Thread: 22 magnum on reds

Originally Posted by PerazziSC3

A 22lr firing subs has approximately 95ft/lbs at 30 yards
My bow has about 60ft/lbs at 30

The bow cuts a 1 1/4 inch hole in the deer
The 22lr cuts a .22 inch hole...

Make of that what you want

And the arrow will cut that hole right threw .

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My point is you're not going to hit a deer reliably in the chest at 75 metres with a bow. Whereas with a .22 and a scope and a rested position I can put a bullet in the head or top of the neck. And it doesnt matter how big a hole the arrow makes - a .22LR normal velocity will go right through a deer skull at that range; it will shatter the bone stir the brain and exit. Money on the .22 guy.
At 40 metres and less, then sure your bow is a devastating killer. But the .22 rifle will still do the job if you've got the shot, and if you've got the bowshot then you've got the .22 shot.
These are my thoughts on this matter.

Ethics in NZ are not the same as in the United States, Africa or England and other places where they actually have some. We poison our animals with 1080. Our government enables chopper shooters with .223's and young chaps buy books about doing it.

Originally Posted by Carlsen Highway

And it doesnt matter how big a hole the arrow makes - a .22LR normal velocity will go right through a deer skull at that range; it will shatter the bone stir the brain and exit.

Out of interest, how much margin for error is there in hitting a deer brain with a 22LR? I ask as once I had a young goat just stand there bleating at me after 3x 22mag rounds to the head at maybe 70m. It was incapacitated enough for me to walk up and cut its throat without it running away, but not a nice feeling making an animal suffer.

Checked my zero afterwards and it was shooting an inch to the right as I'd grabbed the wrong box of ammo, it didn't take much for me to have hit a bit far forward on the skull and missed the critical part of the brain.

Originally Posted by GravelBen

Out of interest, how much margin for error is there in hitting a deer brain with a 22LR? I ask as once I had a young goat just stand there bleating at me after 3x 22mag rounds to the head at maybe 70m. It was incapacitated enough for me to walk up and cut its throat without it running away, but not a nice feeling making an animal suffer.

Checked my zero afterwards and it was shooting an inch to the right as I'd grabbed the wrong box of ammo, it didn't take much for me to have hit a bit far forward on the skull and missed the critical part of the brain.

Not much if front or side on but looking away there is a larger margin for error height wise.