CFR: the 55gr PSP bullets in the 222 and 223 are made for varmints (read prairie dogs, etc.) and are designed to essentially disintegrate on impact. My guess is that the ones you had a problem with, never reached the spinal cord.

If you are going to use a 22 center fire on deer, it should be with bullets designed for deer. Winchester sells a 64gr Power Point, and Federal Premium sells a 55gr TSX and a 60gr Partition.

Thanks for the response, JJH. I'll have to do some research to see if I can find any of those options on the .222. I usually have trouble finding a decent selection in that caliber, so I might have to get a friend to work up some hand loads for me.

i use .308 150gr Hornady Red tips exclusively for hunting... i can hit a 3" circle with no problem at 200 yards from my bipod... offhand that widens out to be closer to 4"

i am very confident that at anything under 200, i'm going to hit what i'm aiming at. I am beginning to lean toward the shoulder shot. I think perhaps the penetration and power of a .308 would be better suited to the bone breaking, knockdown of a shoulder shot.

CFR the only deer I ever saw take a neck shot and run was with my .223 and it left no blood, i would not take that shot again, in fact that was the last deer I shot with the .223, thats not to say that i won't let my kids shoot deer with it, it can be a good deer gun, but we recently bought a .243 for the wife and kids...I shoot a .270 but was shooting a 30-06 and have now bought a 7mm mag, i will shoot neck shots 80% of the time and am confident i will see deer drop and die 99.9% of the time

Late in the season last year, I decided to change to my .30-30 for hunting that particular piece of property...plenty of knock down power, usually leaves a good blood trail, and makes a lot less noise than my .308. I think I may just use the .222 for target practice.

I have a friend that her grandfater owns a really large ranch in Mason.... Him, is daughter, and granddaughter have take a ton of deer via neck shots with regular Remington Corlokts in 222. In fact thats all they use... They laugh at the gys with the big guns... When i say tons.... I mean triple digits

No kidding, happens every year about this time.

OK I spit a little whisky on that one, how about a warning next time?

Simply stated, you made a bad shot and those will happen no matter where you shoot.

Whoa, how was it a bad shot? I hit the neck dead center exactly where I was aiming (the deer was facing me). Why should breaking the spine result in a kill? It just paralyzes. The neck shots that kill must be the ones that hit one of the major veins or arteries.

cfr i would chunk those soft points and get you some hollow points. ive killed deer both ways but i but i prefer a neck shot for the fact they dont run. you dont have to have a f'ing elephant gun to kill a freaking whitetail. i know of many deer that have been drt from a 22 mag in the neck with 50 grain hollow point out to a hundred yards. to make a neck shot you dont have to hit the spine or take an artery just get good bullets that create a big impact. it is the impact that does breaks the neck

and if you dont have the stomach for seeing a wounded deer you might want to rethink your decision about hunting because it will happen know matter where you shoot them. the only thing that can be done is shoot you gun till your confident you can hit any shot you are presented with

I must admit neck shots are not for everybody. I choose neck shots 90% of the time but i have the utmost confidence in both my rifle and my own shooting ability. If i don't feel confident in any shot then i don't take the shot. I practice throughout the year using different shooting positions and in different weather conditions so that i know when i drop the hammer i'm making the best possible shot i can. We owe it to the animals to make the most humane kills possible. There is not a worse feeling in the world than having to track an animal that is wounded and suffering. I made a poor shot when i was younger on a beatiful buck and i lost that animal only to find it later about a mile from where it had been shot. Since that day i have only taken shots when i am confident. This debate is really an either or type answer. It basically boils down to if you have confidence in the shot not where to put the bullet.

If you sever the spinal cord in the upper neck they die immediately, not the same as breaking the neck. Bad shot was probably a little harsh, my meaning was you can do everything right and still come out wrong. Had the shot severed the spinal cord it would have died before it hit the ground.

LMAO...sry, I couldn't help it.

that is an ignoant statement due to the fact that you could say.....Vital shots are stupid...sooner or later you lose an animal.....


fact is if you hunt sooner or later you'll lose an animal

NOPE...the veins or arteries have almost nothing to do with the neck shot being so great, its all about the spinal cord/neck break, i've seen a deer's throat after a .223 shot to the head that knocked it down and then when we got to it it was still breathing, my dad cut juguler and the deer got up and stood there and looked at us and bled we were amazed gave it a minue and then shot it with the 30.06, if the neck for some strange reason doesn;t break then the deer will run and you miss the main benefit of the neck shot.....droppage

what does mike vick have to do with a neck shot....those dogs he had would have loved a neck shot.....

no whats an analgous?

You can lead a horse to water.

o so its not the one that uses like an azz

No, keep thinking about it. If you try real hard you'll get it. BTW what's your opinion on neck shots?

alright alright...shouldn't have gone there, BUT i think there is more room for ERROR with a vital area shot, specifically with shooting too far back and hitting gut, leaving little or no blood trail and a deer that can run for a mile or more, the neck shot does not, as a general rule leave that kind of room, yes you can hit jaw and yes you could nic wind pipe bit if your that far off the neck where would you have hit on a vital shot...leg? gut? i do not believe there is a greater chance of a "fluffed" shot with the neck shot. Every neck i have shot had a dead deer, found, at the end of it.

O and since you asked, I will tell you my opinion of Mike Vick, number one he broke a Law and was punished, I do not condone the inhumane treatment of dogs by way of poor habitat, lack of food, beating or toture, that said, I really have no beef with dog fighting if we can avoid the above mentioned, but thats really not up for debate, fact is it is illegal, now I do believe the man served his time and lost every dollar he had, or at least a good chunk, thus I believe the league did the right thing by letting him play, he got more or a slap then the fellow who was drunk driving and killed a HUMAN.....but back to the topic at hand.....we can post on off topic if you want to further discuss MV

I think we were talking about shooting in the vital area and not gut shot. A hit in the lungs means a dead animal. A hit in the neck does not guarantee such. Besides the torso is a big target and a hit in the liver is fatal as well and pretty quickly. I just think the animal needs to be dispatched quickly and a neck shot puts too much at risk. A base of neck shot quartering toward you is a different deal. What I see with a lot of guys who like neck shots is small caliber rifles and an attempt at showing off how good a shot they are. If you want to show how well you shoot enter a Palma match. I don't think any hunting writer or journalist would support neck shots in any way.