauge shotgun with even standard high brass shells then they can easily handle the recoil of a .270 or 30-06. My sons Remington 870 20 ga. with slugs kicks more than my 30-06. I wasn't arguing about the .22-250 being legal I wasn't sure myself so I double checked.

 

Thanks Thunderbolt, I stand corrected. Growing up in MN 10 years ago I swear it was legal, at least that is what I remember, or maybe it was in ND? I am wrong quite often... Anyway, I am with you, that is too small. The recoil issue is a hard one, I gave my .243 to my younger cousin to use because it was a lighter gun, he flinched really bad and couldn't hit anything. Took him until he was 16 before he could really shoot. I think a lot of that is in your head. Once you get "scoped" in your eye you are going to think about that every time you come to shoot!

 

30-30 for tight wooded areas, 30-06 for normal hunting, But all I have right now is a 338 win mag(slight over kill) waiting for my chance on a polar bear hunt!

 

im shocked no one mentioned the 280reimigton. Its almost identicle too the 270..its an increadible accurate long range gun!!

 

There protected, can't shoot them unless you are a native Alaskan.

 

Interesting reading the number of different calibres that are considered ideal for deer size game. Like many things this boils down to personal preferance I guess.

In Washington State the .22 calibre rifles were outlawed several years ago as were several larger calibre rifles that did not come up to muzzle energy requirements. I can no longer hunt with one rifle I grew up with, a Model 94 in 25-35, which had taken several deer with no problem at all. Many folks believe the 22-250 is not adequit for deer. Seems to me that this calibre is more powerful than the venerable 30-30 and, when used with the proper bullets, is quite cabable of taking game of this size.

I know some believe they need a 7MM Mag or an "Eargersplittinloudenboomer", of Ackley fame, to knock down even a little blacktail. I am convinced that proper bullet placement is far more important than massive muzzle energy. To me the importance of packing a rifle that you are comfortable, competent and confident with is of paramount importance. Too many times I have had people on our range that were obviously flinching shooting their "calibre de jour" that the gun writers were raving about. A simple game to point this out to these folks was to load their rifle for them one round at a time. Slip in an empty case when they are not watching and let them see their own flinch. I have seen people shut their eyes, turn their head and then jerk the trigger. Many times letting these folks shoot reduced loads in their rifle would build confidence and ability. When worked up to full power loads they became much better shots and knew where their bullet was going to hit as soon as the rifle went off. This ment their eyes were open at the moment of discharge. No more flinch.

In all my life I have never seen a true "natural shot". Some have more natural talent than others but everyone can benifit from learning the fundimentals and lots of practice. Too many times I have seen game all shot to hell by the "quantity is as good as quality" shooters. Wounded game left to die slowly because someone won't put in some time on the range and really learn to shoot prior to going hunting is inexcusable IMO.

My personal preferances for deer run to the old big bore rifles from the 1800's but when hunting in areas where the ranges are longer than these old coal burners are comfortable for I use a 6MM wildcat I had built up years ago.

Long post and rant. Thanks for reading.

 

I guess my post sounded a little cocky, sorry about that. In utah, the rifle has to be a centerfire with expanding bullets.

 

Thanks for shooting that dream all to hell! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] j/k Do they still allow Grizzley on Kodiak island?

 

YOU BET! If you want the largest brown bears, book a hunt in the Kodiak, King Salmon, or Dillingham area. With such a large salmon run every year the largest bears are found around here. We just had a 9 foot + bear come to our dumpster the other night. He just ate what he wanted and moved on.