What caliber gun has killed the most deer in No. America?

[RED]

I looked it up and the so called experts have decided the 30-30 is the winner, hands down.

I think they are way off. There have been millions of deer poached in the last century and most of them were killed with a .22LR.

What do you think?

[lyman]

talking to a few Game Wardens over the years, and they seem to think the same

22LR has dropped a ton of Deer (not legally) in VA

[barretcreek]

+1 Worked with a guy from UP. Only had one gun; Savage .22M/20. Said it kept meat on the table year round.

[Allen]

I believe that is a fact that state officials want to conceal because a .22 is not suppose to be strong enough and have the bullet mass to kill a deer.

Use to work with a deaf co-worker. He told me once he hunted deer and all he ever used was a .22LR. When I told him that was illegal he just shrugged his shoulders and said he was deaf and didn't know the laws.

[Art]

talking to a few Game Wardens over the years, and they seem to think the same

22LR has dropped a ton of Deer (not legally) in VA

yup, it depends on whether you're talking about legally or illegally although the illegal use of .22s (including .22 shorts) seems to have dropped off. There's no sure way of telling but .30-30 has killed a lot of deer and though its percentage has dropped off over the past 40-50 years it still kills a bunch every season.

[Vern Humphrey]

It goes the other way, too. In Arkansas, the regulation for squirrels, crows, and so on is "Nothing larger than .22 rimfire" EXCEPT "when there is a modern or muzzleloading season in effect for deer, bear and coyotes."

Coyote season is from Jan1 to Dec 31!

I use my .22 Hornet for crows (legally) and often hunt squirrels with an '03A3 Springfield, using a 160 grain Lee cast bullet ahead of about 27 grains of AA 5744. During deer season, I keep a Hammond Game Getter in my pocket -- this uses a .22 nail-setting blank to fire a sized buckshot in my .30-06 Model 70

[Allen]

It goes the other way, too. In Arkansas, the regulation for squirrels, crows, and so on is "Nothing larger than .22 rimfire" EXCEPT "when there is a modern or muzzleloading season in effect for deer, bear and coyotes."

So in AR it would be illegal for me to kill a squirrel with my 50bmg? Who would know? It's not like someone would see a wounded squirrel hobbling around.

[RED]

I have killed at least 3 whitetails with a .22 pistol. All were injured in some way or another 2 in car crashes and one great big 12 point buck. It was 2 weeks after deer season had ended and he had a broad head arrow that was imbedded in a shoulder blade and was struggling to get out of a soft bog. The infection was so elevated you could smell him yards away. The .22 was the only weapon I had and one round to the back of his head ended his suffering. As with any game, placement is extremely important, whether it is a .22, 30-30, or a bow.

[Allen]

I don't bow hunt. I don't hunt at all, but from what I gather most all arrow shots are for the body part of the deer and there's practically never a clean kill.

[bruce]

The .22 LR round is a remarkable almost nothing of a round. Little boys have been known to think they could stop a .22 LR from exiting the bore of a rifle by merely holding their thumb over the muzzle. Nope. At least on one occasion a single common .22 LR round fired from a non-descript little rifle killed a full-grown African elephant after it penetrated sufficiently for the unfortunate (depending upon point of view) elephant to expire. Only God knows how many people have been killed by the .22 LR round. Between the good folks and the bad folks, the ugly truth is that the little .22 LR has likely killed more people than any other pistol caliber ever created. For that matter, fired from a rifle, the .22LR may have killed more people than any one single round used by any one particular army/nation. So, it comes as no surprise that the .22 LR has very likely killed more deer than any other round in deer hunting history. After all, it works. On a number of occasions, I've managed to get very close to a deer out in the woods. A few times, just to see if I could, the distance was maybe 10 feet. Once I could have touched a doe w/ a golf club. The first deer I ever killed was shot at the long long distance of 25 feet. Yep! Actually, probably a bit closer. I most certainly didn't need the .30-06 that I used. If I'd had a .22 LR rifle in my hands or even my beloved S&W 18-2, I could certainly have dropped that buck or the afore mention doe with no drama by putting a common lead .22 LR bullet into its brain pan. Sincerely. bruce.

[RED]

So in AR it would be illegal for me to kill a squirrel with my 50bmg? Who would know? It's not like someone would see a wounded squirrel hobbling around.

Hunting crows in Arkansas has some strange limits. No limit on numbers but during the season you can only hunt them from Thursday through Monday.

[Allen]

All states and cities have some strange laws on the books. More laws than people can keep up with. I suppose the main reason is so there will always be a source of revenue for fines?

In Mobile, AL it is illegal to drive a stage coach down certain streets. Not that anyone is going to do it NOW, but some laws were just never changed or omitted.

[lyman]

Hunting crows in Arkansas has some strange limits. No limit on numbers but during the season you can only hunt them from Thursday through Monday.

not sure if it is still in place, but Crows in VA at one time could only be hunted Mon, Wed, Fri

there is also a specific section on a river in the western part of the state where you shoot fish, legally, from a ladder in the river or boat, with a rifle,

that's right , fishing with a firearm

https://law.lis.virginia.gov/admincode/title4/agency15/chapter320/section150/

[Allen]

fishing with a firearm

I tried that. Fish sank.

[lyman]

I tried that. Fish sank.

had an Aunt years ago, several times removed, that owned a piece of property outside of Roanoke that had a pond at the base of the hill,

spring fed,

Carp got in it and good too big,

one of my Cousins used a jonboat and would row up to the spring creek feeding it and shoot them,

he would toss them over the other side, down in the woods below the dam,

cows left them alone, but the other critters ate good that night