[9422WMR]

“in all states that I know of you need a .25 caliber or larger”.
Not true. I’ve killed dozens of deer legally with .22 rifle rounds. They have to be center Fire, not rim fire rounds.
22-250 Savage 99 is one of my favorites, but my first year Ruger mini-14 was what I took my first deer with. It shoots .223/5.56mm.

[Do the math]

I hunt deer in the swamps of South Louisiana, and often there is a limited field of view so I chose my Marlin 30-30 to hunt deer. If I'm hunting where their is a wide field of view I go with my Mossberg 100ATR 30-06. That 100 ATR was cheap, yet it is the most accurate rifle I own.