.22 Hornet Vs Beavers

Yoteboy

Yoteboy

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Who's shot beavers with a .22 Hornet? I'm looking for a beaver dispatch gun with a little more oompf than a .22 mag but not too much oompf that would wreck the hide. I was thinking of a Hornet , slow & quiet and little. Thoughts on .22 Hornet vs beavers?:confused:
 
I whacked a Beaver the other night with a Hornet but it slid back down the bank, into the water; never to be seen again.
Hornet's got more snap than you think; it was my grandpa's deer gun for years.
 
I have shot several beavers with a .22 Hornet, and quite a bunch with a .22 magnum. The hornet is about perfect for the job, deadly without too much fur damage, won't blow the head of a beaver apart and often won't exit on body shots for those up on the shore at longer range. It certainly is deadlier than the .22 rimfire magnum if the shot is less than perfect.
I see you are from Saskatchewan. Be careful where and how you use a centerfire rifle for beaver, If there is an open season for big game ( including spring bears) you can get in trouble using a centerfire for beaver. Trappers may use a rimfire only. I mostly use a .22 win mag rimfire now. A .22 long rifle is inadequate, but the .22 magnum with hollowpoints is much more effective. I have also used a .222 for beaver, but it is just a little too much of a good thing if you want to save the pelts. A buddy used to use FMJ bullets in his .22 magnum, they were wounders even on head shots if the shot was not perfect. He switched to hollow points and instant humane kills were much more frequent. Many people now promote the 17 HMR for beaver shooting. It might work OK, but I have trouble trusting that tiny bullet to do the job on such a big critter. Good luck beaver hunting!
 
Longwalker said:
I have shot several beavers with a .22 Hornet, and quite a bunch with a .22 magnum. The hornet is about perfect for the job, deadly without too much fur damage, won't blow the head of a beaver apart and often won't exit on body shots for those up on the shore at longer range. It certainly is deadlier than the .22 rimfire magnum if the shot is less than perfect.
I see you are from Saskatchewan. Be careful where and how you use a centerfire rifle for beaver, If there is an open season for big game ( including spring bears) you can get in trouble using a centerfire for beaver. Trappers may use a rimfire only. I mostly use a .22 win mag rimfire now. A .22 long rifle is inadequate, but the .22 magnum with hollowpoints is much more effective. I have also used a .222 for beaver, but it is just a little too much of a good thing if you want to save the pelts. A buddy used to use FMJ bullets in his .22 magnum, they were wounders even on head shots if the shot was not perfect. He switched to hollow points and instant humane kills were much more frequent. Many people now promote the 17 HMR for beaver shooting. It might work OK, but I have trouble trusting that tiny bullet to do the job on such a big critter. Good luck beaver hunting!
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Even if you use highly fragmentable bullets?
 
I used a 788 .223 and PMC FMJ's for years.The water turns red and they stop what they're doing PDQ.In an unpopulated area so ricochets not a concern.Skinned one that had his back full of porky quills..........Harold
 
Longwalker said:
1Many people now promote the 17 HMR for beaver shooting. It might work OK, but I have trouble trusting that tiny bullet to do the job on such a big critter. Good luck beaver hunting!
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I too had doubts in .17HMR till I acquired a Marlin XT in .17HMR a few years ago for grey squirrels/crows/etc... With an HP or ballistic tip bullet even a 17gr bullet does some serious damage to small critters! I had no idea till I forgot to hold high on a ~40yrd shot on a squirrel... Hit him smack in the chest instead of plucking his head off... There was carnage! :( I like the heavier 20gr CCI HP .17HMR (for crows) or Federal 17gr V-Shok rounds now and recently chrono'd some and it clocked out on average at 2700fps! Some were in the 2900's even, lol! I think if a guy was head shooting only on beavers then a .17HMR w/ 20gr ammo would be more than enough... possibly too much depending on the distance of shot. Those little bullets REALLY blow apart on contact. Humane kills for sure, but whether or not it would result in some pelt damage I'm not sure... Try it out on some water bottles or frozen apples first to get an idea.
 
Thanks fellas. Longwalker I've zapped a few w/ a .17 HMR and while it worked I always waited until I could stick a round in their ear from close range. To me their head/body is too tough for such a little bullet. After your review I'll give the Hornet a try and report on the results.
 
Ruger 10/22 behind Remington targets along with a 22 mag have have been my mainstay for many many year and beaver I just shoot within mine and the rifles limits I truely hate stitching hide
 
1899, a .222 or bigger with highly fragmentable bullets will make a fair sized crater in the spot where a beaver used to have a skull. See comment above JHC-II re:stitching hide.
 
Longwalker said:
1899, a .222 or bigger with highly fragmentable bullets will make a fair sized crater in the spot where a beaver used to have a skull. See comment above JHC-II re:stitching hide.
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I was thinking of body shots. Bear with my ignorance as I have almost exactly zero experience with hunting/trapping beaver.
 
It was actually a good suggestion then. On a body shot a varmint bullet out of a .222 would work very well indeed! It would stay inside and be instantly fatal. The challenge is to sneak up on a beaver when it is on shore...
 
We always used head shots and always used a .22 mag. Great results and I never bothered with fixing the hide. A trolling fishing rod with a spincast reel and a nice sized treble hook makes for a good beaver retriever too. :)
 
I knew a trapper who had a rem 5mm mag rimfire that he figured was just made for beaver shooting. I see one for sale from time to time but ammo is a problem. I heard some outfit was making ammo for it though???
 
I trap and very seldom get body shots on a beave as most times they are swimming. I wouldn't want to hit them in the body through the water as this would initiate bullet expansion and leave a nasty entrance wound. For fur friendly the 22 mag and the 17 hmr like I use are perfect. I am thinking of switching to fmj for this as the vmax tears up the muskrats a little too much.

Best,
Cheapsk8
 
Duffy said:
I knew a trapper who had a rem 5mm mag rimfire that he figured was just made for beaver shooting. I see one for sale from time to time but ammo is a problem. I heard some outfit was making ammo for it though???
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Yeah. Aquila makes 5mm. Out of Mexico. The North American distributor is in the US, and sells all he can bother with there. "Where can I get Aquila" is almost a weekly event over in the Rimfire Forum. Short answer is, you can't.
There was some word about the net that there was a outfit in Quebec that was looking at importing their line and getting it on the Approved for Import ammo list, but have heard nothing else.

Too bad, as they have a couple different from mainstream munitions, that look like they would be worth trying out.

Cheers
Trev
 
What kind of ammo for your 22 hornet....Full metal jacket, hollow point or soft point. I am looking for 22 hornet fmj, can't find any..
Sellier&Bellot have some, but can't find any place to buy. Where can i find some 22 hornet full metal jacket...anyone...
 
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