Thread: .222 .223 .222mag .5.56.. THE CALIBRE OF CHOICE FOR MANY HUNTERS

Originally Posted by res

My only problem with .223 on deer (I have shot deer with .223 for the record) is that people often consider all ammo the same-I have seen a mate shoot a deer with a round that was made for varmints (he thought that as it was a "hunting" round it was ok) and the image has stuck with me,I also shot the deer and it went down(7mm08) and seeing the crater my mate caused,in the right place for the record, was horrific.
Can a 22 cal projectile do the job?
Hell yes!
Is it what I would recommend to a new hunter?
Hell no!
I have also killed game with arrows and bolts, perfectly capable in the right hands but also not what I would recommend to a new hunter.

This debate has played out over a few threads, and I am concerned that to someone only reading one of the threads that the message may be lost.
We are in a world where most people new to a activity google it, so even if they do not engage in a forum,the info from any thread could/can highly influence them as they get started. As most new hunters do not have the upbringing and guidance that a lot of us have had.

Hi res, Perhaps its time someone put a picture of a deer up here with the bullet strike area for a killing shot marked in red. We then would find that the target area is identical for a Trebble two as it is for any of the other reputed deer rifles. There are after all no degrees of dead.

Unfortunately it would not show the angles of the bullets travel through the deer which is so important.

I like to encourage woman and boys to use the Trebbly family. One.. it does away with the flinch.. Two it handles like a .22 off the shoulder. Three.. Ammo is cheap and they get plenty of practice on rabbits, hares, wallabies.

Quite quickly they learn to select the part of the animal they want to hit rather than aiming at the whole animal as some do with the larger calibres. This is a bit of a generalization.

With practise you can ride the bullet all the way to the target and see the hair flick as the bullet hits. The moment you know where the bullet hits you know what the animal is going to do next.

Neck.. down, thump.
Shoulder...stumble, wheel down hill, fall dead.
Heart...Mad dash, will go up to one hundred yds and die in mid flight.
Lungs...Stand, walk backwards, stumble, crash, head swinging, dead .
Liver...Stand, ears droop, walk 30 yards, lie down, die quietly.

Heart... is a shot to be avoided. I find deer in the bush that have died and the shooter has not been aware he has even hit the animal. As the heart shot animal flees look for ears held at an unusual angle.

Lung shoot.. The leader of two deer and you will get to shoot the other as it will hold as long as the other stays on its feet.

Liver shoot.. The leader of a mob of five and He/She will move quietly at a walk and lie down and die quietly and you will get the lot. This shot is used a lot on velvety stags on steep faces so they don't crash down and destroy there velvet.

Ethics aside, I bet many trebbly users are still using these shots today. I do. Remember these shots apply generally to all calibre's but particularly to the Trebblys.