I don’t know about the rest of the country but in the south, the .22 has been real popular with whitetail poachers and gator poachers since forever.
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ABSOLUTELY ,, If the SHTF Gator is my meat of choice... and .22 is ideal. I’m in FL and our deer top out at 80-100 lbs. , my wife hit 4 that bolted in front of her Trooper at about 40mph ,, the truck survived with minimal damage ,, a northern deer totaled my neighbors new Dodge Polara in 72...
I was in north-central Florida for a bit over a decade and compared to Western PA and OH deer, you might be led to believe that Florida deer are cross-bred with goats. I heard plenty of rumors that bruisers could be found in FL, but never got a chance to lay eyes on any. They are *smallish* and that’s being kind!