SmallCaliberCentral

has anyone tried to kill a deer with the .204? I am shooting 40 grain hornady v-max. I am going deer hunting tomorrow morning and i am curious to see if anybody has successfully killed a deer with this cartridge. Im not thinking a lung shot, but more of a neck shot. any input?

Wouldn't be legal where I come from. Wouldn't be my first choice for sure. Use a better suited cartridge if available. Deer can be killed with a 22 LR, but chances for a good clean kill are diminished by the low energy and poorly suited bullet.

Check your local regs 1st. And yes it will kill a deer. Most folks on here won't advise,, myself included,, but it will & has killed deer. If it's all you've got & you're on a strict timeline then check your regs 1st & be responsible. That's a large animal for the 204 to take down cleanly & ethically. I would also avoid the ballistic tip bullets.

in idaho, any center fire bullet can be used on big game. i'll have to try it out...

I'm not even gonna comment.........

RedTwo wrote:in idaho, any center fire bullet can be used on big game. i'll have to try it out...

I get the impression that you want to use the .204 out of curiosity and not necessity. If that's the case, I would strongly urge you not to "experiment" at the potential expense of a game animal. That is simply unethical and shows a complete lack of class. I certainly would not welcome such a "hunter" into my camp...

I wouldn't even if it was legal here in Michigan. I had a friend take a deer with a 22-250 and it ran off and hemorrhaged to death. Energy had no effect on the animal. I'll stick to my deer rifle.

I know a guy in Boise that has taken deer and elk with a 20 Tac. I think he said the farthest they went was about 50 yards before they piled up.
The right bullet placement will darn near drop most anything.IMO

In Christ,

Song Dog

I know a fellow who killed a doe with one shot to her head, with his .22 rimfire. He was hungry and out of work, so he poached it out of season. Worked just fine for him. He's doing much better these days.

Know another guy who snared a deer, and killed it with his sheath-knife. Funny story behind that one...

I figure if you need to, you can kill a deer with many different tools. That said, I'll stick to my .25-06 Rem with 100 - 115 gr bullets. It's racked up a pretty good string of mule deer kills. Son is happily using his little 6mm Remington with good results. I have killed deer with the .223 Rem, but didn't feel that it was an ideal choice. Simply what was available. I don't feel any burning need to use my .204, a .22 rimfire or a .17 HMR on a deer.

Regards, Guy

Normally, i use a .30-06 for deer. It seems tho, that the deer always hang up 200-300 yards out. I mainly hunt in fields that border a canyon, so in the afternoon all the deer come up to munch on the grain. Seeing as how my .30-06 is a POS hand-me-down i have doubts about taking an animal that far. I cannot, for the life of me shoot past a 100 yards with it. That being said, the .204 on the other hand i can shoot 300yds comfortably. This is where the idea came to bust one in the neck with the .204. And yeah, there is some curiosity. I'm not gonna lie. If this means i don't have to bust my butt up and down canyon walls, i'll give it a shot.

Well, I won't encourage you, but if you do it I'd sure like to read your hunt report. Good, bad or ugly... Seems like a lot to ask of a .204, but... It's your call! Could be very interesting.

What the heck is the matter with the ol' .30-06 rifle? Mine is a beat-up old Model of 1917 that still shoots pretty good despite a couple of hard lifetimes!

Regards, Guy

I don't have anything nice to say about this plan, so I will (almost) remain silent. Suffice it to say that I view your choice as being extremely selfish and unfair to the game you're hunting.

red two, maybe you can be the first to take a cape buffalo with a .204 ruger??

hoegebear wrote:red two, maybe you can be the first to take a cape buffalo with a .204 ruger??

I'm liking this idea...gotta be remembered for something right? ha.

And about my .30-06, i'm not saying it is worthless. I've killed all my other deer with this gun. But when compared to the .204 it seems that way.

Is there available cover to build a brush blind to cut the range down? 300yds is a long way. I've had groundhogs crawl 10yds with chest shots at that range with the 39gr BK's. Also be careful of riccochets.