Anyone use a 22 Hornet for deer?

I helped a young lady clean her first deer this weekend. Another .223 deer hits the meat pole.
Found the base of the bullet against the offside rib, entry took out a rib on the way in, and made burger enough of the heart that we didn't save it.
Sorry, I didn't have my camera.

Shot choice is critical, No runners, no shots of a questionable angle or distance. It'll work.

I don't have a Hornet. Yet. :)

Would I try? Probably. I have pretty clear expectations of the results, too. Shot choice and placement!

Oh. The point of the elbow, and 1/3 of the way up, was the shot of choice. Doe took a couple steps and flopped! Great first experience for a novice hunter, along with an exciting stalk to get into position.

She was well aware of the limitations of the round, it was chosen because she has some shoulder issues and was somewhat recoil adverse as a result.
Got to show a potential new hunter, my niece, the gutting process, which has removed a bunch of her doubts about the game.

In all, a good weekend, and hope to do it all again next year with her.

Cheers
Trev
 
bearkilr said:
This is the part of your thread and attitude I suspect many, myself included, have a real problem with. In your mind, "challenging" yourself as a self professed experienced hunter is testing how small of a caliber you can use? In other words, you're using the deer as a test medium? You're bored because they die too easily with the bigger calibers?

You're missing the true meaning of a challenging hunt entirely and contrary to your belief, the majority of experienced hunters don't have this attitude.
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You still don't get that it's not about seeing if the caliber can kill a deer. There is no doubt that it will, given the proper range and bullet placement. It's about the hunting challenge to get that perfect shot.

Gatehouse said:
I think "challenging" yourself is a valid reason to try a less efficient weapon. It's why many people take up bow hunting or muzzle loading rifles. Or even 30-30's with iron sights or single shots or in this case a less powerful cartridge.

The reason Bartell selected the .221 Fireball to hunt a doe with was for a challenge. That hunt would have been over in about an hour if he had used a "regular" hunting cartridge. As it turned out it took us a couple of days to get in position and close enough to allow a perfect shot opportunity. Doe LEH permits are usually treated pretty casually here- "We will go buck hunting and shoot a doe on the last day because it's so easy" sort of attitude. By using a smaller cartridge we challenged ourselves and made the hunt much more fun. Actually got some blood pumping on a lowly doe hunt instead of just "BANG, throw her in the back of the truck"
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Thank you. Finally, someone gets it. :)

MiG25 said:
Challenges are about stepping outside your comfort zone.

Here is my hornet with a doe that made the mistake of being where a coyote was supposed to be.
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Nice work. I have the exact same hornet, but I removed the scope in favour of the 3 leaf express sight.
 
My dad has been hunting with his Hornet for years, and I've seen him take down a pair of deer, and a Moose with it. The furthest deer was about 150 yards away, and dropped within a few feet of being hit around the front shoulder. The Moose was a surprise, as we weren't expecting to see him. With only enough time to grab the Hornet, he took a shot that hit the Moose in the neck at about 100 yards. He began to run, but dropped about another 40 yards away after crashing through some bushes. A second shot to the back of his monstrous head finished the beast off, although he wouldn't have lasted much longer. While I would rather use a high caliber rifle AND a well placed shot, he showed that there is a reason why we hit the range and train with paper. So when it counts, there are no mistakes.

PS: I used the Hornet to shoot a grouse when I was about 12, and there wasn't much grouse left to eat. Learned a lot about the Hornet that weekend.
:)
 
tactical870 said:
You still don't get that it's not about seeing if the caliber can kill a deer. There is no doubt that it will, given the proper range and bullet placement. It's about the hunting challenge to get that perfect shot.



Thank you. Finally, someone gets it. :)



Nice work. I have the exact same hornet, but I removed the scope in favour of the 3 leaf express sight.
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Mine is actually a K-Hornet, but it loves the S and B ammo. Which is actually the slowest load I have tested, but very accurate.
 
MiG25 said:
Weren't you talking about shooting caribou at a 1000 yards to keep things interesting a while back?
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Yep MiG, sure did, but not with a hornet........LOL
The caribou habitat where I was pondering doing this, is open tundra primarily. Almost impossible to lose an animal, and we are allowed to retrieve and follow up wounded with snow machines. Unfortunately this year a very strange happening of all three herds coming together in one region (where I would normally hunt caribou) has caused game branch to close this zone.............maybe next year.
But I see your point, regardless. Anytime any of us become too proficient with CF hunting calibers and decide to challenge ourselves, it's the game that pays the price of our new learning curve. I don't care if it's bow, BP, sub caliber or extended range, the incidence of lost animals is increased greatly. This isn't new, look at the origins of rifle silhouette. The reality is that when this activity changed from the absolute need to feed ourselves and our families and became a "sport" it fulfills a completely different roll in our lives, a roll where if we lose an animal our families don't starve. So the consequences of a lost animal are not dire, at least to us, and the drive isn't to be the best provider, it is more ego driven. Do not get me wrong, I don't place myself above this, I fully admit it. I just have the means to hunt more difficult animals, in more difficult terrain in others places of the globe.
My problem with the hornet on deer is that a poorly placed shot almost guarantees the loss of the animal and there is almost nothing a person can do to mitigate this situation. It is kind of an all or nothing scenario with no possible plan "B", given the terrain where WT live and the fact there would likely be zero blood trail. I think this is where my problem lies with this scenario. There is no thought of what happens if the shot isn't perfect, only that it will be perfect.
 
When I was a kid, my uncle took me hunting a few times. he hunted anything that moved with his .22 Hornet, deer, Mountain sheep...name it. He used it with amazing efficiency (be aware of the man with one gun!).

Now that I am older, I realize he did that because it was the only gun he had. He didn't have any other options. I do, and I use them. 6.5X55 for deer, 30-06 for Moose, .308 for both
 
These threads come up every fall.Can a .22 CF be used on deer?..... etc .............Didn't the US Airforce issue a folding stock Hornet survival BA rifle during WW2 to be carried over Europe in the event of being shot down.The .22 Hornet would work for local boar,deer or Germans.Shot many deer/and seen others shot with a .223 and .222 all one shot kills including 3 black bear.As for the paper energy forget the 1000ft/lbs BS as that would make the 44-40 substandard .Harold
 
mbogo3 said:
The .22 Hornet would work for local boar,deer or Germans.
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You are correct, except that the rifle was only to be used on animals, no soldiers. They used a soft tipped bullet that wouldn't be allowed by the Hague Convention, but did a hell of a job on deer, boar, etc.

I've learned a lot about the old Hornet.
Although I was pissed when pop's used it to shoot my plinking targets. He put holes in 4 of the 6 plates before I stopped him with a resounding "What the fxxk, man!?!?"

;)
 
antiqueguy said:
tell me how im wrong both animals are gut shot both will be lost and both will take a long time to die a .22 hornet to the heart vs a .50 bmg to the guts .22 hornet wins every time it mite not reach out that far but for me at least its not hard to bring a deer in to 30 yards
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That ones stretching it a bit, a 50big in the guts will literally rip the animal in half due to diameter and momentum alone.
In saying that, I think that people put way too much emphasis in diameter and velocity.....though a larger diameter bullet does create a larger diameter hole out both sides.
I believe it's about bullet placement, and how the bullet reacts when it enters the tissue. If the bullets properly designed for the intended animal, and going at enough velocity to properly open, but not so high that it fails, placed properly, it will kill the animal.
Would I use my 223 And leave my 30-06 behind though, probably not.
Ivor
 
c-fbmi said:
Yep MiG, sure did, but not with a hornet........LOL
The caribou habitat where I was pondering doing this, is open tundra primarily. Almost impossible to lose an animal, and we are allowed to retrieve and follow up wounded with snow machines. Unfortunately this year a very strange happening of all three herds coming together in one region (where I would normally hunt caribou) has caused game branch to close this zone.............maybe next year.
But I see your point, regardless. Anytime any of us become too proficient with CF hunting calibers and decide to challenge ourselves, it's the game that pays the price of our new learning curve. I don't care if it's bow, BP, sub caliber or extended range, the incidence of lost animals is increased greatly. This isn't new, look at the origins of rifle silhouette. The reality is that when this activity changed from the absolute need to feed ourselves and our families and became a "sport" it fulfills a completely different roll in our lives, a roll where if we lose an animal our families don't starve. So the consequences of a lost animal are not dire, at least to us, and the drive isn't to be the best provider, it is more ego driven. Do not get me wrong, I don't place myself above this, I fully admit it. I just have the means to hunt more difficult animals, in more difficult terrain in others places of the globe.
My problem with the hornet on deer is that a poorly placed shot almost guarantees the loss of the animal and there is almost nothing a person can do to mitigate this situation. It is kind of an all or nothing scenario with no possible plan "B", given the terrain where WT live and the fact there would likely be zero blood trail. I think this is where my problem lies with this scenario. There is no thought of what happens if the shot isn't perfect, only that it will be perfect.
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I concur from your comments as stated above. I believe that the OP is on a EGO trip with disregard, and to utilize a big game animal as a guinea pig to feed his EGO. Here in Alberta when either I'm scouting or hunting I usually see between 50 to 250 deer in one day. With our healthy deer population (much more than in Ontario) I don't find it that challenging to harvest a deer, however I still have the respect to use a proper cartridge to humanly kill that animal to feed my family and not my EGO. Maybe the OP can go track down and kill a mature (5 1/2 year old plus) whitetail buck with a 30-06 in thick bush, sans electronic devices..............I think that would be more challenging than shooting little doe bambi with a 22 hornet.
 
antiqueguy said:
tell me how im wrong both animals are gut shot both will be lost and both will take a long time to die a .22 hornet to the heart vs a .50 bmg to the guts .22 hornet wins every time it mite not reach out that far but for me at least its not hard to bring a deer in to 30 yards
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antiqueguy; I watched a video of US snipers, in Afghanistan, practicing on Marco Polo sheep and ibex out beyond 1000 mtrs, hits literally tore the Marcos apart !! A gut shot with a 50 BMG at 1000 mtrs on a caribou would have the same effect, in fact any body shot on a caribou would insure immediate death as they are almost identical in size and mass to a Marco. It was akin to hitting a gopher at 50 feet with a hornet.
 
c-fbmi said:
antiqueguy; I watched a video of US snipers, in Afghanistan, practicing on Marco Polo sheep and ibex out beyond 1000 mtrs, hits literally tore the Marcos apart !! A gut shot with a 50 BMG at 1000 mtrs on a caribou would have the same effect, in fact any body shot on a caribou would insure immediate death as they are almost identical in size and mass to a Marco. It was akin to hitting a gopher at 50 feet with a hornet.
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You know, this is neither here nor there, but even during the German occupation of France in WWII it was insisted that the local hunting laws were abided by.
 
To the OP: If you want a challenge, fine. Find that deer, then make that perfect stalk to within the range at which you feel the Hornet is a capable deer cartridge. Wait for that perfect, broadside, motionless shot presentation. Then apply your advanced hunting and marksmanship skills, and make the perfect shot...but use a .308! You're apparently incapable of missing, or even making a less-than-perfect shot, and you "know" the Hornet is more than capable of making the kill...so why bother using it? You have thus accepted the challenge of setting up the perfect shot scenario, you have humanely dispatched a deer...and in the unimaginable event that your shot is off by an inch or two, or the deer moves a tad as your trigger breaks, you don't have a wounded deer to track without any blood trail.

To the moose hunter: The challenge that faced your father is clear. It was to either get closer, or failing that...to not shoot! "Oh my God! A moose! Holy crap, what a surprise! Gimme a gun, any gun! He must die...I'll never see another one! Shoot! Quick! SHOOT!" Disgusting.
 
jjohnwm said:
To the OP: If you want a challenge, fine. Find that deer, then make that perfect stalk to within the range at which you feel the Hornet is a capable deer cartridge. Wait for that perfect, broadside, motionless shot presentation. Then apply your advanced hunting and marksmanship skills, and make the perfect shot...but use a .308! You're apparently incapable of missing, or even making a less-than-perfect shot, and you "know" the Hornet is more than capable of making the kill...so why bother using it? You have thus accepted the challenge of setting up the perfect shot scenario, you have humanely dispatched a deer...and in the unimaginable event that your shot is off by an inch or two, or the deer moves a tad as your trigger breaks, you don't have a wounded deer to track without any blood trail.
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I never said that. Being incapable of missing, and knowing your limitations are 2 different things. The point of using something different is to accept a challenge. No different than the guy who wants to shoot a deer with grandpa's 44-40, a bowhunter or anyone who hunts with a traditional muzzleloader.
 
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