Anyone use a 22 Hornet for deer?

A buddy of mine hit a Fallow spiker too far back with a 6.5x55 when I lived in the UK. I was with him for the walk, and I had my suppressed Ruger k hornet with me for foxes. After about an hour looking for his wounded buck, I spotted it hiding under a hedge. I hit it in the back of the head at about 80 yds, with a 45 gr hornady sp. I was amazed at the damage, almost decapitated it.
I shot Roe in Scotland with a .22-250, and would have used my .223 if I had been allowed. I think I remember hearing that .22 hornet is legal with a 50 gr bullet for Roe in some European countries.
I bet I could tag a deer a lot quicker with a hornet than I could with my bow, but I certainly would'nt class the hornet as a deer rifle.
 
tactical870 said:
Everything you just said challenges the legitimacy of bowhunting. Why bowhunt when a 7mm mag or a 308 kills a deer better? And the 22 Hornet has more than enough energy. It is actually higher than most 357 Magnum loadings when fired from a revolver and many of us on this forum have called for handgun hunting to be reinstated. The Hornet has more than enough energy to break ribs and make a proper vitals shot on a deer. As was already posted, bullet selection is definitely important as varmint bullets are never suitable for larger game.
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I think a .22lr would make it through deer ribs no problem at close range
 
antiqueguy said:
I think a .22lr would make it through deer ribs no problem at close range
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While illegal in Ontario, the 22 LR in a CCI minimag is still only 153 ft/lbs of energy. The Hornet, with a 55 gr SP bullet produces 859 ft/lbs, only slightly below a 30-30 with cast bullets and significantly higher than the 44-40 in any load.....
 
Superbrad said:
So why would you want to use a hornet when you could use something better suited? .... Seriously, you need to actually hunt more and get a clue and do less talking...
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I hunt at least once a week mostly for pest birds. why would I use a hornet because I can for me its mainly a coyote gun but one day it mite follow me into a zone that allows gun hunting for deer
 
antiqueguy said:
I hunt at least once a week mostly for pest birds. why would I use a hornet because I can for me its mainly a coyote gun but one day it mite follow me into a zone that allows gun hunting for deer
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Good luck with that... You have nowhere near the experience to pull this off and if you did, you would realise it was a stupid idea... I have to agree with srdent at this point.... To sum it up, stupid is as stupid does... Knock yourself out,and again, be sure to post your failures and not just your successes... God speed intenet cowboy...
 
Energy values say the Hornet matches and exceeds many ' Tried & true deer cartridges'
44-40 factory offerings are short of the Hornet on the energy scale. Granted big & slow rds are better killers than the numbers show.
357 mag...less energy than the Hornet.
Heck winchesters weak-*ss factory offering in 38-55 pushes a 250 gr bullet at 1050 ft/sec = what 600 something ft/lbs?
I'd bet 30% of members here would consider these deer cartridges.
I know it's anemic for the task and it's not legal in AB for deer anyhow.
But in thick brush (hence close distances) or highly populated areas? I'd consider it a via-able choice.
But then again I live in an area with good hunting except for the fact that larger magnum rounds can over penetrate or ricochet and then it's into the ellipse of someone's house.
Not cool...
 
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tokguy said:
Energy values say the Hornet matches and exceeds many ' Tried & true deer cartridges'
44-40 factory offerings are short of the Hornet on the energy scale. Granted big & slow rds are better killers than the numbers show.
357 mag...less energy than the Hornet.
I'd bet 30% of members here would consider these deer cartridges.
I know it's anemic for the task and it's not legal in AB for deer anyhow.
But in thick brush (hence close distances) or highly populated areas? I'd consider it a via-able choice.
But then again I live in an area with good hunting except for the fact that larger magnum rounds can over penetrate or ricochet and then it's into the ellipse of someone's house.
Not cool...
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You need an education on what a "tried and true cartridge" is... Looking in the muzzleloader forum tells me you little respect for your prey... It's 2013... Try and act like it...
 
tactical870 said:
I have 33 whitetails under my belt. The last 4 have been taken with a single shot from a 6.8 SPC with my handloads and they've all dropped in their tracks with the shots exactly where they should have been. I asked the original question because I believe that I can indeed take a whitetail ethically using a 22 Hornet, and I wanted a fresh challenge as shooting deer with a 270, or a 7mm is not a challenge by any means to an experienced hunter. Given your hunting background, I would have expected you to understand that.....
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Then possibly I can suggest a fresh challenge, perhaps Cape Buff with a hornet. At least when you blow the shot the animal has the ability to point out the unethical error of your ways. Hell, I'm all for taking up a collection to buy you the hunt and pay for the airfare, I'm also pretty sure I know a PH who I can talk into letting you try this and NOT back you up. They too have debated all this bullsh!t with many hunters and hold much the same feelings as Ardent and I and many others, about stunts like this. Man up, make it a Cape Buffalo........ What do you say Ardent, I'm in for a grand...........who else wants to see tac870 shoot a Cape Buffalo with a hornet? I'll track the donations and when we got enough I'll make all the arrangements and send Tac870 his itinerary and air ticket.
 
tactical870 said:
I have 33 whitetails under my belt. The last 4 have been taken with a single shot from a 6.8 SPC with my handloads and they've all dropped in their tracks with the shots exactly where they should have been. I asked the original question because I believe that I can indeed take a whitetail ethically using a 22 Hornet, and I wanted a fresh challenge as shooting deer with a 270, or a 7mm is not a challenge by any means to an experienced hunter. Given your hunting background, I would have expected you to understand that.....
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With your vast expertise, I'd have to question why you'd start a thread like this asking for "advice"? :confused:
 
c-fbmi said:
Then possibly I can suggest a fresh challenge, perhaps Cape Buff with a hornet. At least when you blow the shot the animal has the ability to point out the unethical error of your ways. Hell, I'm all for taking up a collection to buy you the hunt and pay for the airfare, I'm also pretty sure I know a PH who I can talk into letting you try this and NOT back you up. They too have debated all this bullsh!t with many hunters and hold much the same feelings as Ardent and I and many others, about stunts like this. Man up, make it a Cape Buffalo........ What do you say Ardent, I'm in for a grand...........who else wants to see tac870 shoot a Cape Buffalo with a hornet? I'll track the donations and when we got enough I'll make all the arrangements and send Tac870 his itinerary and air ticket.
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No wonder people dislike this site so much. Ridiculing people when they ask a valid question...... Shooting a 110 lb whitetail deer with a 22 hornet would be akin to shooting that cape buffalo with a 338 Win Mag. (Which is not at all uncommon, actually) They are not even remotely comparable.....

bearkilr said:
With your vast expertise, I'd have to question why you'd start a thread like this asking for "advice"? :confused:
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I didn't ask for advice. I asked if anyone had done it.
 
Ardent - you have been to Africa and you have written about the Impala. I suspect you are aware that the .22 Hornet has at least a fair following for use on Impala.

Here are some examples:
http://www.gsgroup.co.za/wleroux.html
http://www.backcountrytaxidermy.com/Africas-Impala.html

I understand that it is also used on such smaller antelope like Puku and the like. All of these animals are similar in size to smallish deer. In fact, the deer I hunt on the Charlottes sometimes do not weigh much more than 100lbs.

Have you tried the Hornet on game in Africa?
 
I almost feel I need to stipulate my "hunting credentials" on this thread in order to reply...

There is sooo much to say here...

First; Guns and Bows are VERY different in how they function terminally. To suggest that a small caliber round is more lethal than a archery propelled, broadhead tipped arrow is ludicrous. Briefly; BULLETS are designed and function by expanding and expending their energy on a "short wound channel" within the game animal... the goal is shock, pulverization and/or muscular/skeletal incapacitation, hemorrhage is secondary... ARROWS, on the other hand function by "slicing" tissue (arteries etc...) on a "long wound channel" causing massive hemorrhage. Where bullets are "designed" to shed their energy, arrows "resist" shedding their energy... thus require FAR LESS actual kinetic energy or momentum to completely penetrate tissue. Both are lethal within their respective but very different parameters... I have shot upwards of 200 big game animals with archery equipment possessing 80 ft/lbs of energy... virtually every shot was a complete pass through and death was efficient and quick... by comparison, that is roughly the equivalent energy of a .22 LR rifle... NONE of which would have passed through and very few of which would have resulted in a recoverable animal.

As to the topic at hand; Hornet for deer... I know an elderly native gentleman who has taken hundreds of whitetails with a .22 Mag... I once asked him how many deer he had lost, he responded, "none." So I asked, what was the longest tracking job he had, he responded "how tall is a deer?"

I DO NOT relate this to advocate using .22 Mag to hunt deer with... this native hunter hunts by climbing into a tree directly over a deer trail, laying out on a branch, often for hours at a time, and shooting the deer from 15 FEET through the top of the head... I would say if you can lay on a branch, unmoving for hours and still shoot accurately, then by all means give the Hornet a whirl...

I personally love the Hornet, but have reamed all mine to K-Hornet... and I will NEVER use any of them on deer. Having said this, if you do use a Hornet for deer, then PLEASE do not use the 45 SP Hornet bullet! I have shot dozens of coyotes with that bullet and have had a number of sub-par results even on lightly boned yotes... It has not been mention in this thread as far as I can see, but the relatively new Nosler 60 grain Partition bullet is proving to be a decently accurate bullet out to 150 yards with excellent terminal performance.

Tactical870... if you just gotta do something silly like use your Hornet on deer, and since you reload, please look into a premium bullet like the 60 Partition or Barnes 62 TSX...
 
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