.22 lr vs spear for deer

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Xian

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Apr 16, 2001
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You're in a survival situation and for some reason you have a .22lr rifle. You're not strong/young/athletic (say- 90 lbs woman or a 300 lbs man). If you want to take larger game, a deer, wild boar, etc. which is more likely to yield a result? And how should they achieve it?
 
I dont care what anyone says or how strong or how good you are with a spear,a .22 will always win out period.It does not matter what your target is be it game or person the .22 is more lethal ,more accurate,faster,more humane,and expends less energy on the part of the user.A .22 will kill anything even bear if it were close enough in the head.A .22 is safer allowing distance between you and your target.The .22 is probably the most perfect all around caliber or weapon ever invented.
 
the rifle wins out in the range, ease of use, and lethality over distance catagories. the spear is reusable so like a knife you never run out of bullets. and you can kill just about anything with a 22 as has been previously mentioned. give me my bolt action 22 and a brick of ammo and i could get by for quite a while. most 22 rifles are quite accurate certainly enough for hunting small and medium game.
alex
 
I personally know someone who killed a black bear with a Hi-standard .22 lr pistol. This was a "problem bear" who liked to trash cabins and it didn't matter to him if the folks were home at the time or not. His career was ended with a single shot to the nose.

The .22 lr is not the weapon of choice for deer but I would use one at close range if I had to for such game. Few people would have the skills necessary to take a deer with a spear. Really, if you're that good you would already have a bow. Mac
 
Unfortunately, game officers say that an enormous number of deer have been killed quite effectively with a .22LR, by poachers. So, I would agree with just about everything above. My only qualification would be on lethality. I once spoke with a guy who had taken a wild pig with one of the Cold Steel boar spears. He said that it dispatched the pig more efficiently than anything he owned except, perhaps, a really heavy griz class rifle. Of course, he was using dogs to slow/hold the hog, so that example does not fit the parameters of the question perfectly.
 
Agreed,the .22 is often the choice of poachers.Light ,quiet, accurate,easy to shoot. Poachers ilke to use them for head shots.Shoot,them during the day,scoop them up at night.:mad:
 
Exact reverse. Often when you start discussing martial or survival-type subjects there's a mindset that it should apply to the 18-45 male demographic, upon which they stack stereotypes of athleticism and body type. Those two cases are meant to trigger out-of-the-box thinking (amongst those likely to have a mindest about those two cases to begin with).

That said, I didn't think this was some hyper-politically correct board to begin with. Anyways, I ask because .22 lr is my primary cartridge (so the rifle I'd most likely have with me). My friends say that hunting deer with .22 lr is not only unethical but impossible... I've never tried so I wouldn't know (use shotguns in this state). Probably influenced by the bowhunting he does, but he swears a spear would do a better job... but I questioned the practicality of that.
 
i have no firearms experience

but how effective is a rifle in .22lr ? mainly, what is the effective range and its accuracy ?
 
Some of your more powerful .22 lr's have a mile and a half range,however at this distance its lethality comes into question.Within 100 yards it is very effective,but even then at 100 yards I doubt it would kill a bear or even a deer unless the shot was extremely well placed.Another point to remember as far as lethality goes is that .22 lr's have killed more people than almost any other caliber over time in a civilian setting.Its also the choice of many hit men and asassins due to its quiet nature and ease of making it quieter.
 
the 22 rifle will kill small to medium game out to 100 yards with good shot placemnt, it has little if no recoil, and the ammunition is light and very inexpensive. so you can buy and carry a lot of it. if you couple a decent rifle to a reasonable scope you can get a very high percentage of hits in the kill zone even for an inexperienced hunter. i would tell you i feel that the best way to hunt in a survival situation is to ambush animals,set up near a game trail and wait under cover, rather try to stalk them, this gives you the time to set up your shot and get into a good shooting position. this is also the reason that most youngsters in this part of the country are started out with a .22 rifle as their first firearm.
alex
 
Keep in mind that most of the meat that would be shot in a survival situation would be of the small game kind. There is just more of it available. Not much sense in shooting a squirrel with a 30-06.

Paul
 
No doubt about it, in hunting small game the .22 has an advantage. Light, capable, easy to use accurately and a relatively low report. A rifle would be preferable to a pistol which would require a much higher degree of skills. Contrasting the .22 to a spear is truly apples to Buicks. I mean your level of physical conditioning would have to be much higher; accuracy would be coincidental, range would be severely limited and you would have no possibility of a immediate second strike.
 
Be careful not to confuse the idea of "lethality" with "stopping power". The .22 lr is certainly lethal to humans and/or large game but this is largely a function of allowing the wound time to run it's course. A central nervous system hit with a .22 will kill very quickly. A heart shot will kill quickly as well. A hit tot he lungs or circulatory system will take time. All of these hits will be lethal, in the end. A .22 will kill a bear but certainly won't "stop" him from eating you long before he gets around to licking his wounds.

The trouble is that a deer poorly hit with a .22 will cover alot of ground before he bleeds out. This is why it is considered unethical, there is a hig probablity that you will loose track of the animal and he will become crow food.

If I were preparing to live off the land I would take a .22 lr. The vast majority of hunting opportunities are small game. If you think of a .22 rifle like a bow and use the same tactics you could easily hit a deer in the vitals and not have to track too far. Mac
 
When I was a kid, saw a guy shoot a steer with a .22. One shot to the head and it folded. If you can make the shot, the .22 will do the job.
 
Being a 300lb man, I did not take exception with what he said. I to would choose a .22 for a survival weapon. It is a round that I would be more then comfortable with my 10/22 or my 597 and a brick of ammo and not think twice about it;)
 
.22 hands down. It can be done with a spear, but a .22 is actually a far more effective deer round than most would give it credit for.
 
The .22LR works wonders on deer. I knew a guy who had a special permit to protect his peach trees and tobacco crop. The local game warden busted his 10 year old kid for shooting deer with a .22. The kid told the judge he had shot 7 or 8 before he got busted all with head shots at no more than 30 yards. The father was told to buy the kid a bigger rifle and fined $50.

A head shot will drop domestic cattle which can weigh up to 2000 pounds. It is a matter of the ammo used and shot placement. :cool:
 
If I was to carry a 22 for a survival rifle, I would carry CCI Velocitors for the larger stuff and standard Federal hollow points for small game. I probally would also carry my 357 along with the 22 for close up type problems.
 
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